Last March Vancouver Island roots rockers Lion Bear Fox launched their self-titled full-length debut LP with a release concert at the Port Theatre and then proceeded to take the album to the masses.
On Oct. 5, the trio – Cory Woodward, Ryan McMahon and Christopher Arruda, who live in Nanaimo, Ladysmith and Cumberland, respectively – returns to the Port Theatre to bring what Arruda calls a “bookend” to this musical chapter.
“We’ve been all across the country and down to the States and even over in Europe a little bit supporting the record and quite frankly these are actually going to be the last dates of 2018 for us and probably the last dates we do for some time while we get ready for the new record,” Arruda said of the group’s final tour stops. “So it’s a nice denouement for the end of the record cycle and it just ties it up nicely for us.”
McMahon said the last year and a half of touring has been a learning curve. The group has been performing at a variety of genre-specific festivals as they try to decide on a musical trajectory and identity.
“We’ve played folk festivals, we’ve played blues and rock festivals, this summer we even dipped our toes a little bit into country festivals. That was a total eye opener for us,” McMahon said. “It’s been a time of experimenting a lot for us and deciding what kind of band we are and what our next moves are going to be.”
Arruda said as they determine what kind of band Lion Bear Fox wants to be, the element that won’t change will be three voices singing in harmony. He said the band is aiming to further develop their sound, making it bigger and more polished. These are the ideas in the air as the Island trio gets in songwriting mode for their next album.
“We’re just kind of getting into the meat of it where there’s a bunch of different ideas and those ideas are going to slowly start turning into actual songs,” Arruda said.
WHAT’S ON … Lion Bear Fox performs at the Port Theatre on Friday, Oct. 5 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $33.50 and $42. Available at the box office.
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