heOntario’s Kevin Fraser brings latest project east in support of debut release.
Kevin Fraser has been a fixture on the Hamilton music scene for well over a decade now, performing with a myriad of acts including Slender Loris, Illitry, Bunt & the Hamilton Noise Orchestra. With their latest project, Livestalk & The Bodies, Fraser goes all-in with adventurous arrangements, engaging lyrics and some straight-up monster performances that weave between the familiar and the totally obscure.
Folk flavoured one minute and full-on chaotic free-jazz the next, Livestalk & The Bobies’ debut album cope street is 24 tracks of pleasing unpredictability.
“It’s about sharing love, surviving heartbreak. Feeling euphoric, yet hopeless. Being up against a system that is inherently inequitable,” said Fraser. “The songs are my way of coping with addiction, trauma, mental health and dysphoria as well as self-reflection of my own socializations and privilege. These songs are my celebration and resistance. Another day alive and more fight left in me,” they said.
Recorded almost entirely at home with help from Robin Aube (Sarah Harmer, Gordon Lightfoot, Chore), cope street is largely structured around Fraser’s unconventional acoustic guitar work and admirably precise drumming that slips between punk’s simplistic momentum and the complexities of experimental jazz.
“I’m inspired by focusing my rage and vulnerability to write pop songs, while trying to pay my respects to the oppositional traditions of punk, folk and avant-garde by ruining them,” they said.
If Fraser can muster even half this album’s energy into their live performances, they’ll be sure to leave a strong impression on our East Coast ears.
Fraser is currently on tour with a six-piece ensemble playing dates throughout the East Coast including shows in Digby, Wolfville and Moncton. Full dates below.
Tour Dates:
1/6 Digby, NS, the birch knoll lodge w/ Anne-Hedonia, dee armandine
2/6 Wolfville, NS, House Show w/ Anne-Hedonia, Ellen Tori, dee armandine, and others
3/6 Halifax, NS, Radstorm w/ Century Egg, Teleri, Inland Island
4/6 Musquodoboit, NS, House Show w/ Anne-Hedonia and others
5/6 Moncton, NB, House Show w/ Anne-hedonia, Shaani and others
9/6 Montreal, QC, La Plante w/ S.Ayton, Thanya Iyer + Mawms, Lucas Huang
11/6 Peterborough, ON, The Garnet w/ Meowlinda, Inland Island, Prime Junk
13/6 Guelph, ON, Take Time w/ Myra Maines, and Inland Island
14/6 Toronto, ON, venue TBA w/ Myra Maines, Sea Beau, and Joyful Joyful
15/6 London, ON, EVAC w/ YARD SARD, Susans
16/6 Hamilton, ON, Casino Artspace w/ Coszmos Quartette, Sarah Good Band, and Joyful Joyful
