A blacksmith’s work is to forge together material to produce a piece of art that is unique. The work of bluessmyth is to fuse together the blues with heavy, solid bass lines and soulful, gospel influences. The recent addition of classically trained drummer Celine Yohemas to the already stellar line-up of brothers Jason and Chris Yaholkoski resulted in the rock-fused album Sola Gratia. The release, which was produced by Mark Berry (Duran Duran, Carly Simon, David Bowie), has had tremendous feedback since its national release in the spring of 2009.
“We’re kind of in this weird place where the blues guys find us too rock and the rock guys find us too blues – until they listen to the CD,” says drummer Yohemas, who joined the band just over a year ago, drawn to the brothers’ Stevie Ray Vaughn influence and gifted storytelling abilities.
“The biggest message: listen to your ears,” says Yohemas, who encourages music lovers to connect with the story that is told through song.
Sola Gratia is the first album put out by the trio, but the third album put out by bluessmyth, who were first established six years ago. The newest album features songs with powerful messages, such as “Hurricane Katrina,” about the devastation of New Orleans, and “Rosemary,” which is about addiction.
The trio has hit the road quite extensively over the last several months, continuing their successful CD release journey across Canada, from the Rainbow Room in Ottawa to the Shamrock Hotel in Calgary and everywhere in between.
According to Yohemas, the biggest struggle for working bands is finding the right publicist – one that won’t undercut the artists’ work. bluessmyth is pleased with their western representation by Sound Strategy Music and is currently seeking eastern representation.
The journey has been exhausting and exciting all at the same time. While the trio is overwhelmed with their success in the Canadian market, future plans include touring the U.S. and Europe.
“We’re looking for a more expansive market,” explains Yohemas.
As for New Year’s resolutions, bluessmyth plans to play more music-specific venues, get involved in festivals and work on branding the band’s image.
Check out bluessmyth’s website at www.myspace.com/bluessmyth1 for dates, info and more.
Posted by Lindsay Wilson on Dec 03, 2009
Although he’s not yet 30, Dylan MacDonald has submersed himself in the blues since his teenage years. He has honed his skills as a blues harmonica (harp) player to the point of becoming one of the best known under 30 blues harp players in this part of the country.
He’s had the privilege of sharing the stage with many notable blues figures, including David “Honeyboy” Edwards, Du-Rite Aces, Donald Ray Johnson, Darren Johnson, Bill Hills, Amos Garret and Gary Martin, among others.
Though he has gained something from all the musicians he’s worked with, his strongest influence is Big Walter. “He’s been my mainstay guy,” says MacDonald, looking up at his framed photograph of the harmonica great on his shop wall with admiration.
MacDonald has spent the last six years playing harp with Bill Dowey and the Blues Devils, hosting the most successful blues jams in the city and playing in every blues-friendly house Calgary has to offer.
“I came out of the woods and fell in with those guys. It was kind of like a dream come true,” says MacDonald, referring to when he first moved to Calgary from Nova Scotia ten years ago. A newcomer to the scene, he was taken under the wing of the late Back Alley John (his harmonica mentor) and Bill Dowey.
In August 2007, MacDonald decided to start teaching harmonica and guitar, which led to him opening his own Traditional Blues School. Here, he has been able to combine his love of playing and teaching with his extensive historical knowledge of blues. Although he is particularly adept in the styles of Delta, Ragtime, Piedmont and Chicago – derived from blues innovators such as Robert Johnson, Robert Lockwood Jr. and Sonny Terry – his teaching caters to the preferred style of his students.
The next step: open up a storefront, combining the lessons with the sale of authentic, hard-to-find harmonicas. It finally happened on August 1, 2009. Although the world of a small-time business owner is not one without its struggles, particularly in a niche market like the blues, MacDonald really believes in what he’s doing and has the support of the blues community behind him.
“I’m the only guy who’s presenting a full time blues school in Western Canada. People can come in and get any harmonica in the world – make, model, key,” says MacDonald, who is the only authentic harmonica dealer in the country.
MacDonald can put you in touch with any vintage harmonica or amp you so desire, and then continue on to teach you how to play it. His collection of vintage harps beats any known collection in other music stores to date.
“It’s a community-centered blues hangout,” explains MacDonald about the shop he spends six days a week in. It’s where blues lovers and players can go just to talk about the blues and jam out. Anyone is welcome, from the seasoned player to the curious spectator.
