The premier band of 2014 for the remainder of the Bragg Creek Performing Arts (BCPA) season will be eclectic folk-roots four-piece, the Wilderness of Manitoba.
The Toronto-based ensemble will be showcasing their ethereal, percussive sounds this Feb. 1 at the Redwood House for an 8 p.m. performance.
Already three full-length and two EP albums deep, the band avoids monotony through experimentation; their latest release was a spring 2013 EP, The Leslieville Sessions.
“I look at an EP as an experiment period in between albums,” said lead male vocalist, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Will Whitwham, adding that the band is recording this week for a coming full-length release.
“Now more than ever, we’ve come into our own…we understand what each of us brings to the band.”
With a tour schedule filled with cross-country dates, the band is nothing short of road warriors and has been since they got the ball rolling in 2011.
According to Whitwham, the four members blend together in harmony with Amanda Balsys (lead female vocalist, violin), Sean Lancaric (drums, percussion) and Wes McClintock (bass).
“Every band will tell you touring is like one big, happy, dysfunctional family…everyone pulls their weight,” said Whitwham, adding that Balsys is the “powerhouse lead (female) vocalist who plays a lot of ambient violin” while the rhythm section are the “dream crew”.
Whitwham said he enjoys employing a lot of effects as a guitarist, including ‘pedal experimentation’. The end result is an airy indie-folk-roots sound dubbed as ‘atmospheric dream grooves from Toronto’.
“The music has to change and evolve…we still keep various trademarks but we now have more room for space,” said Whitwham, adding that the band experiments with different sounds now more than ever, with a greater dynamic range.
One of the many bands caught in the ‘death of the giant label’ syndrome, Whitwham explained that making it back into the U.S. is high on the priority list, as Wilderness of Manitoba had their second full-length release, When You Left The Fire, licensed to U.S. label, tinyOGRE.
When former CEO Doug Morris left Universal to run Sony, a number of previously funded labels were axed in transition, including tinyOGRE; the Wilderness of Manitoba was left relatively unscathed, with a lingering taste for U.S. touring.
“Over the next 18 months the goal is getting this next album to sound the way we want it to and getting out in Canada, but also getting back into the U.S. and showing our fans we’re still around.”
The BCPA has traditionally produced the majority of their shows at the Bragg Creek Centre, but will be offering some of their more acoustic productions at the Redwood House to make sure they’re drawing from the Redwood Meadows community as well; this will be the sole southern Alberta stop for the Wilderness of Manitoba.
Learn more about the band at thewildernessofmanitoba.com. Tickets to the Wilderness of Manitoba are available at braggcreekperformingarts.com.
