It takes seven different musicians and their seven unique styles and sounds to make up the infectious music of Stone Iris.
The Edmonton band, that blends rock, reggae, blues, metal, pop, rap and funk, will be taking the Rockwater Grill and Bar by storm when they take to the stage on Friday May 11.
“We have a solid foundation of blues rock, with a blend of reggae, hip hop and a little bit of funk,” said Jeff Burwash, who plays the drums, bongos and congas for Stone Iris.
“When we started playing together we were a four-piece. Then we added a percussionist, and the keys. It was a gradual thing, adding the musicians and the instruments as we were writing, so it wasn’t much of a struggle to get everything to fit together, because we kind of designed it that way.”
The group is on a western Canadian tour promoting their latest recording, Illuminations. It is the first release with the current lineup, but Stone Iris has released six EPs in four years.
“We’re pretty proficient with our recording. We do a lot of it ourselves. Our basement rehearsal space is actually rigged up to turn into a studio fairly easily,” said Burwash.
“So when we get a number of songs together that we want to start recording, or just hear what they’re sounding like, we can just plug in and turn the red light on and let her rip.”
The band was on the road, heading east during a phone interview, and will be heading back west to make it to Golden on their current tour. Despite the long hours away from home, and away from the full-time jobs that many of the band members have, Stone Iris loves being on the road.
“I love touring, it’s the best. We all woke up at about 5 a.m. this morning, way too early, earlier than we had to. But we were just raring to go,” said Burwash.
“It’s really great to be moving from town to town, meeting new people and making new fans, and spreading the music around. So any town is a good town if they want to hear some music.”
Mostly playing in bars and music showcases, Stone Iris has a very high energy, upbeat live show, even when they’re playing acoustic.
“We keep it pretty high energy most of the time. Again, with seven guys it’s pretty easy to keep a flow to the show,” said Burwash.
To hear some of Stone Iris’ music, go to www.stoneiris.com.
