Glamour Puss is getting back to the roots of blues.
Mostly from New Brunswick, its members harken back to the traditional music of their ancestors as inspiration for their own original material. Having just released their fourth album, Wire and Wood, they are now on a tour across Canada to bring their foot-stomping Acadian zydeco blues to a neighborhood blues club near you.
To understand zydeco, you must understand the history of the people who spawned it.
"When the French people that had settled in Acadia were exiled from the territory, many of them resettled in Louisiana," says Travis Furlong, guitarist and founding member of Glamour Puss. "The traditional Acadian folk music then melded with the blues and Creole music to create zydeco. The music itself is very lively and very danceable."
It seems that Glamour Puss’ lively show has moved a lot of industry folks to dancing. They were named Group of the Year at the 2002 East Coast Music Awards and have received the prestigious Dutch Mason Award at the Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival in Fredericton. Just recently, they have been nominated for four Maple Blues Awards and this past January they opened a show in Moncton for none other than B.B. King.
"The awards matter a lot in the industry and have a lot of impact," says Furlong.
Although Eastern Canada has long been recognized as a cultural centre for Celtic music, unbeknownst to many Canadians it has also been the centre of a burgeoning blues scene for several years now. According to Furlong, the blues music coming out of Canada is some of the best in the world.
"The blues scene in Canada is not just emerging but full-blown and full-grown," states Furlong. "The music itself is very distinguishable from that of the United States in that Canadian artists have stuck to the roots of blues more strongly, whereas American blues right now seems to be more rock in nature. Canadian bands have also focused a lot on deeper songwriting to create good solid songs."
So what can one expect at a Glamour Puss show?
"You’ll hear a wide range of styles and sub-genres of blues and everyone takes a turn singing. We like to erase the boundary between the audience and the performers and see people dancing up at the stage."
Glamour Puss will be playing Kaos Cafe on 17 Ave. Fri., Nov. 7.