A springtime dinner and dance at the Sooke Branch of the Royal Canadian Legion will have entertainment by Victoria band CURL who will roll out a mixture of blues, R&B and classic rock tunes on Sunday, March 24.
Performing songs in the style of Janis Joplin, Etta James and Aretha Franklin, CURL features Helen Davies on lead vocals and guitar, Dee Cooper on keyboards, Susan Johnson on bass guitar and local Sookite, Christa Rossner on drums.
“We’re excited about playing at the Sooke Legion,” said Davies. “The last time we played here was a long time ago when we were just starting out.” It has been eight years and over 130 performances since CURL last graced the stage in Sooke.
Primarily a blues band, CURL plays a wide variety of original and cover material with a focus on dance tunes that have cross-generational appeal. Their sets include songs by Big Mama Thornton, Koko Taylor, Johnny Cash, the Temptations, the Mavericks, Michelle Shocked and even Elvis Presley.
“As a four-woman band, CURL is unique in that we fill the void of an often under-represented segment of the demographic – mature women rockers – so our music fills a special niche,” explained Davies. “We are a different type of Canadiana. Instead of being subtle, tongue-in-cheek roots musicians, we’re contemporary, edgy, fun and love to make music that people want to dance to.
“We have won awards for some of our original tunes written with wry humour from the female perspective.”
Operating in and around Victoria for the past nine years, CURL was featured: in February, 2013 at the Valentine’s Redemption Dance at Hermann’s Jazz Club; opened for Juno award-nominated bluesmen Bill Johnson and David Vest in 2012; was a feature band at the Haro Strait Music Society’s 2012 Spring Blues Party and the 2’nd Victoria Blues Society’s Bluestravaganza.
Outside of Victoria, CURL has done some touring, playing at such notable venues as: Quadra Island’s Heriot Bay Inn; the Cumberland Hotel; Crofton Hotel Pub; Dingy Dock Pub, on Protection Island; and Port Browning Marina on Pender Island to name a few.
CURL is in the process of recording the finishing touches on a studio CD. The band was recently taped by The Seen, Shaw TV at Hermann’s Jazz Club and that footage is on Youtube.
Cocktails at 5 p.m, dinner at 6, show at 7.
Tickets available at the Legion bar, dance without dinner tickets can be purchased.
