New Music Canada Track of the Day for March 9, 2009:

Jody Glenham "Coffee Soaked"

Posted by Tariq Hussain on Mar 09, 2009

Vue Weekly - Edmonton Alberta

Week of October 30, 2008  Issue #680

JODY GLENHAM : ON THE ROAD AGAIN

Jody Glenham just can't wait to get on the road again.

EDEN MUNRO / eden@vueweekly.com

'They're all fairly new' Jody Glenham says over the phone from Vancouver, recalling the origins of the songs on her upcoming second album, Focus Pull. 'I think 'Coffee Soaked' is probably the oldest one and that's maybe from three years ago - I started that one in Edmonton - but the rest of them I've kind of written between Edmonton and Vancouver.'

These days - and for the last couple years - Glenham has called Vancouver home, but before that she did her time in Edmonton after leaving her hometown of Winnipeg. According to Glenham, the move to the west coast was a good one, with the Vancouver music scene accepting the songwriter into its midst. She’s also had the good fortune of being in the right place at the right time at least once, resulting in producer Jesse Gander of the Hive handling the controls for Focus Pull.

'I bumped into Jesse Gander at a party and we hit it off because we owned a couple of the same keyboards, ' Glenham remembers with a laugh, 'I didn't even know who he was, but when he mentioned the Hive I was familiar with a couple of the artists like Ladyhawk and Black Mountain that had recorded there, and then from there all of a sudden we were working on an album.'

The result of the fortuitous meeting is an album that differs somewhat from Brave New World, Glenham's Chris Wynters and James Murdoch-produced debut, in that Focus Pull is a truer representation of what Glenham sounds like when she performs live. She explains that the piano parts on Focus Pull are the same ones that she plays live, whereas on the previous disc Wynters and Murdoch took demos of her songs, broke them down and then built up a variety of parts that worked together as a whole.

This time around, Glenham and Gander started with the piano and then built the music up from there, adding drums first. The effect is that the various instruments weave around the piano, interacting as though a seasoned road band put down the music. Glenham is quick to credit the individual players for the sound.

'I think that has to do alot with the players I had, 'she states. 'The drummer [Al Boyle], he's basically a math-rock drummer and he helped a lot with the shaping of the songs. It's very easy for a singer-songwriter album to have every song sound the same and I think Al actually took the time to figure out complementary things and how to add texture to it instead of straight cross beats.'.

As much as she's enjoyed Vancouver, though, it wouldn't be entirely surprising to see Glenham pick up and move on sometime in the future. The wandering spirit admits that the thought had crossed her mind in recent times, as she's wondered what places like New York or Paris might hold for her.

While she has no concrete plans to pack up immediately, though, her life as a touring musician keeps her on the move enough, including a trip down to Austin, Texas for South by Southwest this past spring. That experience very much fueled her desire to see other places.

'You get exposed to different types of music because every city and every scene will have a stronger portion to it' she explains. 'I'd love to go back to Austin and the surrounding areas and learn about and be surrounded by the more soulful, country-type of music. It's a looser type of music than what I write and I think I might take something out of that. It's all about learning and listening. I listen alot. I listen more than I play.' V

Tuesday, March 11th

Seattle welcomes me to a rainy morning and one hell o' set of bloodshot eyes. I probably should have slept more, but my text messaging isn't working, and I wanted to correct the problem before I head into Texas where there's a meca of people I'm needing to connect with. Telus proves to be expectedly unhelpful. Maybe when I land in Austin I might be in a better coverage area they say. Balls.

My flights take me through Denver, then to Austin where I meet up with Team Texas, or 'The Tripod' as you will, consisting of Vancouver accquaintence, Louise Burns and her friend from Victoria, Coral Osbourne. We cab it into town, with our original taxi getting pulled over half-way for not having proper displayed documents and us being disspelled into the street. At least it saved us half of a fare.

We get dropped off by cab numero two at The Beauty Bar on Red River and 7th. Louise's friend Eric manages the bar and shuffles us through the back. They're having a pre-party for the festival, with two stages both featuring local bands. Watched a set by The Black and White Years and some other bands I didn't catch the names of. I figure it's the day before the festival, I'm not on the clock yet. We treat the night as a bonding experience for The Tripod, complete with tequila shots and moments of true 'bro-ness'. At 3 am I haven't run into anyone I know from Canada yet, so I inquire with Louise as to where she is staying and if perhaps I can crash there tonight as well. We all end up at Eric's house, which is postered with Mars Volta signage, a band he's tour managed in the past. I curl up in my patch of hardwood floor with a couple of blankets and fall into an alcohol-induced slumber.

