Mar. 13, 2013 - Issue #908: In Your Face
Great Northern Revival
The underground has risen again—for the first time since 2010 to be exact.
The Great Northern Revival, which launched in 2009 and is spearheaded by musician Scott Cook and graphic artist Steven Teeuwsen, has once again scoured the local independent music scene for a wealth of diverse talent to round out the track list on its latest compilation Notes From the Edmonton Underground Vol. 3. The two-disc collection brings together 37 different artists and bands who have released new material within the last year, including previously unreleased material from 100 Mile House, Alex Vissia, Ben Sures, Cadence and Nathan, the Collective West, Dead Red Pine, Fire Next Time, the Give 'Em Hell Boys, Joe Nolan, Nuela Charles, Picture the Ocean and the Whytes, to name a very small few.
"It's kind of like listening to a really great radio station that plays a variety of music, and knowing that there is that kind of diversity in the scene in Edmonton is great," Teeuwsen notes of the lineup, which is a smattering of folk, country rock, garage rock, reggae and various fusion genres. "We went through all the bands that we frequently see and then from there branched out and just did some online research into who's released music in the last year, and then who we thought would fit in well together on a compilation and just tried to pick the best talent that we could."
The collection cuts a wide swath across the music created within Edmonton, but Teeuwsen acknowledges it's only a part of it, reflecting predominantly the scenes that he and Cook frequent. He adds it also showcases the evolution that's occurring amongst folk music in particular, melding influences of country and rock with traditional sounds, something reflected in the name of the project.
In a day and age where digital ostensibly reigns supreme, Teeuwsen notes that compilation albums still have their place, and Notes From the Edmonton Underground Vol. 3 will be sent to college and community radio stations across the country to further connections for local Edmonton artists. He adds that in addition to showing off Edmonton's talent pool to broader audiences, a compilation such as this also allows easier accessibility to discovering new music.
"When you want to find out about the music that's happening in your city, there's still some research you need to go through and a lot of shows to attend, so this is a collection that people can pick up and hear 37 artists in one go, and you know, look into it more from there," Teeuwsen says, adding he and Cook are looking into funding for future Great Northern Revival releases to make it more accessible for artists, who currently have to pay an entry fee. "I guess I would like them to see the variety of talent and just the really excellent music that so many small bands are creating here ... the fact that we can, on a Saturday afternoon, go to The Empress or the Black Dog or Filthy McNasty's and see a lot of these local bands playing every week, that we have this level of talent and amazing scene going on in Edmonton."
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