Dylan MacDonald’s Traditional Blues School can be found in Calgary next door to Vintage Music, located at 2114 14 St NW. To get MacDonald to locate that perfect harmonica for you or get you started with lessons, he can be reached at 403-305-9899 or you can visit his website, www.traditionalbluesschool.com
Posted by Lindsay Wilson on Dec 03, 2009
Ray Lemelin. Zeke Chambers. Jimmy Payne. Sonny Rhodes. Back Alley John. Paul James. Fenton Robinson. Bill Eaglesham. Dutch Mason. Albert Collins. The Sons of Blues. Even if he tried his hardest, it would be difficult for Bill Dowey to remember all of the great blues cats he’s shared the stage with, helped launched careers for, jammed with, toured with and backed up over the years.
“You don’t look down on anyone unless you’re just giving them a help up,” says Dowey. This backbone of the musical methodology has carried him through years as a working musician and jam host.
After 40 years of playing music, Bill Dowey is one of the most instrumental building blocks for blues in the city of Calgary. For 14 years, he ran the Saturday afternoon blues jam at the King Eddy, Calgary’s house of blues. When the legendary venue was condemned by the city and shut down in 2004, it broke the hearts of blues fans and musicians in regions that expand far beyond the walls of this city alone.
Dowey’s journey into music began when he learned his first blues song on guitar, “K.C. Blues,” at the age of six in his home of Toronto, ON. Throughout his teenage years, Dowey would play his way through folk, country, rock and blues tunes with his slide guitar, harmonica and voice. Though he enjoyed many genres, he had a strong preference for electric blues from the late ‘50s to the early ‘70s – artists such as Muddy Waters and Little Walter who were moved up through Chess Records. He began his first band by the age of 18, and then made the decision to pack up his gear and head out west, to Calgary, in the 1970s.
Up until 1985, Dowey spent his time playing in various bands and attending the Banff Centre for the Arts, where he studied technical theatre. He moved back to Toronto for a few years to resurrect his playing with some old friends, but returned to Calgary in 1985, where he’s been ever since.
He began playing with Zeke Chambers, Ray Lemelin and the late Jimmy Payne, gigging around town for a number of years. In 1990, the HooDoo Sons was born. Bill Dowey was on keyboards, slide guitar and vocals, and was joined by John Rutherford on guitar, Tommy Knowles on bass and Brad Carter on drums. Dowey and Carter have now been playing together for almost 22 years.
It was at one of Dowey’s Saturday afternoon jams that a quiet guitar player showed up, asking the boys if he could get up and work out a couple of tunes.
“We got him up with us and realized right then and there that he had something going,” reflects Dowey. The quiet guitar player turned out to be Greg “Junior” Demchuk, who went on to play with Dowey in the Blues Devils, formed in the late ‘90s (post-HooDoo Sons). Demchuk eventually moved out to Vancouver to play with the west coast’s most well-known blues band, the Twisters, for a period of time.
One would be hard-pressed to find a blues musician in this city who doesn’t hold Dowey in high standing.
“In my time, I’ve shared the stage with many great musicians, such as Jeff Healey and Steve Lukather. As far as I’m concerned, Bill Dowey goes toe to toe with any of those guys,” says Greg Godovitz, a Canadian rock icon who has held a successful career on bass, guitar and vocals with major Toronto rock ’n’ roll bands Fludd and Goddo since the ‘60s.
Godovitz, like Dowey, is also from Toronto, having moved to Calgary shortly over a year ago, where he continues to play and work as a producer.
Bill Dowey, Greg Godovitz and Paul Finn (well-known Calgary bass player who used to play with Dowey) have recently put together a blues trio, calling themselves the 3 Amigos.
Dowey’s current band, Bill Dowey and the Blues Devils, have been playing together for the last several years, hosting jams and stopping shows all over Calgary and even Europe. In addition to Dowey on vocals, keyboards and slide guitar, the current players include Brad Carter on drums, Richard Kowalewski on bass and Dylan MacDonald on harmonica.
After a three-year absence from the Shamrock Hotel, Bill Dowey and the Blues Devils have returned to host the weekly Saturday afternoon King Eddy blues jam.
“The King Eddy spirit has been alive at the Shamrock…where we’ve been hosting our Saturday afternoon blues jam, so it’s only natural that Bill Dowey has come home,” says Darcy Clendenning, manager of the Shamrock and one of the busiest booking agents in town.
Dowey was welcomed back to the Shamrock on November 14 by his friends and fellow musicians, and reunited with his Gibson guitar from the ‘60s, which got lost in the world of repairs over six years ago. It was a sweet reunion.
If you want to see Dowey, he’s easy enough to find at the blues jams that he hosts with his band Bill Dowey and the Blues Devils. Feel free to bring your axe and jam with the cats, or kick back and enjoy the blues.
For more information on how you can see Billy Dowey in action, click here to check out his website.
Posted by Lindsay Wilson on Dec 03, 2009