Wednesday, March 13th

All I brought with me to Austin for the week was my purse. It's big purse, mind you, but all the same, I planned to be mobile and low-mainteince. I did manage to fit my flat-iron in it though. A girl's gotta have priorities.

The plan for today, other then picking up our badges, is no plan. We hear about a Canadian BBQ and figure it's a good idea to hit it up, if only for the drink tickets and free eats. I've been a vegi-quriam since June but figure when in rome... Plus I did live in Alberta for 7 years and can still appreciate a decent steak. There's some rad people playing the event, The Pack A.D. and Dragonette being a few. I've had a girl crush on Martina Sorbara since her tampon-music folk days and try not to pet her while she's onstage. I start running into some familar faces and meet some familair names, including the infamous IceCream Man. I can respect a man that gives away free icecream. I'm sure the ladies love him.

After the bbq we head to Pangaea for The Black Angels and The Ravonettes. Quick and dirty sets by both bands, I'm totally digging the sound quality of the venues so far, all 'ping-y' where you want ping, not to mention all the simple and solid female drummers. Just goes to show, you don't have to be crazy busy to transmit a pulsating pull. We spy Lou Reed hanging out back behind the line, I'm totally stoked to catch his keynote speach/interveiw tomorrow.

We catch a couple of songs of a band called The Upsidedown, a bit down the street. I remember them from a Dandy Warhols show I saw in the summer. By this point, we are in dire need of food if we want to continue, so we start back to 6th and randomly choose a resturant. Bring on the Tex-Mex! I haven't really been able to get ahold of anyone down here, trying to stay off my phone as much as possible and still choked with Telus since my text message problem did not correct itself. Austin proves to have that small town feel, since we run into Nik7 from Shout Out Out Out Out and sound man to the northern lights, John Ruby, who I know from my Edmonton days. We join their table and get a helpful rundown of what not to order off the menu. Beers insue, and then we hightail it over to La Zona Rosa to try and get in for Yeasayer and Simian Mobile Disco. All ready, hours before the show, there's a line forming and The Tripod is forced to reassess the situation. We leave the boys, saying hi to birthday boy Jaycie Jace and promise to make it out to their show at Beauty Bar the next night. Our new destination is Emo's where The Black Keys are slotted to play at midnight. We lose Coral along the way to drinks at The Four Seasons with The Kings of Leon's agent. Business commitments come first in this town. We get to the venue in time to beat any major lineups and meet up with some Toronto folk hanging out in the back. Always good to see Gregory 'The Goose'. He introduces some babes he's been playing with as of late and apparently Lyle Bell is around somewhere too, looking swank in a brown velvet jacket, but I never run into him. Emo's is the type of place that when you walk in you feel the possiblities. There is a definate vibe, you know great shows have been played there and great shows are still to come.

At this point I hear that Curtis Santiago is in town and has manage to russle up a two bedded hotel room off the I-35 for the night. I call dibs on the extra bed and meet up with him. We hunt down some late night eats and just check out the scene on the streets at 3 am. I'd been feeling good energy all day and having Curty around was the perfect night cap. We walk for a bit, run into some old friends, make some new ones and then decide to call it a night. I'm happy to have good company and a pillow under my head tonight. I don't know if Austin's realized it yet, but someone brought Vancouver to the party and we are ready to kick it...

Thursday, March 13th

Today is a big day. After only a couple of hours of sleep, I'm back up, showered and off to the Lou Reed Keynote at The Convention Center. It is by far the most influential part of the festival. The setup is very much actor's studio-ish, with someone asking questions, living room couch style. The guy leading the interveiw is Wil Hallner, a record producer who's known Lou for years. It definately helps with the flow, Wil seems to have a sense on when he's done with a thought and when he should pause before asking another question. He stressed the importance of owning your publishing, spoke about technology, both in the medium sense and producing sense. He mentioned having recently played around with a Mini Moog Voyager and that once he figured out how to turn the darn thing on (so many buttons!) what he didn't know about the machine he figured out by instinct. He's always relied on instinct. That sure hit home for me. Oh yeah, and the fact that when asked what he was listening to he said Holy Fuck. Fuck yeah!

