Ottawa’s Gareth Auden-Hole is a talented guy – and not just in his day job as an audio engineer and music producer. With Jack Pine and the Fire, Gareth and his bandmates bring a roots-based, catchy country feel with just a bit of rock thrown in. Since their first release in 2011, the band has been causing crowds to kick up their heels all over the city and beyond. They’ll be bringing their sound to the Bluesfest stage on July 11. We had Gareth answer a few questions about the band – and what he would do if he were mayor for the day.
How would you describe your sound?
The quick and boring genre description would be “alt folk-country,” but in more detail it stems from a very wide variety of influences. We play all acoustic instruments and that’s a very important element to our music. The biggest influences come from folk and old-time country music, as well as most other forms of traditional folk music from North America and, really, all around the world. To our music, we bring rootsy twang, African groove, gypsy swing and a solid soulful beat. I also love Tom Waits. I take from him an openness to different ways of singing – I’ll never sound like Tom Waits, but really, who could? Sometimes we wish we were a hobo jug band, but we’ve just got too much dang class. We’re a hard hitting string band with drums layin’ down a beat to guide the way.
How long have you been playing music, and how has your sound evolved over that time?
I’ve been playing guitar since I was 12 and started writing songs about 11 years ago. The band was kind of formed in reverse with most of the members only meeting weeks after the album they had all played on was released.
What are you hoping to get out of your Bluesfest performance? Fans, adoration, festival experience etc.
Yea, that and that and that. Bluesfest is one of the biggest festivals in the country so we’re pretty lucky to be on the bill and as it turns out, we’re getting a decent amount of press and new interest because we’re on the bill.
Are there any other bands on the bill you are excited to see?
To be honest, after Tom Waits, Bjork is #2 on my live music bucket list so I’m very excited to see her. I think I like her for the same reasons that I like Tom Waits – she’s not afraid to take her voice to strange and wonderful places. If I went any further than that my list would be unending… Looking at the first day, I would love to see gigs by at least 9 out of the 12 acts playing that night. I’m planning to tweet my bluesfest pics @jackpinefire.
If you were mayor of Ottawa for one day, what would you do? (Every band gets one “silly” question – have fun with it!)
Spend way too much on arts and community funding, ride my bike to work, and keep my Sunday night gig at Irene’s Pub with the Jack Pine Trio.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-D_qi5pGVo[/youtube]
.gif)
