Within one week, two artists who are getting ready to share the stage for the first time received some pretty big recognition.
On Feb. 9, Ryan McMahon of Ladysmith was nominated for five Vancouver Island Music Awards — including Artist of the Year. Just days earlier, Ontario's Crag Cardiff was nominated for a Juno Award. The two singer-songwriters are performing Feb. 24 at Joe's Garage.
Among his five Vancouver Island Music Award nominations, McMahon is up for Artist of the Year, Male Songwriter of the Year and Male Vocalist of the Year. As well, his album All Good Stories has been nominated as Album of the Year, and the video One Way, directed by Tash Baycroft of Red Star Films and performed with McMahon's band the Company Damn, is up for Music Video of the Year.
McMahon released two new full-length albums in the past year — the stripped-down, acoustic All Good Stories, and the full-band Put the Past in a Flask and Drink It with the Company Damn.
"Like Neil Young, I'm an epileptic who loves both the scream of distortion and the peace of the acoustic," he says. "Like Eddie Vedder, I wear all of my influences on my sleeves, where Tom Waits, Buddy Holly, Warren Zevon and Bruce Springsteen all reside."
For the past decade, McMahon has been writing and performing in Vancouver and his hometown of Ladysmith.
"Music is life, and I'm just as happy playing to 10 people in an intimate house concert as I am playing to 10,000 at a folk or country festival," he says. "Either way, a day above ground playing my songs and supporting my family while doing so is a great day."
All Good Stories was recorded at legendary guitar technician Richard Leighton's home studio in Lantzville.
"All Good Stories is exactly that: a collection of stripped-down material that I needed to record in a very organic environment," said McMahon. "Richard's house, man ... It's so beautiful there, no matter what time of day, what kind of weather, or what kind of mood you're in.
"The experience went so well, it was immediately apparent to me that we needed to do a full-band, full-scale production of the next record in the same setting."
Enter producer Andre Wahl (Hawksley Workman, Luke Doucet, Mudvayne).
For the months of November and December of 2010, Wahl, Leighton and the four members who make up the Company Damn holed up in the big house on the beach in Lantzville to make Put the Past in a Flask and Drink It.
"After spending time on the songs themselves and getting to know the guys, I knew it was gonna be a blast," said Wahl. "Ryan sings to someone and everyone who has ever got drunk, smoked, cried, loved or been loved."
Wahl was also involved in Cardiff's latest album.
Floods & Fires, released in November, has just been nominated for a Juno Award as Solo Roots and Traditional Album of the Year. It is Cardiff's 16th album and his most ambitious in scope, both musically and lyrically.
Hailed as the Che or Kerouac of indie music, Cardiff is a pioneer in alternate venue touring, often appearing in churches, basements, festivals, prisons, camps and even the occasional theatre or festival appearance.
He builds landscapes of sound using live digital loops and brings the room to a hush. Edged, folk, beautiful, melancholy and left-leaning, one song breaks your heart, and the next one puts it back together.
Armed with sardonic sincerity and polished awkwardness, Cardiff's performances are a mix of story and song, and occasional brawls.
"I think that the best shows are the ones where the lights are low, the music weaves in and out, and the people forget where the audience begins and the performer ends," he says.
McMahon and Cardiff are joining forces this month for just two Vancouver Island dates, and they've made sure to include Courtenay on their tour. They play Joe's Garage Fri., Feb. 24 at 8:30 p.m.
Tickets are $15 in advance at Bop City Records or $20 at the door if available. Joe's Garage is a cash-only venue.
Joe's Garage is a licensed restaurant, with the kitchen opening at 6:30 p.m. on show nights. Be sure to come for an intimate dinner before the show and ensure your seats. Dinner reservations can be made by e-mailing milo@joeson5th.ca or calling 250-702-6456. The menu can be viewed at www.joeson5th.ca.
For more information about McMahon, visit www.ryanmcmahon.com. Learn more about Cardiff at www.craigcardiff.com.