The wild chemistry of music has been fused with the natural elements of backwoods farm life. The reaction is slowly boiling in the form of The Alkemist, the magical one-man-band act of Jay Myers.
Prince George was growing intoxicated with the aromatic music concocted in Myers' lab. He was a 10-year resident of this city when he followed the whispers compelling him towards the Haida Gwaii islands of the northern B.C. coast. He was there for the past three years.
But Myers is back in the area, living on a communal farm north of Fort Fraser (about two hours' drive west of P.G.) where the songwriting inspirations and instrument rehearsals run deep. He will be back for a concert in his old hometown Friday to reveal the amalgam.
"We are very fortunate out here because basically all of our farm members are musicians, so almost every single day we are playing together, writing songs, jamming, forming bands, experimenting with all kinds of instruments," Myers said. "You name (the instrument), we've probably got it. There's something magical about stepping outside and hearing the bagpipes off in the distance. Everyday, there's something musically interesting happening."
The peace, quiet and support of the farm has allowed him to devote blocks of time to new skills on the various instruments he plays. He is noticing in his songwriting that finger-picking is becoming more common as he gets comfortable with that technique. He is also trying out alternative tunings so he is more assured of sounding original and fresh.
Also, giving lessons helps teach the instructor, as well as the student, and he has been giving private tutelage around the area.
"I've been definitely inspired by the landscape, as of late, inspired to use more metaphor just by observing my surroundings and seeing how they relate to the human psyche," Myers said. "The farm has definitely been influencing my writing. And living in nature, and that goes back to Haida Gwaii too, has inspired my music to go in an atmospheric, ethereal direction as well, trying to catch emotion with instrumentation. Even further to that, I find that I don't have to sit down and work as hard at melody, it just flows out of me now much better than before. I've heard from other musicians that melody is already out there, song is already out there in the world, already formed, and its the musician's job to just let it happen through them. I'm finding some truth in that lately."
There's a lot of truth to that, apparently. The Alkemist is just one of many platforms Myers is working from these days. He is also active with an Irish-styled folk duo and two punk bands.
He has been busy in the past - distant and recent - with acts like Canadian Waste, alongside Scotty Dunbar, playing fiddle with Hujune, doing duo work with Sabina Dennis and Jessiquita Madrid, and he has been popping up at regional events like the MOM Festival in Fort St. James, ArtsWells in Wells, a Murray Ridge Ski Hill gig, and a fundraiser in Burns Lake for the victims of the summer's wildfires. The Shovel Lake blaze came within three kilometres of his own home.
"We were on evac for a couple of weeks," he said. "We got really lucky. It's the third time in the past two years we've been on evacuation order or alert."
The last time he put out an album as The Alkemist was about a year ago, and he has enough material written up that he's contemplating the construction of the next disc.
He and his partner are expecting their first baby this spring, so he knows he might have some competing forces for his time.
The Alkemist has performed at the Coldsnap Festival, as a supporting act for Saltwater Hank, in tandem with Sober Becky, and most recently with Corbin Spensley.
When The Alkemist performs Friday at the Omineca Arts Centre (at 3rd & Victoria) he will also have some on-stage collaboration to offer the audience.
"I'm playing with one of my musical heroes and someone I've been hugely inspired by, that's Brent Morton of Drum & Bell Tower, who now goes by the name Lyle Bats," Myers said.
It's an all-ages show with doors opening at 7:30 p.m., showtime at 8 p.m. for $10 at the door.
