BANFF – When Cole Routledge moved back to Banff in the fall, he brought his ski gear and prized collection of hats, but the one thing not in his luggage was an acoustic guitar.
After arriving in the mountain town, the stage was calling to the nomadic musician and he signed up for Tommy’s Unplugged, Banff’s multi-week battle of the bands contest. He has the vocals and stage flair checked off and borrowed a guitar for it all to come together perfectly.
The solo act, armed with catchy songs and an eye-catching wardrobe of orange flower pants, a denim jacket and straw hat, Routledge was crowned winner of the 12th edition of music competition at Tommy’s pub on Dec. 18, winning the $500 jackpot and legendary status at the locals favourite watering hole.
“I just wanted to play music again, really,” said Routledge. “I was quite surprised when I won. You never really know, especially when you’re up against really good competition.”
Also known as coleslivemusic on Instagram, Routledge hails from New Zealand, where he learned and studied music at a young age.
A travelling soul, Routledge found himself in eastern Canada in 2019 when he boarded a train with a one-way ticket to Jasper, Alberta. Once he made it to the Rockies, he hitchhiked southbound on Highway 93 North to Banff.
As he put it, that’s where he “got stuck for the next year and a half.”
“I was only supposed to be here for three weeks and then I was going to jump on the train and head east,” said Routledge. “The music in this town is amazing. There is a lot of talent and opportunity and I just got invested into the community.”
He also met his soon-to-be wife in town. In August 2020 they were off exploring the world again. However, the pair returned to the popular resort town at the beginning of November and plan to tie the knot in 2025.
Before wedding bells though, the microphone master wanted to hit some strings.
Entering the competition for a second time (the first time in 2019), Routledge ended up borrowing a spare guitar of Garry Gonis’, organizer of Tommy’s Unplugged, and cruised through the preliminary and semifinal rounds with cover songs from the likes of Elton John and Fleetwood Mac and one original.
In the finals, he was up against stiff competition and thought Banff newcomer and talented singer/songwriter Leonore Francess May was going to take top prize, with a mix of original songs and folk pop sound.
Open to solo artists to full bands, each act had 30 minutes to throw down their best stuff in the finals. Musicians were allowed to play covers and/or original music and were judged on stage presence and musicianship.
In a close judging score, the second place $300 winner was given to Leonore Francess May and taking the third place $200 prize was long-time locals Kasey Suchowersky, Jacob Gill, Nick Christou and Bradon Kelly from Jonny Rocketman’s Atomic Tango.
Also competing in the finals were John Michealz and David Ngo.
Having only been in town for a little more than one month, May said being a part of the competition has been a strong catalyst in making connections around the mountain town.
“The main thing for me was I just wanted to have fun with it,” said the nomadic singer/songwriter. “It’s been a really nice opportunity for me to meet other people … just have fun with it and not put too much pressure on myself or get nervous for it.”
Rockin’ a cowboy hat on her head and guitar in hand, the British musician sang a mix of heartfelt originals and crowd-pleasing covers through the competition.
“It’s always fun to play a song that everyone loves and can sing along to,” she said.
Since 2012, the main component of Tommy's Unplugged, formerly Banff's Battle of the Bands, has been to build the music community in Banff.
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