Party: Firm Handshakes, Ashley Hundred and Utilities live at The Republik

Party: Firm Handshakes, Ashley Hundred and Utilities live at The Republik

The Republik and Steamwhistle are proud to present The Firm Handshake, Ashley Hundred and Utilities live at the Republik.

Saturday April 20/13
Doors 9pm
Only $10

//The Firm Handshake//
The Firm Handshake are an anomaly, they stick out – though not like the customary sore thumb, with all of its negative connotative baggage. They are more like the emergence of opposable thumbs onto the clawing paws of ancestral primates - they are mutants; they represent an evolutionary step forward. Yet in something of a paradoxical turn, their novelty is inexorably rooted in the past: what makes them seem fresh is their knowledge of traditions, a hard-earned knowledge garnered over the course of their 200-plus live performances and via their immersion, nay, apprenticeship in Calgary's communal-cum-competitive blues scene. During this time, the Handshake has become fluent in the idioms of the blues, rock and funk, and have gained the confidence to experiment with any other genre. Fortunately, the band has been able to subsume all of the styles and forms that they've encountered during the course of their five years together into an original sound. They are bricoleurs, recombining existing elements in creative ways to produce something new and exciting. This approach imbues their original songs with an uncanny familiarity even upon first listen, an effect that is redoubled in concert by the visual of such young men playing such storied music.
www.facebook.com/TheFirmHandshake?fref=ts

//Ashley Hundred//
Traditional instruments making non-traditional music

In 1822 General William Ashley sent out the following ad: "To Enterprising Young Men: The Subscriber wishes to engage One Hundred men to ascend the River Missouri to its source to be employed for one, two, or three years."

The Ashley Hundred keeps true to the pioneering ways and spirit of the mountains in our music.
www.facebook.com/TheAshleyHundred?fref=ts

//Utilities//
"Joel Stretch is working on recordings in his bedroom. Joel Stretch wonders why his recordings don’t rock. Joel Stretch makes the observation that most music that rocks includes drums and bass. This is a troubling observation for a small town teenager who does not know any bassists or drummers interested in being in a band. At this very moment there is a blast of light, and Colby Clair Stolson appears to Joel in a vision. With much reverb and echo on his voice, Colby says “Joel! Don’t you remember?! I play bass!! Mr. Personality is dead, Joel. Dead. But the drummer Drake McCheyne and I live on. We are pretty good..."
As suddenly as he had appeared, Colby Clair vanished. Joel was left alone in his room, his head reeling. He said to himself, “Well, maybe if I put more effects on my handclaps, it will sound more like drums. I guess I’ll try that.” But it was no use. Colby Clair had planted the Utilities seed in Joel’s heart; by that fall, it had grown into a beautiful flower."

The Utilities have had a pair of very prolific years since their formation in 2010. They self-recorded their first effort titled This is as Light as it Got in an old country church during the winter of 2010 and 2011. This low-fi collection of songs documents the sound of the young band beginning to find its voice. They have since joined forces with the Lethbridge-based label Esper Records, on which their second full-length "Flint" was released in the spring of 2012. "Flint" is earning rave reviews and extensive airplay across campus and community radio stations in Canada. Praised by Argue Job music blog as what “may be the most exciting young band in Alberta”, The Utilities deliver an energy at their live shows that demands attention. With a growing fanbase, lots of shows booked, and plans for a third release in 2013, The Utilities show no sign of slowing their climb in the Canadian Indie-Rock scene.
www.facebook.com/TheUtilities?fref=ts

www.steamwhistle.ca/