Ryan McAllister & Daniel Huscroft: Oct 22nd

by Malcolm Petch

Daniel Huscroft is no stranger to Streaming Café, having played our venue back in November of 2010. This time around he’s bringing Ryan McAllister, a producer and songwriter from the Lower Mainland.

McAllister is one of the underground undersung heroes who’s had a taste of the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow only to have it all vanish like vapour when the weather changed. As lead singer and primary songwriter for the Vancouver band Dakona, McAllister was along for the ride when the band was the focus of a seven-label bidding war about ten years ago. Madonna’s label Maverick Records stood strong, snapping up the band and sending Dakona on a whirlwind of touring around North America. An album, Perfect Change, hit the market in 2003. But even while they were out on the road, a massive internal shuffle at Maverick resulted in the band’s deal melting into nothingness, and the Dakona world-domination experience came to a close.

The band’s choice to sink its early advance from Maverick into setting up a recording studio in Abbotsford paid out some longer-lasting dividends for McAllister, though, by allowing Ryan to follow what he calls his “accidental occupation” of recording and producing other artists’ music.

In an interview with the Aldergrove Star last month, McAllister says he’s taken the knowledge he picked up while working with top-notch engineers and producers during Dakona’s high-flying trajectory and expanded on it in establishing his home-based business, Five Acres Studio.

“When we were recording at Capitol Studios in L.A. we were spending $15,000 a day, and that kind of pressure is counter-productive to creativity,” says McAllister. He prices his own services much lower than that, but don’t be fooled into thinking Five Acres Studios is a typical ‘home studio’ – it may be home-based, but it’s a well equipped professional space. And creativity is more of a focus than ever for McAllister and some of the friends he works with, so all of that equipment gets put to good use.

However, even with all that experience, it was only when he got a push from his fellow former-Dakonian, guitarist Brook Winstanley, that McAllister started working on an album of his own material. Music for a Rainy Town was released at the end of April, and the track ‘This Black Heart’ got enough airplay right out of the gate to make it into the Shore FM Song Search top ten.

McAllister will be featuring his album when he comes through the café on October 22^nd along with Daniel Huscroft. The two of them also perform in a trio called Cowboys and Indians with fellow singer-songwriter Barnaby McRae, though McRae won’t be with them this time through. Showtime is 7pm at 596 Leon Ave in Kelowna, and as always you can catch the show online (and even talk to the artists!) if you can’t be there in person.

Click here for show info.

The Crooked Brothers "...an altogether different breed of folk."

by Malcolm Petch

“Music full of hips and hearts.” Who describes their music that way? “…a heartache stripped and unadorned” …welcome to The Crooked Brothers. If this is the language they use for the website description of their music, can you imagine what their lyrics are like?

The Crooked Brothers stand out. Jesse Matas, Darwin Baker and Matt Foster are a trio of multi-instrumentalists from Winnipeg, Manitoba, and as The Crooked Brothers they craft amazing music with their guitars, mandolins, dobros, and banjos. And the harmonies – you’d almost think these three really were brothers the way their voices blend and complement each other.

A little bit of digging on their website and blog reveals a couple of interesting facts: their first album, Deathbed Pillowtalk (2009), was recorded in a warm log cabin during a cold Manitoba winter. Their newest album, Lawrence, Where’s Your Knife? (released on September 23) was recorded in a warm log cabin during a cold Manitoba winter. Seems to be a bit of a theme happening. Here’s the kicker: all three of The Crooked Brothers spent May and June out in the woods building (wait for it) an 18-foot by 18-foot log cabin destined to be a rental property at Falcon Trails Resort in Falcon Lake, Manitoba, where Jesse runs the ski shop and Matt cooks during the non-folk-festival season (otherwise known in Canada as ‘the wintertime’). If you look closely at the video they’ve posted about their log-building activities, however, you’ll note that there are way more than three guys hauling the logs up to the top of the walls on the cabin. There’s also no mention on their website as to whether working with heavy logs all the time is the reason the brothers became crooked.

