One of B.C.'s most acclaimed eclectic bands is returning to Prince George this week. With all the rain this month, what better time to get a visit from Maria In the Shower?
Facepaint and jaunty chapeaux are as much a part of their stage show as accordions, trumpets and upright bass.
Their sound has elements of jazz, rockabilly, blues, 1920s radio pop, and klezmer. They are as likely to be a fringe festival theatre act as a folk festival concert act. They are all these things and British Columbian.
"We believe they are all from the same source. Musical exploration is a spiritual exploration as well, to dust out the nooks and crannies of our souls and our consciousness. The more obscure the nook, the more it needs dusting," they said.
The four members - Jack Garton, Martin Reisle, Brendon Hartley and Todd Biffard - called The Citizen together to do a group interview. There was no way who said what, so we will just refer to them collectively.
They spoke of an alleged practice in monasteries whereby the head monk would randomly whack meditating monks on the head with a strip of wood, to shake up any mental complacency.
"We want to be that smack," they said. "When people go to a show we think there is a yearning to be hit with something new. If you were ambushing people in grocery stores or we were four guys throwing rocks at people passing by, that would be a problem, but we have found a context where we can do that with love."
A tour of Europe is their greatest band goal, and the nearby United States has a pull on their Vancouver existence. In the meantime they will travel the highways of Canada all the way up to Whitehorse on this trip, with their second stop in Prince George after a positive experience in November.
In addition to building an audience for their eccentric brand of music, they are also trying to inspire other musicians and music appreciators.
"This is an old profession, perhaps the second oldest, and if you see a part of your craft that might die off, you want to nurture that back," they said.
"Music is something that should be promoted heavily in schools at the youngest ages on up. It is one of the rare things where your body and your mind are equally challenged at the same time. It is an exercise of the total human. What you're doing with your body, you are doing with your brain, and your emotions."
Maria In the Shower plays Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. at Nancy O's. Tickets are $10.
