BeatRoute Magazine AB Edition - October 2019

EDMONTON INDIE FOLK
ST. ARNAUD, RISE FROM
THE ASHES OF GRIEF WITH
EMOTIONAL DEBUT LP,
THE COST OF LIVING By TORY ROSSO
E
dmonton folk musician Ian St.
Arnauds’ life changed suddenly
when his North Of Here bandmate,
Luke Janzen, tragically
passed away following a collision
with a train in the fall of 2017.
Rising from the ashes of grief alongside
his friend and other bandmate, Will
Holowaychuk, the pair united to form St.
Arnaud and are now poised to release their
cathartic full-length, The Cost of Living.
“When I first started piecing ideas
together, this was just going to be
my small way of navigating
young adulthood: trials
and tribulations of
evolving relationships,
first heartbreak,
loneliness, all as
prices we pay to
go along,” says
Arnaud. “However,
Luke passed away
suddenly in 2017 just
as we were beginning
to record demos, and
the focus shifted while
its scope deepened. It
quickly went from our
‘first stab at a record and
having something to say’ to
something we had to finish
and use to move forward.”
The record is an amalgamation
of tracks that
were previously written
for North Of Here, as
well as more recently
produced numbers.
Building on their folk
music roots, St. Arnaud have
adapted a charming indie-darling
quality to their ever-evolving sound at the
hand of memorable hooks and anthemic
chants. Both heartwarming and pensive,
the record is St. Arnaud’s greatest and
most emotional accomplishment to date.
“We released an EP (Morning, Buddy) in
October 2018, but this last year has been
important to the growth of something
new from something that was broken and
gone,” explains Arnaud. “This collection
of songs counts back to days from before
Luke’s death, through mourning, and then
on to new corners of life that I never could
have expected, both great and
terrible.”
The record was produced
by and recorded at Wembley
Studios, the home of
Graham Lessard (Barr
Brothers, Basia Bulat,
36?) and released
with the help
of St. Arnaud’s
label, Soaring Eagle
Records. The
label was founded
by former Cowpuncher
members
Matt Olah and Ryan
Kelly as a collective to
support musicians and offer
guidance with no strings
attached.
“The most important aspect
for me through this whole
process has just been
having support. It’s lots of
little things, sometimes big
things, but when somebody
puts themselves on the line
for you and defends your
craft/art/work/whatever, that’s
what keeps me going.”
The Cost of Living will be released October
4. St. Arnaud perform with Shred Kelly at
the King Eddy on October 19.
The real, unfiltered,
raw and gritty sound
of Bebe Buckskin
By JODI BRAK
F
rom her earliest memories of
childhood in the Paddle Prairie
Metis Settlement, amongst
the dense, sprawling forests
of Northern Alberta, music has
always run through Bebe Buckskin’s veins.
Danielle Ghostkeeper found her love
for music years before adopting her stage
name, being raised by music lovers, including
her mother, a touring musician who
introduced her to the guitar.
“That is exactly how I got my start:
from my family, and just always being so
fascinated by what my mom was doing.
She started teaching me how to play guitar
and I learned how to harmonize by listening
to her harmonize,” Ghostkeeper says. “I
won my first talent show for singing when I
was three... and I remember that moment, I
remember thinking to myself at the age of
three: this is amazing this is what I want to
do for the rest of my life.”
Now an adult with years of experience
in music under her belt, Ghostkeeper has
been bringing her own variety of roots-andblues-infused
rock and roll onto the scene.
With one EP under her belt, a five-song
release titled Flight that showcases a
raw, earthy brand of rock anchored in the
somber overtones of the blues, a follow-up
release titled Asiskiy is just on the horizon.
“The title of the album means ‘Earth’ in
Cree,” She says. “I chose the name for a
lot of reasons. It’s a more authentic representation
of who I am as an artist, and I feel
like it is definitely anchored in a gritty feel
in terms of the lyrics and the sound. There
is a lot of talk of my Indigenous roots, and
also a lot of talk about my own personal
journey. It’s just real, unfiltered, raw and
gritty.”
Among the five songs on Asiskiy is the
single Stockin’ Wood, released Sept. 26, a
heartfelt tribute to the Woodstock Festival,
five decades after the fact.
“I would always daydream about being at
Woodstock. That was kind of my daydream,
away from the reality I was living
at the time,” Ghostkeeper says. “It is kind
of an ode to the festival, but also to it as
being my safe place to go to in my mind,
that place I feel empowered and safe and
inspired.”
Bebe Buckskin will be releasing Asiskiy
Oct. 25, kicking it off with an album release
show at the King Edward in Calgary. The
show features renowned slide guitarist
Ellen Mcllwaine, who also has a guest spot
on the record.
OCTOBER 2019 BEATROUTE 43