THE CELTIC CONNECTION • MARCH 1992
Page 7
Stoaters Raid Middle Earth
Vancouver's Top Pub Punk Rock Band
By COLIN SMITH
"Sing hey! for. the bath at close of day.
That washes the weary mud away! A loon is he that will not sing: O! Water hot is a noble thing!"
Bilbo Baggins' Bath Song
On yet another cold, wet and miserable winter's day last month, a soggy Stoater arrived on my doorstep armed with a heavy sigh and a weary smile. Good lord, when will it stop? I put on the coffee pot, reached for the Bailey's and began an hour of idle chatter that soon warmed his furry feet. I'm only guessing, of course.
Singer-songwriter Dennis Crews is a founding memberof Vancouver's premier punk pub rock bands, The Stoaters. Born in Glasgow and a decade-long resident on the west coast, Crews has spent a lifetime sloshing about with the wind on his back.
Five years ago, in a now defunct West End pub owned and operated by drummer Dale O'Sullivan's ma, Crews met guitarist Robert Ford. Over the course of the evening and countless sleeves of ale, the two performed at least as many songs as they were able to recollect.
Encouraged by this new-found partnership, the trio enlisted Doug Schmidt, who was completing a PhD in music at the University of British Columbia. The fearsome fivesome, composed of three Scotsmen, one Dubliner and Schmidt (who was born in New Zealand of all places), became the Stoaters.
Initially, the band was booked in the pub on Sunday evenings but a sudden swell in popularity led to a string of three-night stints that had patrons lined up at the door to get in. The pub is, sadly enough, long since gone but the "house band continues to pack 'em in, wherever they play.
In their early days, The Stoaters were routinely compared to The Pogues because of their lively, boisterous performances and their willingness to consume vast quantities of golden elixir. But the band began to develop their own fiery brand of Celtic - influenced pub rock and their own style began to emerge.
One wag described them as "the missing link between Spirit of the West and Wedding, Parties, Anything (from Australia)." That is an accurate description if ever there was one. Two years later, The Stoaters began attracting enough notice that local concert promoters began offering them high-profile opening spots for a wide variety of touring acts in the pop music biz.
In the midst of all this new-found fame and glory (hardly), the band scrambled to produce a five-song demonstration cassette entitled Laboring Under the Illusion. The tape sold extremely well off concert stages from Halifax to Victoria, and the band's growing reputation led to a second recording opportunity.
MUSIC
Last year, The Stoaters contributed two tracks to the Festival Records compilation disc, Routes West, released to radio stations across Canada. That album featured some of the finest "roots" music to be found in Vancouver's burgeoning acoustic music scene, including Herald Nix, Sandy Scofield, The Last Wild Sons and Roots Roundup.
The added exposure netted The Stoaters a VideoFACT grant to produce a video for the song "Crooked Hand Jack" and it was shot last fall at the Bessborough Hotel in Saskatoon. The spooky, gothic imagery of the video won over programmers at MuchMusic and tnesubsequent rotation helped the band gain increased visibility from coast to coast.
Last summer, 4,500 men, women and children showed up to hear The Stoaters perform at Toronto's Harborfront in an outdoor festival. That was a turning point for the band, who thenspringboarded into Toronto's media/music machine.
That show brought them to the attention of sound engineer Ian Harper, who is currently working with Loreena McKennitt. The Toronto (i.e. national) music establishments began to prick up their ears and recently the band signed up with one of the more aggressive booking agencies, Trick or Treat Productions, to perform two tours this spring and summer, in addition to a number of festival appearances.
Things couldn't look much better, and The Stoaters are now locked into a fury of activity surrounding the recording of their first full-fledged album. Before all hell breaks loose!
Crews' excitement wanes only slightly as he explains the difficulties involved with producing an independent record with a shortage of money and time to do so.
"We weren't altogether satisfied with our previous recordings and it would seem the pressure is upon us to create something extra special this time out," says Crews with a special note of sincerity. "We're recording the new record and spending all our energy and time to do the songs justice.
With all the spotlights now focusing on the band, Crews says the only battle that looms before them is the inevitable "pigeonholing" that occurs naturally in the press. The term "Celtic Rock" draws ire on Crews' behalf, although he admits the rest of The Stoaters probably couldn't care less.
Explains Crews, "Our Celtic roots are still present but we are definitely a rock band. Celtic bands to me, means the likes of Capercaillie or Clannad. My record collection is full of Christy Moore, Derek Bell and Clannad albums. And I grew up, like everybody else in our
neighbourhood, listening to the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem. ThefirstCelticRocklever heard was Thin Lizzy's pop hit 'Whiskey in a Jar' in 1972. But I don't think we sound like any of these bands. We're Canadians and we play to absolutely everybody".
"Not everyone who comes to our shows is of Irish, Scottish or English origin," says Crews with a knowing grin. "We're probably closer to Wedding, Parties, Anything than, say, the Pogues. If we were to drop the mandolin and the accordion, then maybe we'd have another generic-sounding band. That instrumentation is a part of our stamp and we'll probably always have it.
The Stoaters will unveil portions of their new album on, surprisingly enough, St. Paddy's Day at the Town Pump in Gastown. There
THE STOATERS: (Left to Right) Sid Morgan, Doug Schmidt, Robert Ford, Dennis Crews, Rob Baptie and Dale O'Sullivan.
will be pints o' plenty of brown ale, the odd bit of tartan, and I'malmost certain the band will play a special tune or two. Isn't that right, Denny Boy? The pipes, the pipes are callin !
Colin Smith is a freelance writer in Vancouver. He spent many years in the Ottawa-Toronto area before returning to home-town Vancouver. Colin writes about music, theatre and the performing arts in Vancouver.
BRING ST. PATRICK'S DAY IN THE RIGHT WAY
AT THE TOWN PUMP
WITH
THE STOATERS
CELTIC / ROCK
AT 66 WATER STREET GASTOWN FOR INFORMATION: (604) 683-6695
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66 Water St., Gastown 683-6695/681-2222
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