The Radio Grande, The Eagles Club, Starlight Room, 170 3rd Street West, North Vancouver, Friday, Feb. 28, 7 p.m. Event sold out.
The Radio Grande, the North Shore’s new roots supergroup (featuring Colin Nairne, Wendy Bird and Tom Taylor) launch their debut album with a sold out show Feb. 28 at the Starlight Room.
“This all started with Tom coming over to our house to get together and do some casual pickin’ and singin’,” says Nairne. “Always a fun thing to do with Tom, and we were just calling out song titles and working our way through tunes by the likes of Richard Thompson and Lee Ann Womack and having a ball when he said, ‘I wrote this song…’ which turned out to be ‘Sea of Flames.’ Before you know it, plans were being made for recording.”
The trio assembled a band, brought Dave Meszaros on board as co-producer and engineer, and went into his studio and got to work.
“Over several nights we put most of the record together and finished it at our home studio a while later,” says Nairne.
The husband and wife team of Nairne and Bird (most recently known for their work in the bluegrass band The High Bar Gang) and She Stole My Beer frontman Taylor have crossed paths several times over the years. Between them they conjure up a wide range of musical styles (from places like Nashville, Memphis, and Lubbock) and bring their love of country, folk and honky tonk roots rock into the mix on Town and Country.
Taylor contributes several songs to the group’s sound, as well as one he wrote with Barney Bentall, “Where The Moonlight Guides the Broken Hearted Home,” and two new collaborations with Bird and Nairne, “Come Spring” and “Let’s Not Call it Love.” The latter track, the last recorded, gets everything off to a rocking start.
An eclectic choice of covers (hitting on the likes of Johnny Cash, Elvis, and Buddy and Julie Miller) rounds out the 12-song set defining The Radio Grande sound.
Town and Country will be officially released on Friday, Feb. 28 on all digital streaming apps. CD copies of the album will be available for purchase at the venue
The full band (Tom Taylor – guitar and vocals; Wendy Bird – guitar and vocals; Dave Reimer – bass and vocals; Colin Nairne – guitars, mandolin; Geoff Hicks – drums; Scott Smith – pedal steel, slide and dobro guitars and Adrian Dolan – fiddle) will be on hand for the launch at the Starlight Room.
The Radio Grande: Town and Country
Musicians:
Tom Taylor - Guitar and Vocals
Wendy Bird – Guitar and Vocals
Dave Reimer – Bass and Vocals
Colin Nairne – Guitars, Mandolin
Geoff Hicks - Drums
Scott Smith – Pedal Steel, Slide and Dobro guitars
Adrian Dolan – Fiddle
Dave Barber – Guitar
Kirby Barber – Acoustic Bass and Vocals
Produced by: The Radio Grande and Dave Meszaros for Redwater Worldwide
Recorded by: Dave Meszaros at Watershed, Vancouver BC
‘Let’s Not Call It Love’ recorded by Mike Fraser, assisted by SpencerBleasdale at Armoury Studios, Vancouver BC
Additional recording at Red Room Studios, North Vancouver, BC
Mixed by: Mike Fraser at The Armoury, Vancouver BCAssisted by Spencer Bleasdale
‘King of July’ mixed by Dave Meszaros, at Watershed, Vancouver BC
Mastered by: Martin Pradler at Wireland Studios, Chatsworth, CA
Let’s Not Call It Love
(written by Tom Taylor, Colin Nairne and Wendy Bird)
King Of July
(Tom Taylor)
Baby Ride Easy
(Richard Dobson)
Keep Your Distance
(Richard Thompson)
By The Time Our Tears Have Dried
(Tom Taylor)
Come Spring
(Tom Taylor, Colin Nairne and Wendy Bird)
True Love Travels On A Gravel Road
(Dallas Frazier and A. L. Owens)
Don’t Listen To The Wind
(Julie Miller)
Sea Of Flames
(Tom Taylor)
What My Heart Wants
(Tom Taylor)
Send It On Down
(Christopher Knight and David Leone)
Where The Moonlight Guides The Broken Hearted Home
(Tom Taylor and Barney Bentall)
Photography and design by Karen Walker Chamberlin
