New: Facebook has blocked all Canadian news. Join our mailing list to stay in the loop.

New: Facebook has blocked all Canadian news. Join our mailing list to stay in the loop.

Wednesday, 01 November 2017 16:26

Sweet Alibi shows off sweet harmonies

Sometimes, it all just works.

Such is the case with Jess Rae Ayre, Amber Rose and Michelle Anderson, aka Sweet Alibi, who brought their brand of harmonies to The Crossing Pub in Sharbot Lake last Saturday night.
Ayre and Anderson met in high school in Winnepeg. Rose is originally from small town Ontario near Collingwood but has lived in Winnipeg for 20 years.

“I met Jess and Michelle through music,” Rose said.
Specifically, the Winnipeg Folk Festival, she said.
“We all just loved harmonies.”

And harmonies is what this band is all about. Older fans will probably hear a lot of America going on there, but Rose was at a loss as to who those guys were.

“I grew up listening to Carole King, Fleetwood Mac and Joni Mitchell,” she said. “But I think we all like Feist.”
She said a lot of their original material comes from experimenting around campfires and such.
“One of us will do something and then another will say ‘what were you doing there, I liked that,’” she said.
Ayre, who grew up with Neil Young (“Harvest was a big influence), Tina Turner and The Beatles, said things have just naturally come together for the band.
“You can’t overthink it,” she said.

And so they don’t.

They’re back on the road after taking “42 days off after six years of touring” with a western swing coming up and then a trip to Germany in January.
This was their first time in Sharbot Lake and highlights included their original I’ll Wait, a cover of Bob Dylan’s Serve Somebody and the revelation that Ayre has three boyfriends and 278 pairs of earrings.

 

Published in CENTRAL FRONTENAC

Aging baby boomers who’ve taken up the guitar in retirement take heart. There doesn’t seem to be any indication that becoming a septuagenarian is an impediment to producing great music if The Good Brothers’ latest CD, Wide Awake Dreamin’ is any indication.
This is their first album since 2008’s Restricted Goods (17th overall) and is something of a renaissance for the brothers. It’s almost as if they decided to take all the things they do best and roll them into a single album.

Bruce and Brian are 71 now. Larry is 65. But they still bring it. When they played Sharbot Lake a couple of weekends ago, they had just returned from their 39th European tour and they plan on their 40th next summer. It doesn’t look like they have any intentions of slowing down.
The Good Brothers have always been country, but not Nashville/Grand Ole Opry country. They’ve always been more Flying Burrito Brothers/Nitty Gritty Dirt Band/Poco kind of country and that means plenty of vocal harmonies. And the voices are still there folks.
Wide Awake Dreamin’ features 10 songs, seven of which are Good Brothers originals. There doesn’t seem to be a standout tune in this package but top to bottom, this is probably the best album they’ve ever done.
It’s a very consistent album, the kind you can listen to with a bunch of people and not hear any complaints.

A couple of original tunes, For Cryin’ Out Loud and One of These Days, are nice little 4/4 county crooners that will likely get a lot of campfire and open mike treatments once word gets around.
They follow those two with a Celtic cover, A Rainbow’s End, that’s heavy on Maritime influences. Then comes Train of Fools, a bluegrass original done in that bluegrass style that instantly says “Good Brothers.”
That’s followed up by Your Day Will Come, a nifty little tune featuring some tasty guitar and dobro work.

All in all, this CD is a classy effort that long-time fans will find quite satisfying. For those rare individuals unfamiliar with The Good Brothers, this is a good place to start.

Published in FRONTENAC COUNTY
With the participation of the Government of Canada