The award-winning west coast indie-folk group the Breakmen will be in concert at the Central Cariboo Arts Centre on Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14.
There will be an opening set by Jason and Pharis Romero.
The Breakmen formed in 2005, not long after chief songwriters Archie Pateman and Lee Watson and bassist Matthew Lawson returned from a rare tree-planting contract that saw them all living — and jamming — in the same camp.
To round out the band, Pateman approached Ben Rogalsky, with whom he’d written music for an indie theatre production.
Rogalsky is from a musical family and has a degree in music from Simon Fraser University.
He also has a background in music for theatre and is a former member of the Flying Folk Army. Rogalsky’s brother, Luke, played in the 90s rock band Mystery Machine, and his brother, Matt, is a member of the up-and-coming Kingston band the Gertrudes.
Watson and Lawson were childhood friends from Ontario, who had first played together during summer camp. Pateman, too, is from a musical family and, like Watson and Lawson, had been studying bluegrass as a way of improving his skills on his instruments.
With roots in bluegrass, the Breakmen’s influences include the Blue Rodeo and Neil Young.
They have produced three albums to date and have won the Vox Pop Award for Americana Album of the Year at the Independent Music Awards, and earned two Canadian Folk Music Award nominations for their previous album, When You Leave Town.
The lakecity concert is part of a new tour promoting their latest release, Heartwood.
With Heartwood, the band paid tribute to its Canadian roots-rock idols and sought to bring its impeccably-crafted songs and tight harmonies to a wider audience — with bigger drum sounds and lots of vintage electric guitar.
Heartwood has been praised by the Georgia Straight for the “meticulous craftsmanship of the song writing, the strength of the lead vocals, and the tightness of the harmonies,” which it says “distinguish the quartet from other Canadian outfits mining a similar vein.”
The San Francisco Guardian wrote they: “bleed pure Americana,” while Germany’s Folkworld Magazine said the new album placed the band “on top of the Americana scene.”
Only 80 seats are available in this venue. To reserve a seat contact Martin Comtois at mountainmystics@me.ca or call Brent at 250-392-2610.
