The birdwatchers haven't reported any sightings, but music fans are hearing the songs of Interstellar Jays all over the Cariboo.
The sound of the Interstellar Jay is a little bit ska, a little bit old tyme, a little bit klezmir, and completely infectious. There was just a sold-out infestation at The Occidental in Quesnel, and the twitter of their tunes will touch down at the Sunset Theatre in Wells on May 17 then The Legion in Prince George on May 18.
The Interstellar Jays flock includes Sean Scallion on drums, Joel Stern on bass, Leila Sumi on fiddle with her husband Birch Kuch on piano, Rhodes, and clarinet. They have just released a 14-song album entitled Musasabi Madness that Kuch described as "55 minutes of groove-driven good times."
Kuch said the band was gifted with a couple of months in an empty house in the Cottonwood community on the Barkerville highway, while the owner was away for a long period. It allowed the band members, who live in various locations around the area, to have a recording studio set up to their precise wishes. The drum kits was set up in a bedroom with favourable acoustics, the bass amp in the basement, the piano on the main floor, and so on.
"We had 300 feet of headphone cables, I think," he laughed. Then they took all the tracks to Kuch's and Sumi's house to set the levels, backwoods Cariboo style.
"We did it all ourselves: mixed and mastered at our house on solar panel power. We live close to Bowron Lake, off-grid. It didn't take much power, really, and it was a pleasure to work on. It's way more satisfying when you do it yourself. And months later, we're still really happy with it. I still consider it good driving music when you have that hour on the road."
According to the band, when asked to self-describe their sound, Interstellar Jays "embrace instrumental music by exploring all that a melody and a rhythm have to offer. Original arrangements of obscure and familiar old tunes mix with traditional gems to fill a large and growing repertoire of music for any occasion."
They call Quesnel their hometown "because that's where we all buy our groceries" even though none of them live inside the city boundaries.
They've appeared on a Prince George stage a couple of times in the past, doing mini-sets for the Coldsnap Music Festival two previous years. When they come to P.G. this time, it will be the first time they've been able to play a full set.
Watch for them at a number of the region's music festivals this summer as well. Their summer schedule includes the Valemount Craft Beer Experience, Performances In The Park at Williams Lake, the Midsummer Festival in Smithers, Arts On The Fly in Horsefly, the Bella Coola Music Festival, the Robson Valley Music Festival at Dunster, and ArtsWells in Wells.
For their show at the Sunset Theatre, Quesnel band No Big D will be opening while the group My Band will be the opening act in Prince George.
