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Drake, St. James scene of Smalltown Revival

John Jenkins’ Smalltown Revival, from Golden, B.C., is coming to play in the small towns of Alberta. The mountain folk music band will play the St. James Gate in Banff, Dec. 16-17 and the Drake Pub in Canmore on Dec. 22.

John Jenkins’ Smalltown Revival, from Golden, B.C., is coming to play in the small towns of Alberta.

The mountain folk music band will play the St. James Gate in Banff, Dec. 16-17 and the Drake Pub in Canmore on Dec. 22.

“We try to present as many styles as we can within the realm of what we call mountain music,” said Jenkins, in a recent interview. “We’ve been touring as much as we can around Alberta and B.C.”

Smalltown Revival formed two years ago, after the dissolution of Jenkins’ previous band, Swerving Gently.

“Smalltown Revival hasn’t played in Canmore,” he said. “My previous band played at the Canmore Hotel a few times. Banff has been a regular stop for us for four years at the St. James Gate. For a while, we did once a month there.”

That said, Jenkins is eager for the chance to play the Drake.

“We’re really excited to come play at the Drake – my brother and I used to live in Canmore and we used to go there to see a lot of music,” he explained. “It was my first mountain town – it was my gateway, I moved out in ’97 – and I’ve been in the mountains ever since.

“It’s been great, going to the ski hill all the time, being surrounded by the mountains and that constant source for inspiration for music,” he added. “Lately, we’ve been opening parties at ski hills and we have people dancing in their ski boots, which is quite entertaining.”

In October, last year, the band went into the studio and released it’s Music From Home album earlier this year and has been touring ever since.

“We’ve played everywhere from Edmonton to Vancouver Island, down to the Kootenays, having lots of fun and meeting different people, and doing our best to get back to the towns every three months,” he said.“We’re having a really good time and good response with the music, with lots of radio play across the country, so it’s been really positive.”

The band consists of Jenkins on guitar, foot kick and snare, Yannick Robitaille on keys and Jenkins’ brother Dan on bass and vocals.

“It’s quite collaborative,” said Jenkins. “Yannick, he’s a fantastic musician. I met him through jam nights in Golden and he’s actually co-written a lot of the music with me.

“As far as the lyrics, aside from a couple of songs my brother has written, it’s my lyrics and ideas. My brother plays base and background vocals, and now that the three of us have been playing together for three years, when we sit down to write new songs, maybe someone has an idea for the root of a song and then we work together on the parts. Then I’ll have lyrics.”

What he writes about depends on whatever’s on his mind at any given time, said Jenkins.

“Very rarely do I sit down with a topic in mind – If I’m walking around and I get a thought, I’ll just stop and write it,” he said. “As an artist you’re always searching for what people can relate to, and the Smalltown Revival thing is something I’ve only realized in the last couple years – certain particular things only happen in small towns and it’s a different way of life from city life. Though every city has small towns in it – there’s an idea of just trying to revive the soul of small towns.

“And there’s definitely a subtle conscientious thing as far as sustainability as well – like the song “Smalltown Revival” talking about the mills and the mines shutting down and people having to find a different way to make ends meet and how that effects people.”

With this, he made a connection to the Canmore community.

It’s hidden in an upbeat song, and that’s kinda the idea, there’s always a way to make it through harder times. Canmore has gone from mining to a resort community, and a lot of other towns in B.C. have done the same.”

Touring, and getting to play a lot of different venues, is an important aspect of the band, stressed Jenkins.

“The variety of venues and meeting new people and seeing how people respond to the music – I’ve always enjoyed roadtrips and touring is a great way to spend some time travelling a bit,” he said.

“The challenge of always playing in different rooms – from theatres to bars to big parties and festivals – is it’s interesting to test the music in all those different situations.”


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