Music Runs Through It present two nights with Fredericton’s favourite roots rock syndicate.
Matt Carter
Just over a month has past since Sleepy Driver released Sugar Skull, the band’s fourth full-length album. And now it’s time to celebrate!
Music Runs Through It will be hosting a special two-night session with Sleepy Driver at the Charlotte Street Arts Centre November 24 and 25. For these performances, the band has announced a number of special guests who will be joining them on stage over the two nights.
“Over the years, for the different albums, we’ve had a lot of people play with us so we thought, let’s get people who we respect and people we’ve played with and spread it out over two nights,” said Sleepy Driver’s Peter Hicks, speaking in a recent interview on CHSR FM’s noon program, The Lunchbox. “Yes it’s a CD release party for Sleepy Driver but in a lot of ways it’s a celebration of the people we’ve worked with and really respect what they do.”
Friday night’s guest performers include Karl Gans (Ross Neilsen), Tina Gaudreau (Mad Mary), Jonnie Price (Sugarbomb, Dapper Dan), and TC Richards and Adam Johnson (8 Track Mind), with Juanita Bourque (Sissy & The Hobos), Kendra Gale, Gary Morehouse and Ross Beckett (The Walking Contradictions) joining for Saturday’s show.
Sugar Skull, released October 20, sees the band holding steady on the course they first embarked on with the release of their debut Steady Now. Fronted by songwriter/guitarist Peter Hicks, the band began in 2005 and has held its current lineup of bassist Mike Hatheway, guitarist Ethan Young-Lai, drummer Barry Hughes, keyboard player John Heinstein and the multi-talented Dave Palmer on pedal steel and dobro since 2007.
While the roots-rock, Americana influence that guides Hicks’ songwriting is undoubtedly a defining trait of ‘the Sleepy Driver sound’, the band’s apparent interest in pursuing new directions within the time-honoured, roots rock framework is an equally important part of what they do. And Sugar Skull is a fine example. From the unexpected percussive decay that concludes Believe, Belong to the overdriven pedal steel that blasts out the main solo on Radio Dial, the album’s shameless, straight ahead, “hit single”, Sleepy Driver bring something unique to the genre. Their just-left-of-centre approach is perfectly on point.
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Two Nights with Sleepy Driver | November 24 & 25 | Charlotte Street Arts Centre | Doors at 7:30pm – Show at 8 p.m. | View Event
