Kim Churchill isn’t ready to settle down any time soon.
The Australian singer-songwriter, who’s played Canmore three times in the last two years, spoke from his van somewhere on the road in Quebec last week.
“The van that I’ve been living in over here finally died last week, so now I’m driving Utidur’s van,” he said. “At 22, I’m very excited about the idea of travelling anywhere, and seeing the world is No. 1 on my list of priorities.”
Churchill plays his next Canmore show on Saturday (Dec. 15) at Communitea Cafe, with Babette Hayward opening. Due to popular demand, there will be two shows, at 6:30 and 9:30 p.m.
“I still live out of my van in Australia,” said Churchill. “I like the idea of one day having a fleet of vans across the world, that I can fly into a country and get my van and live out of it.
“In Australia I can park at a beach and go surfing in the morning and then head off to do a show. Living in the back of a van suits me and I can’t see far enough into the future to living in a house. I get myself from A to B, and most of the money I make goes back into making more music – right now I’m experimenting with using a violin player.”
Following a string of shows in every province from Quebec to Saskatchewan, Churchill rolls into Alberta today with a show in Camrose. Tomorrow he flies to Victoria for a show, then back to Alberta to play Canmore Saturday.
“We booked a run of theatres in Quebec about 12 months ago, and it just made sense to reiterate some places like Canmore and Calgary,” said Churchill. “It’s such an expensive flight from Australia, it made sense to jump from one side of Canada to the other.
“It’s sad to leave Australia in the blossoming summer, but I’ll be back for the best part of it, and I still find snow a bit of a novelty.”
While Churchill’s favourite pastime when playing in Canada is making runs to the west coast for surfing, this time around he’s had to experiment with the other side of the country.
“I won’t get to surf Vancouver Island this time, I’m only flying in and out of Victoria for a show, but I have been surfing a little bit in the St. Lawrence River,” he said. “It’s never too cold, I learned that in the wintertime, surfing in B.C.”
His newest album – last year’s Detail of Distance – is still the focus of this tour.
“I love the art form of creating an album, similar to an artist creating a picture. You may be working on several at once, and I’m that way with albums,” he explained. “Now that Detail of Distance is out – although I’m touring it and performing the songs and I’m still putting a lot of time and effort into making sure I can still do the best performances of those songs that I can – now a lot of my attention is pushed towards future projects.
“I want to make a live album too, I just have to find the best way to capture the sound quality well. Maybe in the next 12 months.”
Churchill’s last show in the Bow Valley was at the Canmore Folk Music Festival in August.
“That was so much fun, that was probably my favourite festival of the entire summer,” he said. “It sticks out and was such an incredible weekend, everything about it, I had an absolute blast.
“We played the main stage at the Winnipeg Folk Festival, and some big stages in Quebec, and Canmore was nice because it was a smaller venue. I felt very comfortable and I really enjoyed performing.”
Opening the show for Churchill and playing on one of his songs is Babette Hayward, an up-and coming singer-songwriter from Eastern Canada.
“She came on the road for the first time last fall in Quebec, and musically I really enjoy her awesome sound,” said Churchill. “So when these dates came up, we were excited to have her on the road again.”
Hayward, who joined Churchill in Thunder Bay, Ont. for the tour, spoke from her home in Saint John, N.B.
“I think Kim’s an amazing songwriter, and he’s a really genuine guy, incredibly nice, and is always there after a gig talking to fans and up for making new friends,” said Hayward. “He’s just extremely generous, probably one of the nicest people I’ve met.
“It’s inspiring to tour with him, he’s quite the guitar player, and it’s amazing to see him up there with the rhythm of the guitar and the rhythm of his foot at the same time, and playing harmonica, he’s quite the multitasker.”
This will be her first time touring Western Canada.
“I’ve never toured out west, this is exciting for me,” she said. “Kim had already planned it for the winter and he asked me to come along. I’ve never seen the Prairies at all, so it’ll be interesting.
“I’m flying to Thunder Bay, where I’m meeting Kim – he’s driving from Montreal – and we’re going to drive from there all the way. But I’m very excited. Hopefully the tour will inspire some new songs.”
Hayward’s debut record, You Might Be Somebody, was released independently last year.
“In terms of lyrics, it was written around the time my grandmother passed away, so it’s a little on the dark side, and is a mixture of my own experiences,” she said. “It’s in the vein of the singer-songwriter genre.
“I’m pretty influenced by that kind of music, like a pop record with a little bit of folk mixed in.”
She hopes to release her second album early next year through Indica Records.