After the speach, I meet up with Team Texas. Apparently they've been lost for most of the morning. The Tripod can not function with a third missing. We head to The Ceder Door where there are some young ones on stage from New Jersey called Steel Train. They are good. Their taste in gear is mint , the bass player having the same bass as Louise, a 1967 Gibson EB2. After that, at The Taphouse, we check out Jason Collette. Greg plays keys for him and I definately need to get my key fix. There's a dude on stage strumming an acoustic guitar, he's in his late fourties and I assume he's the guitar tech. After a few songs in, I realize he's not, just in time for him to reem out some dude on his cell phone, "I got up damn early this morning to come and play for you!" Bitterness gets you nowhere. Random guy .. phone could have been A and R for some record label hooking buddy up with a deal and now, no dice. Jason sounds lovely, and as I'm standing at the side of the stage geeking out over Greg's setup, I have a few people come up and ask if I know who's playing.

Next stop, Nylon pool party. Coral has friends in The Virgins, and god are they good. We were definately the ones having the most fun at the party, everyone else was just standing around trying hard to look cool. And there was a big sign beside the pool that said 'No Swimming'. Lame-o. It was cool to see the Young Lords show up to catch The Virgins set. Turns out they're buddies from New York. The party was held on the top floor of a parkage overlooking the city and on our way down we hear a little of what could only be Black Mountain. We catch their set, with them playing to about 3 dozen people.

We figure food is in order now, it being about 7 o'clock. I remember seeing that MGMT was playing at a decent looking Tex-Mex restaurant/lounge so we decide to hit the place up for dinner and camp out till when they play. This turned out to be an excellent move. The girl before MGMT was killer, Florence and The Machine, from London. She comes over after her set, says she likes my glasses and sits down at our table. MGMT was awesome. I admit to not knowing too much about them as a band, I hadn't even heard a song before hand, but the entire set was solid, i couldn't even pick out what song was considered their single, everything was strong.

At this point, I know Shout Out Out Out Out is just hitting the stage at Beauty Bar. As we're heading there I get a text from my cousin saying that they've wrapped up their show in San Antonio and are on the road to Austin. He drums in Comeback Kid and NOFX is headlining a Victory Records party, CBK's label. The Beauty Bar is packed, it's after midnight, and Lyle Bell is wasted on stage. To top it off, he's keyboard stand is peacing out, he's in no shape to fix it and no one else can seem to get it to stay up. Cadence Weapon is in the crowd, he's up there in a flash, helping his boys out. My cuz shows up to say hi, then takes off next door, apparently his party is just one venue over.

Word spreads via texts that there's an after party at some house on Willow street. We roll up and the back yard is just a sea of people. The house is completely plucked from She's All That, complete with a guest house, a pool house, and yes, a very gnarly looking pool. Diplomat is deejaying, Cool Kids sit in for a set along with Boyz Noise and Cadence Weapon. The party gives me a chance to catch up with Nik7 and some of the other Shout Out boys. Someone busts a waterpipe in the garden and after getting a little wet, and it being 5 in the moring we decide to call it a night.

Friday March 14th

Today starts off with more Cadence Weapon. The guy is dope. I meet up with the Tripod at Emo's for Yeasayer. Wow, yet another band I've been meaning to check out for awhile. Such a great mix of primial earthy beats and electronic noise. It finally hits me on how amazing music is. One of the guys in the band tells the crowd that he was referred to as a red head. He said he didn't know how to feel about that. I was standing at the back of the club, perched on the top of a bench, sorta surveying the whole place. I found myself yelling across Emo's "I Love Gingers!", a true statement, which projected way more then I expected. Beer and a platform are never a good idea.

Our 3 o'clock craving for margarita's kicks in, so we wander 6th Ave in search. Cisco Alder is doing some interview thing for Blender, looking for the hottest girl in Texas. He takes our temperature, and as he's doing so I try to drop the phrase "Tripod" as many times as I can into the camera. I hope I never have to watch that.

