Vernon’s Pottery Road Studios in hosting its next house concert Sunday, April 17 with a performance by Victoria-based folk musician Oliver Swain and his Big Machine.
Swain got his start performing and writing with a number of U.S. and Canadian traditional roots bands, including The Bills, The Duhks, Outlaw Social and The Red Stick Ramblers.
The two-time Prairie Music Award (WCMA) winner and Juno nominee released his first solo album, In A Big Machine, in 2011, which Fast Forward Weekly’s Kenna Burima said was one of the best albums of that year, “regardless of genre.”
Swain’s sophomore album, Never More Together, released this past winter, premiered with Exclaim! Magazine and was referred to as “genre defying at its best... Beautifully played and performed, each song a mini masterpiece,” by Fatea Magazine.
Never More Together strays towards the whimsical, spiritual, and socially conscious sides, which Swain unapologetically refers to as “chamber folk odyssey.”
While he starts with a traditional base of clawhammer banjo, bowed bass, slack key guitar, and multi-octave vocals, modern rock and early R&B find their way into some of his songs.
Together, with a range of accompanying musicians who are all cogs in his Big Machine, Swain delights fans and critics alike across North America, and tours regularly in addition to his other projects: Tower of Song (Leonard Cohen tribute duo with Glenna Garramone), Fans & Motor Supply Co. (Victoria-based retro-rock band), and organizing the annual Victoria Django Festival.
Swain’s concert takes place in the barn at 964 Pottery Rd. Sunday, April 17 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $20 at the door, which opens at 7 p.m., or call 250-260-0878 to reserve a seat.