Annie Becker and Parlour Roller will present an intimate Denman Island Back Hall Music Night on Dec. 20.
Recently named Vancouver Island Vocalist of the Year, it’s hard to believe Annie Becker is from the West Coast and not from the basement of a late-'30s New York Jazz Club.
Whether you see Becker in a packed club, intimate coffeehouse, animated music festival, or bustling street corner, those who come across this jazz queen wrapped in a folk dress wearing soled shoes will no doubt walk away with a smile on their face and a melody in their head. She goes back in the studio to record her next album in February.
Annie will be joined on Denman by Keelan Gamble. Keelan has been playing percussion and drums all his life. He has a dual diploma in Latin percussion and Jazz drumming. He also spent a month in Africa learning African percussion.
Keelan is based on Denman Island. Woodshedding.
"The lyrics are straightforward, they are intelligent, and Annie's a very compelling performer. She has a powerful voice and a very theatrical delivery in the way she sings. When she sings, you listen." — Radio-Canada International
The Parlour Roller is a breed of domesticated pigeon, known for its unique performance of turning somersaults on the ground. Parlour Roller is a musical duo with a unique breed of collaborative and intimate folk-roots sound, brand new to the West Coast music scene.
Both with roots in Ontario (and both possessing the propensity to roam), Ben Doerksen and Skye Wallace are a pair drawn together by a like-minded musicality.
Though the two have their own solo projects in Vancouver and Toronto, Parlour Roller is a special opportunity to blend their distinct styles and vocal timbres in a way that evokes train tracks, woodsmoke, and the rustic cabins of rural Canada.
Wallace works to compile all of the stark elements of the Canadian landscape into a sort of musical archive. Inspired by historical non-fiction and field recordings, particularly the esteemed National Parks Project, Skye’s songs are made out of stories that are hidden in plain sight. The resulting sound is experimental, gritty, and orchestral.
She has shared the stage with The Rural Alberta Advantage, Ladyhawk, Bocephus King, Jordan Klassen, Facts, Allison Crowe and even Fred Penner.
With over a decade of playing, writing, and performing under his belt, Ben Doerksen’s music is aimed at maneuvering the collision of an urban life obsessed with nostalgic, idyllic nature. Benjamin explores declinations of love, benedictions from loss, and the geographical landscapes that fall behind them.
He has toured, performed and collaborated with the likes of The Strumbellas, Cuff The Duke, Craig Cardiff, Peter Katz, Bry Webb, and Ben Caplan. Reared atop the roaming plains and between the concrete bouquets of Southern Ontario for the past two and a half decades, and now recently relocated to the West Coast, the new folk sound of Benjamin Doerksen is an ever-adaptive creative venture.
This will be a truly unique musical experience. Walk on over to Denman for the evening … enjoy the show and some mulled cider and cookies … take the last ferry home. A lovely way to spend the last Friday before Christmas!
Doors at 7 p.m., showtime 7:30. For more information, visit tinshackcreative.com or call 250-465-8867
— Tinshack Creative