We catch wind that there's some mansion party sponsered by CBC. They have full on picnic spread set out in the dining room and Moosehead. Fuckin' Moosehead! Someone must have brought that down with them. Toothbrush.... check.... extra strings.... check.... fourteen flats of canadian beer... check. I feel like the thirteen year old sister crashing a high school party. I see more familair faces, Dan Magnan, Matt from The City Streets and my most favourite, Rebecca Higgs. She is from Halifax and we've tried to organize shows together in the past. She has knitted these little heart pins, I noticed some of the boys in Shout OUt OUt OUt OUt wearing them the other night, so I ask if she has one for me. She laughs and says only if she's allowed to put in on me, so yes, I have been pinned by Rebecca Higgs. I also run into to Keiko, who plays with The Acorn. I know her from her other band, People For Audio, of which I've had the pleasure of sharing a bill back in September for DeckFest in Vancouver. We chat for a bit and I try to mentally note that she told me The Acorn plays The Mohawk tomorrow at 2PM.

It's about 8 at night and the party starts to fliter out, I figure it's because there is no more Moosehead left in any of the coolers. As we are waiting for a cab, an RV pulls up and out stumbles a slew of people. It's The Stills, and Dave recognizes Coral from putting together some shows. We all roll down to Stubbs, and take over a huge table in the restaurant. MGMT is playing again tonight, followed by The Cribs, Sia and N.E.R.D. The line outside for the venue part of Stubbs is already down the block, but there's a plan. We have dinner, with the band's manager picking up the bill, and then by that point we find ourselves being shuffled to a deck patio above the stage. I am stoked. Between all the bands playing there are about 18 different synthesizers on stage. I'm standing about ten feet directly above the key player for MGMT and can't take my eyes off of his hands during their set. I decide I need a Yamaha DX-7 and a Minimoog immediately.

Back down to just the three of us, we try to hit up another party at the same place where the Nylon party was the other day. No dice. We catch the tail end of the Mint Records showcase at Club 115 and then by this point it's about one am and the after-party texts start. We end up at a party out east where the Smalltown DJs from Calgary are spinning. Nothing like getting your groove on to Chromeo under a clear half-mooned texian sky. From there we head to some Blender party out also in the middle of nowhere. Once more, Diplo is playing records along side A-Trak, they start some spin wars, going back and forth between the two. I finally realize that I reffered to him as Diplomat the other day. God, there is so much going on down here, I can't keep it all straight. My apologies. I run into a friend in town from New York. Apparently the other guy staying in his room has already left town and he's got an extra bed. The party wraps up and the night is called.

Scene.

Saturday, March 15th

It's Saturday morning. I only know this because my phone says so. My days are bleeding into one another, I'm tired, I have so many stamps and wristbands on my hands that I've lost track of where they've all come from. I've figured out how to bus it into town off of the innerstate for only fifty cents. Austin has been accomplished. And there is still one day to go.

I make it downtown in time to catch the first bit of The Acorn's set. After a few songs, I head down the street to where The Tokyo Police Club and the rest of the Tripod is hanging out. The band was slotted to play an afternoon show but due to the passing of a family member, only Dave taking the stage for a solo set. We run into the guys from 1/2 Alive and have breakfast out of an icecream vending cart. They take off to the Fader party, apparently where they are giving away tons of free shit. The Tripod stops to watch Nicole Atkins, we had spotted her in the crowd at Black Mountain 'private' showcase the day before. She mentions the band during her set, but then lost some major points for playing a cover song. Afternoon showcases only get about 25-20 minutes to play. At any given moment at SXSW there are at least three other places you should be. If I'm stopping to check out your stuff, the last thing I want to hear is a cover.

The Stills and Holy Fuck are playing over at The Beauty Bar. I pass by Dallas Green standing outside. I've seen him around at most of the Canadian free bbqs. We make eye contact for the umpteemth time; the mutual appreciation for rad specs and tattoos.

Holy Fuck. Pretty sick. One of the guys was wearing an A Place To Bury Strangers t-shirt. Brodom, how punk rock. I stood next to Racheal Ray, who rumour had it, had done shots with Motorhead the night before. Since we had been partying at Beauty Bar all week, we were in a prime spot 'backstage', aka behind a line drawn on the ground. I caught up their drummer, Matt, right after they played and within a few minutes of chatting, broke the news that Lou Reed was a fan. I figure it would have filtered down by then, but the band had no idea. Can we say 'Scoop'?

