Royal Canoe and Magnificent Cities are Soulful, not Slackers

Sometimes musicians seem like slackers or perfectionists, because for one reason or another it takes years (or decades) to release music for the masses while we wait impatiently. You can probably think of an example. My Bloody Valentine springs to mind, Kate Bush, Peter Gabriel. Winnipeg artists are no different. Especially if their first name starts with J (Hello, Jay Churko (Chords of Canada, Transistor Sound & Lighting Co.. Yeah, you too, Jason Allen (Rowdymen)!). But in reality, juggling personal finances and life with artistic pursuits is a long hard road for many, which means that your desire for aural nourishment or ear candy goes unfulfilled.

But today we celebrate a couple of fellows who might look like slackers at times, but still manage to give listeners something to chew on. In Pets and Waking Eyes, Matt Peters and Rusty Matyas have shown a couple of different sides of their musical profiles. Although Waking Eyes haven't put out anything lately, they've both got new things to tide you over.



Peters's band is called Royal Canoe, which reminds me of another great Winnipeg band we haven't heard from forever, Grand Theft Canoe (come back, Evan Kroeker!) R.C.'s album, Co-op Mode was created years ago, but is just getting an official release now. The album features co-writes and performances with Peters, Nathan Blanchard, Rusty Matyas, Jo Snyder, Dave Wiebe, Steve Senkiw, Tom Keenan, Joey Penner, and Andy Freund. Last year Peters recruited Bucky Driedger and Matt Schellenberg (The Liptonians), Jeff Bruce (Jicah) and fellow Waking Eye, Joey Penner to fill up Canoe seats. Although songs such as Kasparov display the power pop sensibilities sometimes heard in Pets, the album also features some smooth, funky soul; listen to and/or download (click the downward arrow on the player) Me Loving Your Money.

Royal Canoe-Me Loving Your Money by scruffy the yak

Royal Canoe Tour Dates

8 Jul - Regina, SK @ O'Hanlons
9 Jul - Saskatoon, SK @ Amigo's Cantina
10 Jul - Edmonton, AB @ Brixx Bar & Grill
12 Jul - Penticton, BC @ VooDoos
13 Jul - Vancouver, BC @ TBA
16 Jul - Calgary, AB @ Broken City
22 Jul - Ottawa, ON @ Zaphod Beeblebrox
23 Jul - Montreal, QC @ Trois Minots
24 Jul - Toronto, ON @ Sneaky Dees
27 Aug - Morden, MB @ Morden Corn and Apple Festival




Rusty's band with Marti Sarbit is equally difficult to pigeon-hole. Imaginary Cities has not jumped on any particular bandwagon. Sarbit's soulful voice soars and dives and generally operates for the good of mankind, while the instrumentation tastefully pushes her sweet sounds further. What would you call it?



Imaginary Cities are giving away 5 songs from their yet-to-be-released album, you can download 'em here.

Upcoming shows:

21 Jul 2010 22:00 Lo Pub Winnipeg
31 Jul 2010 21:00 Peir Stage Gimli, MB (Islendingadagurinn! Icelandic Fest, don't you know)
14 Aug 2010 20:00 Kelwood - Festival Site Kelwood, MB

Imaginary Cities @ Lo Pub from Ben Myers on Vimeo.