Okay, so these three guys spend their winters living in log cabins, and spend their summers (well, one anyway) building log cabins (and playing in folk festivals from coast to coast). Can you get more canadiana than that?

It’s the music that really stands out, though. The Crooked Brothers have a distinctly folk sound, yet it’s refreshingly different from a distinctly folk sound; tight harmonies, yes, and lots of natural instrumentation–very straight-ahead bluegrass, actually–but there are touches and elements in The Crooked Brothers’ music that inject a fresh spark into what they do. Listen to 17 Horses, the opening cut on their new album, and right after the opening bluesy dobro and folksy banjo there’s some foot-stomp/hand clap action that sounds more like, well, … hmm. I don’t know what it sounds like, but it doesn’t sound like bluegrass. But it sounds good.

The Crooked Brothers release their music via Transistor 66 Record Company, a self-described “happily dysfunctional” label who are home to punk bands like Cripple Creek Fairies, rock’n’roll/rockabilly groups like the Hot Live Guys, and folk artists like The Kent Boys or Scott Nolan. It’s a combination that reaches an eclectic audience, obviously, and one that seems to keep the various artists happy. 

Catch The Crooked Brothers at Streaming Cafe on Saturday, October 8th at 7pm (PST). Click for more info.

September's dose of music

by Michael Donley
We're really happy to have added some new live tracks for download to our store this past month. We've continued our partnership with these talented artists allowing us to bring some magical live moments to fans, friends and family.
Here's what's new!

Treelines performed back in March for their third apperance at the cafe. It was a great show and chance to see the band in a bit of a different light as they performed a stripped down acoustic set.

Zaac Pick joined us at the cafe for the second time and we were able to capture a couple unreleased tracks exclusively available in our store.


Kayla Luky from rural Manitoba performed a great solo set the cafe July 11th.

Abigail Lapell from Toronto performed at the cafe during her Western Canadian Tour in May.

Fisticuffs aka Jordan Kurtz brought his "Garage-folk" approach to the cafe back in April.

Adaline: Free sneak peek

By Michael Donley

I was first introduced to Adaline when by chance I caught her performance at Vancouver's The Media Club in 2008. Although time passed, I always remembered her interesting and refreshing approach to her craft, and the Streaming Cafe was able to have her come down and perform a solo show in March 2010. Later that year, this time with the full force of her band Adaline showcased at the cafe during Break Out West Music festival (watch it!)

Adaline is now getting set to unleash a her second album Modern Romantics this fall and it is sure to be a great listen. The new full length is produced by Hawksley Workman who has produced albums for some well know Canadian talent; Tegan and Sara, Serena Ryder, Jeremy Fisher and Hey Rosetta! to name a few.

Sneak-peek download - "Wasted Time"

“I wanted to take a very European approach to the record,” she says, adding that she and her busiest partner, Hawksley Workman – who played on and produced nine of its twelve tracks – were throwing names like Portishead, Bat for Lashes, La Roux, Beck, and Goldfrapp around when they entered Toronto’s Canterbury Studio for four weeks. “Groove artists,” she calls them. “I wanted it to sound world class. A lot of people seem to be doing these very chill, laid back, organic records, and I kinda wanted to be a little more aggressive in terms of the sounds and production.”

Modern Romantics will be available on November 1, 2011, but for a limited time you can get a free sneak-peek by downloading her pre-release Wasted Time on her Bandcamp page.

Ellen Degeneres Votes for Behind Sapphire

by Michael Donley

A few weeks ago Vancouver's Behind Sapphire performed at the cafe as they continued their journey on trying to become the next Peak Performance Project winner. Shortly after their performance the Band crafted a Youtube video Behind Sapphire Wants to Meet Ellen Degeneres, in hopes of connecting with the American talk show host icon.  That post lead them to perform for Ellen while she was in Vancouver mid August. Not only did she give the band her approval but also gave them a plug, prompting viewers to vote!

Nicely crafted and executed promo.

Kudos to Ryan at Castanet for posting this and showing off some BC talent.




Here's a clip of Behind Sapphire's performance at the cafe at the beginning of July.