Oliver Swain may be B.C.'s quintessential troubadour. He is coming to the local area as a solo artist, but when you look back at all the bands he has been a member of, it reads like a history of modern British Columbia (and beyond) folk music, like an emblematic human trip through our provincial singer-songwriter scene.
Swain first came to notable attention as a member of popular folk music group The Bills (aka The Bill Hilly Band).
He moved to Winnipeg where he joined another popular folky unit Scruj MacDuhk (aka The Duhks).
He also put together a supertrio with Ruth Moody and Jeremy Penner aptly tagged Moody, Penner & Swain.
He took his musical pursuits international, next, moving for a year to Louisiana where he was a member of famed folk group Red Stick Ramblers for that time frame.
Once that was finished, he moved back to hometown Victoria and joined up with Outlaw Social, yet another folk band with a hot reputation.
That group had it's run and Swain came from that disconnection into yet another success story, hooking into the band of Juno-winning power-pop star Toni Childs.
He sprinkles in some work in the Leonard Cohen tribute duo Tower Of Song with Glenna Garramone and also the retro-rock band Fans & Motor Supply Co.
Oh, yeah, and he also does a lot of his own singing and songwriting. He has evolved into a skilled craftsman of the music arts, and he brings this to a set of Cariboo concerts this week.
"He starts with a traditional base of clawhammer banjo, bowed bass, slack key guitar, and pure, multi-octave vocals," said a tour promotion statement. "Modern rock and early R&B find their way into some of the songs, used as a springboard into the far reaches of the imagination."
On Thursday he is in Wells at Island Mountain Arts, then Friday he'll be in 100 Mile House at Momentum Arts and then on Saturday he and the band will perform a Prince George house concert.
The P.G. ticket is $25 (includes dinner) and is available by making email inquiry at [email protected].
