Live music returns to The Golden Taps when the folk rock band Sly Violet from Kawartha Lakes, Ontario plays a show on October 21. In a recent interview Violet Clarke, who makes up half of the group along with her husband Sly Boston, spoke bout where her love for music started.
“I started in piano lessons when I was three till about 13. By then I had earned Grade 8 Royal Conservatory in classical music so I decided to learn guitar. I had already been playing ukulele a bit in grade-school and some nights I’d jam along with my dad when I was a kid, watching him sing and play made me want to learn guitar as well,” Clarke said.
The pair normally tours in an old VW bus but due to the fact it does not have any heat they normally limit its use to summer trips.
As for where her inspiration comes from Clarke explained, “I draw inspiration from anything that makes me feel something strong enough that I just get an idea of how to express it as a song. All of my songs are very true to things I’ve experienced or felt or thought..”
She went on to say the best thing about making music for her was the feeling involved with playing music. “Playing music is such an outlet for me and I love performing my songs for other people. After a really great show its the best feeling in the world. Music definitely has its ups and downs as far as trying to make a steady income but the rewards are so great when you are doing something you love.”
As for being on the road with her husband Clarke said, “It’s awesome for us being a husband and wife band, we get along so well and music is a way for us to have fun together, whether its playing shows, jamming at home or driving to and from gigs.”
As for some of the struggles facing musicians these days Clarke explained, “One of the struggles independent musicians like us are facing is the internet – free downloads of music means people are buying cds less than they used to. Also digital creation of music means pop culture is forever changed now, stars can be bread from a young age based on their personality and looks but have little or no musical abilities. The last few years I’ve also noticed that a lot of bigger bands these days have backing tracks playing over their live instrumentation, or they’re not even singing at all, just faking it so that their live show will sound exactly like their CD, no mistakes, perfect actors – except when they’re not and you can tell if you watch closely. I like to go to shows to see musicians play their instruments and sing with feeling and I think thats what people do appreciate about seeing bands like us, we’re writing our own songs and really playing instruments and singing live, in the moment, no backing tracks just the real deal.”
As for being out on the road and playing gigs in towns like Golden Clarke said, “I absolutely love being on the road and playing small towns like Golden. One big perk about not having a booking manager and booking all of our gigs on our own is that we can pick the towns and cities where we want to play. We enjoy playing small towns far more than big cities, probably because we’ve spent a lot of time ourselves living in small towns like Golden so we can relate to the audience.”
