Two celebrated B.C. folk-roots musicians are returning to Vernon with their self-crafted songs that have a wide fan base.
Raghu Lokanathan and Corwin Fox, who perform at Gallery Vertigo Sunday, began collaborating musically a few years back when they put together a snappy little EP called Petal Press, which they toured B.C. to support.
The two said they clicked beautifully, so they started laying the foundation for what would become the recording of Lokanathan’s latest CD, Blue Girl, which Fox produced.
“The album abandons the solo singer-songwriter model for something far more suited to the quirk and nuance of Raghu’s songs,” said Fox.
Having spent the better part of a decade honing his craft of songwriting (featuring casts of off-beat characters), and mastering many an instrument (guitar, banjo, accordion, and others), Lokanathan has taken the many lessons he’s learned, mixed with a handful of the friends he’s made along the way, and crafted some very beautiful music.
He has made quite an impression since emerging onto the music scene after moving to B.C., first Prince George and now Victoria, from Nova Scotia over a decade ago.
A prolific writer, his music has been played and regularly requested on CBC programs such as The Vinyl Café and the former Richardson’s Roundup, whose host Bill Richardson called Lokanathan’s song Ramona “genius.”
He was also asked to play at the Vancouver Folk Festival, where the late Utah Phillips heard him, and said that Lokanathan “writes songs like they used to a long time ago.”
Fox has received just as many accolades about his work.
The Halifax born and Ottawa raised songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist has been hailed as “a shining light in Canadian roots music” by Doug Cox, director of the Vancouver Island Music Festival.
Now based on the west coast, Fox has produced more than 30 albums for other artists and worked in the studio on over 100 albums in various capacities as well as composing music for theatre and documentary soundtracks.
Of his solo career, he has released two full-length albums, Compassionate Relay (2002), and Water Rain Music (2004) and four EPS, most recently Minutiae (2011).
He has also played venues and festivals large and small, some by himself, some with his band Morlove, and some with such luminaries as Fred Penner, Shane Koyczan and the Short Story Long, Alex Cuba, and Kim Barlow.
Locals can catch the two luminaries when they take the stage at Gallery Vertigo (3001-31st St. upstairs) Sunday at 7 p.m. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and tickets are $10 in advance at the Bean Scene. For more information, contact Gallery Vertigo 250-503-2297, www.galleryvertigo.com.