Scrambling to squeeze in as much as possible on the last night, we try to make it to M Ward after grabbing some dinner. The venue only has a capacity of 100 people. They aren't letting anymore people in till after 11 PM. Scratch that. Arts and Crafts is having a showcase a block away. The Constantines is a major highlight of the night. During Jason Collette's set, The Stills' keyboard player, Liam, leans over my shoulder and says 'That's my part, I played that on the record'. I told him that if this was hip hop he'd be up there, because it was his part. Some of the members of The Choir Practice are in the audience. Chris Kelly fills me in on a Curtis Santiago/Choir Practice collaboration filmed out at an old church in the country that morning by Todd M Duym. They did it in one take, as something like that should only be done.

We decide to check out the scene on the streets, so different from a few nights earlier. More granville hootch then I would have liked to have seen, someone else compared it to Mardi Gras. We pass by a group of babes who don't seem to know what to do with themselves. I tell them that they are babes, and conversation insues. Ryder, from The Mohawk Lodge passes by and laughing, announces that it looks like a stand-off between The Tripod and The Random Babes. I start to arm wrestle the one closest to me and tell him to be careful because I'm wirey. We find out afterwords that he plays in Minus The Bear. Cool, you still arm wrestle like a girl.

One of the guys asks 'Where's the party?'. I laugh. We are standing in it. We are the party.

Over the week there were a hundred other acts I couldn't make it to and I know there are things I've left out, things I can't remember due to my fondess for margaritas on the rocks. I won't even begin to tell you about the madness of the airport over the next few days. Those of you who were wanting a little more dirt regarding 'SXS-seX', there are things you learn from hangin' in the south; There's no excuse for a man not to be a gentleman and a lady doesn't kiss and tell...

'When I Grow Up' has been selected for the Winter 07 music compilation that accompies each issue of Vancouver art and literary magazine, 'One Cool Word'.

http://www.onecoolword.com/

ONE COOL WORD - WINTER COMPILATION 2007

1. The Wintermitts – Que Toi
2. In Medias Res – A Cause for Concern
3. Greenbelt Collective – Get up and Go
4. Japandroids – Coma Complacency
5. Punch Charming – Spectacle
6. Scott Riesterer – Purgatory
7. Katie Go Go – Patio
8. Culte Du Cargo – Do What We Like
9. Joseph Blood – Cemetery Town
10. Jeff Younger – Pig
11. Whale Hunters – Arrow M2
12. The Rain & the Sidewalk – I Came Across No One On My Journey
13. Jody Glenham – When I Grow Up
14. Trembling – Silent Fanfare

The magazine is throwing a release party Friday, Febuary 8th at The Anza Club featuring music by:

scott riesterer www.myspace.com/scottmfr
punch charming www.myspace.com/punchcharming
the greenbelt collective www.myspace.com/greenbeltcollective
culte du cargo www.myspace.com/culteducargo


$10 tickets NOW available at Zulu Records! They will be at Red Cat Records BY JAN 28th! (or $12) A copy of the magazine is included at the door.


One Cool Word is available at:

Zulu Records - zulurecords.com - 1972 West 4th Ave
Duthie Books- duthiebooks.com - 2239 West 4th Ave
Red Cat Records - redcat.ca - 4307 Main St.
Spartacus Books - spartacusbooks.org - 319 West Hastings Street
Magpie Magazines - 1319 Commercial Drive
People's Co-op - peoplescoopbookstore.com - 1391 Commercial Drive
Chapters - chapters.indigo.ca - 788 Robson Street
Does Your Mother Know? - 2139 West 4th Ave

PROJECT UPDATE

MIKEY MANVILLE

Front man of Vancouver indie rock band, The Manvils, is releasing a solo record this Saturday, August 25th at The Railway Club. His band is a wonderful little alt-country unit that includes myself on keys. Shows will be posted accordingly.

VERSUS THE VOLUME

Brand spanking new! First show on Sept 1st at DECK FEST! Electro-duo of Doug Phillips and myself. Soon to be full band. Myspace page will be up mighty fast. And yes... we are loud....

SOLO SHOWS

I sure am still playing solo shows! The second album is in the works, a new song, Slip Away,  has been posted from pre-production demos done last weekend. Looking to make my way out east for a couple of shows late October/early November. Oh Toronto...

Thanks for taking the time to read this. I appreciate the interest!

Much Love

JG