Pharis and Jason Romero are coming back to Prince George tonight. Pharis will have a brand new old guitar in her hands, a 1939 Gibson J35 she loves, and Jason will have a brand new handmade banjo.
The new instruments are for all the wrong reasons. A massive fire destroyed the couple's home and workshop where some of the most coveted banjos in North America are crafted. It was early June in the Cariboo. All their instruments, tools for making instruments, and all manner of living life was burned.
"We're back up and running," Pharis Romero told The Citizen the day before their P.G. show. "The shop is going again. We had a small army of people and put it all back together again. We are fully past the fire now, except for one cabin to restore."
To see their entire hand-industry livelihood go from inferno back to operational in about six months was remarkable for their eyes to behold.
It might not have happened, if they'd lived in the anonymity of a major city, but they live and work in Horsefly, where friendships burn stronger than flames.
"We are back on our feet totally due to the amazing support from our community near and far. Right now, Jason is building a batch of six banjos that are made from reclaimed salvage material from the fire," Romero said.
Not to be overshadowed by the phoenix banjo shop and home, last spring was also when the Romero's welcomed their newest baby. They now have two kids under the age of four.
Romero said the first year after their first child was one of her most prolific songwriting periods ever and it happened again.
"Interestingly enough, I have a whole album's worth of material - just an outpouring of songwriting," she said.
The fire and rebuild, a couple of anniversaries in their lives, the influence of the children, the bonds of support from their international and local communities and it gave her pen a lot of ink.
"How lucky are we? It's incredible and that's in the music," she said.
If it's anything like their previous work, the audience is in for a treat. Their 2015 album A Wanderer I'll Stay set some fires of its own, winning a Juno Award, a Western Canadian Music Award, multiple Canadian Folk Music Award nominations and an International Folk Music Award nomination.
The title track is considered by music critics to be among the definitive Canadian tunes of the roots genre.
And it's not like their previous releases were slouches, either. Their place in the roots/acoustic music industry is so large that they are perhaps the only act to perform with both the folk-lit radio storyteller of America, Garrison Keillor, on his Prairie Home Companion show as well as the folk-lit radio storyteller of Canada, Stuart McLean, on his Vinyl Cafe show.
When McLean was one of the star attractions during Prince George's municipal centennial celebrations, broadcasting his program from CN Centre, the Romeros were among the featured performers. That was the last time they performed in this city.
"This tour is our first after a year off the road, which we knew we needed because we were having a baby, we had a major home renovation to do, and we wanted to catch up on our wait list as well, but then the fire happened," Romero said.
The wait list is for the banjos. If you want an original work of mechanical art from the hands of Jason Romero, there is a small intake each January and that is to start on the five-year construction schedule. That January intake is filled faster than you and Charlie Poole can get the hesitation blues.
There isn't a lot of positive energy radiating from the fire consuming the materials of your life, especially when it sets back a five-year waiting period of eager customers, but the community outpouring was emotionally stunning for the young family (people sent household goods, rare woods for future banjos, money, and came from near and far to offer construction help), and the rebuild was a custom job that allows the Romero musicality to echo even further.
"Our last workshop was marvelous, but this one was built exactly as we'd always wanted," she said. "We've always moved into our shops as preexisting buildings, but this one Jason got to create from the dirt on up exactly as he's always wanted."
If there are any tickets left for their concert tonight at Artspace, they are in short supply. Their show starts at 7:30 p.m.
