Parker Crook
Morning Star Staff
You don’t have to travel far to hear the sounds of music legends Blondie, Jack White and Jimi Hendrix.
Or, at least to hear a band with a sound likened to the amalgamation of the three, when Vancouver garage-blues rockers Marry Me play Lorenzo’s Cafe in Ashton Creek April 14.
“We love Jack White. We love Jimi Hendrix,” said Natalee Fera, bassist and singer of Marry Me. “We listen to the sounds we like, and we draw a lot from that.
“I think Blondie comes from people hearing my voice,” she laughs. “All of those sounds together is what we call Marry Me sound.”
And it’s a sound the band has taken time to perfect, with three of four current members, all from different musical backgrounds, having played together for five years.
It began with Danny Lovelock, Marry Me’s punk-minded guitar player and vocalist, who wanted to start a band called Marry Me comprised of a guy and a girl. He then met Fera, who he is now married to, the high school teacher and classically trained musical theatre buff, and finally Kenny Dietrich, the group’s metal-head who was studying audio engineering with Lovelock at Pacific Audio Visual Institute in Vancouver.
The trio has been together ever since, with the brand new addition of guitarist Kylan Prince.
“We ran into him at a rock show in Vancouver, and he asked when we could jam,” she said. Prince’s style worked well with the trio, and Marry Me brought him on as a full member.
“He’s like a biker David Lee Roth,” she laughs.
Now, with four members, Fera feels the band is complete.
“We all complement each other. We have similar interests and we’re always together anyways.
“The three of them are like brothers.”
And their camaraderie transfers to the stage during live shows.
“I love playing with them,” said Fera. “Playing live, sharing music with the audience, it fills the room. Having a connection with people because of music is a great feeling.”
The Vancouver-based group has played across B.C., from Vancouver to Golden, across Canada to Quebec and as far south as Texas, but the group has never stopped to play in or around Vernon. Now they hope to fill the room and connect with a previously untapped market.
“We’ve actually never played in Enderby, but we know (Lorenzo’s) to be a good live music venue. We (will) play a couple hours of originals and some covers too. We’re super excited.”
After the wrap up of their mini tour in Calgary April 16, Marry Me will head back to Vancouver before starting a music-filled summer and fall.
Dropping at the end of May, a full year after the April 30, 2016 release of their latest single Ithcy Blood, is the band’s newest offering: a track about the struggles of the average working-class inspired by band members’ personal experiences.
After the release, Marry Me is gearing up for another tour mid-August, before hitting the studio in the fall to record new material.
“(We hope) to keep gaining new listeners,” said Fera about the band’s future. “We’re hoping to gain traction and open for bigger bands.”
Despite their hopes to continue growing, for Marry Me, it’s all about the music.
“We try to live in the present. We’re really about the now.”
For more information about Marry Me or to preview their music, visit www.marrymemusic.ca. Tickets are available for $10 at Lorenzo’s Cafe, located at 901 Enderby Mabel Lake Rd in Ashton Creek. To make a reservation, call 250-838-6700. Doors open for dinner at 6 p.m., with music at 8 p.m.