Many bands come and go in Penticton’s clubs and concert venues, but next week VooDoo’s is hosting a young rocker with a special mission.
On May 25, Aimie Laws will be at the downtown club to kick off her Rock 4 MS tour, which she bills as “Nine Cities; 11 days; One Great Cause.” She is out, she said, to help the fight against multiple sclerosis the only way she knows how.
With over 200 new cases diagnosed each week and no known cure, MS affects the lives of many Canadians, including a close member of Laws’ own family.
“My step-dad was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis about seven years ago. When somebody gets diagnosed with something like that there is not much anyone can do except be there,” said Laws, admitting she was feeling helpless, not knowing what to do. Then, she had a dream one night that she was doing a tour for MS.
“I woke up one day and started planning it and it happened,” said Laws. “I wanted to give back in some way and the only way I knew how to help was through music. I have a very powerful connection with the healing power of music.
“This is the most effective way I could think of helping other than just being there.”
Law is still fairly new to the music business, and while she has done charity shows and events, this is the first time she has done a tour like this, one based on particular cause.
“I didn’t start writing music or playing guitar until about four years ago and I’ve been performing professionally for roughly two years,” said Laws. “I think I have accomplished quite a bit in the two years that I have actually been trying to do it as a career, as a girl that knows nothing about what they are doing.”
Laws released her first album, Only Human, last August, the result of a co-worker who she discovered was a “really amazing guitar player.”
“It’s really just an awesome accident that kind of came together and worked out well for everybody,” said Laws. “I was lucky enough to be able to debut it during my showcase at the Salmon Arm Roots And Blues festival — that was really cool and really fun for me.”
Laws said her inspiration for songs comes from events and emotions in her own life.
“When I wrote all the music for the album, I wasn’t writing the songs with the intention that these were the songs that were going to be on my first album. I was just trying to figure out how to write still at that point,” she said. “On the album, every song that is on there relates to a personal thing that I was going through or feeling at the time.”
She doesn’t, however, have any songs relating to MS, at least, not yet anyways.
“That touches home so much, that I don’t even know where to begin with it yet. But that is something that is brewing, that is for sure,” said Laws.
This tour isn’t only to raise awareness about the disease — a portion of the proceeds collected during the May 25 to June 4 tour will go directly to the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada.
“Everything that we make as far as door fees and donations, album sales. Everything after any expenses that aren’t already covered is getting donated,” said Laws. While she expects there will be some expenses, much of the costs of the tour have been covered by sponsors.
“We have sponsors that have contributed to the road crew and us getting to places and feeding ourselves,” said Law, explaining that available finances also restricted how long she could continue the tour for.
Even before the tour started, Laws said, she has received requests from Alberta and Northern B.C. to bring the tour there.
“I think two weeks was about as long as I can financially afford to do, much as I would like to take it other places,” said Laws. “Every ounce of money that goes into it is either coming out of my pocket or my sponsors’ pockets.”
Though she admits to often being mistaken for a folk singer because she plays acoustic guitar for a lot of her music, Laws said she is much more into alt rock.
“I have a little bit of roots in me … a lot of people will automatically say oh, you’re a folk singer because you play acoustic,” said Laws. “I have a couple of songs that fit into that category, but overall, I am an alternative rock girl.”
In addition to Penticton, Laws’ Rock 4 MS tour will visit Kelowna, Vernon, Armstrong, Enderby, Kamloops and Salmon Arm as well as Vancouver.
She’ll also be joined on certain dates by some of B.C.’s top indie artists, including Versus The Nothing, Columbia, Grim Hymn and the Horrors, Immaculate, Jessica Myroon, Shannon Beth Ireland and others.
In Penticton, Laws will be sharing the Wednesday evening at VooDoo’s with Furthermore, Ian Hill and Natasha Mondeaux.
