One night in 2011, a group of extremely talented musicians met by chance at a dive bar named the Cloak and Dagger.
“Most of the folks around there used to call the place the Cheek and Stagger, but it was sort of a neat place, and we just happened to run into each other and, well, we found that we were a good fit,” says Frank Evans.
Evans is the frontman, banjo player and vocalist for the group that became The Slocan Ramblers.
“We worked up a style of music and, for a while, played the bar every Tuesday night,” Evans says.
But before they knew it, their music caught on and they found themselves on the stage at the Grand Ole Opry.
Okay, admittedly there were a few stops along the way, but suffice to say that this blue grass group’s classic, dusty vocals, and the raw emotional songwriting mixed with their musical chops to rival the most accomplished artists anywhere. Their energetic live shows started and managed to win over audiences from Merlefest to Rockygrass and everywhere in between.
“We opened for Steve Martin at the Toronto Jazz Fest, for example, and the audience loved it,” Evans says. “I think that was a natural fit since there's a natural crossover between bluegrass and jazz. It shares the same proficiency with the instruments, the harmonies are high and bright, and there’s a good deal of improvisation. It’s sometimes confused with country, but it really is something else. You have to see it live to really understand bluegrass.”
In 2019 the group were nominated for a Juno Award and in 2020 they won the 2020 IBMA Momentum Band of the Year Award.
The pandemic that rocked the entire music world hit The Slocan Ramblers as well, and their original bassist, Allister Whitehead, left the group to be replaced by Charles James on bass and vocals. Frank Evans remained, as did Adrian Gross on mandolin and Darryl Poulsen on guitar and vocals.
“The pandemic was a time of change for us. We really didn’t get a chance to jam together in person for a while and did a lot of on-line stuff. But we did enough of that so that our music continued to develop, and we even managed to get enough stuff together to record a record,” Evans says.
All that change and isolation actually resulted in what was one of their most honest works to date. Up the Hill and Through the Fog showcases the group's expansive musical talent while staying true to the rough-and-tumble bluegrass roots they’d developed in Toronto’s no-nonsense bars and dance halls.
The group is back on the road now, touring about 150 days a year and, in January, they were in Nashville laying down tracks for their next record. They've played in the Netherlands, the U.K and in May they’ll head for concerts in Germany.
But before then, the group is embarking on a Canadian tour that will see them at the Cowichan Performing Arts Centre in Duncan on Feb. 14, at the Charlie White Theatre in Sidney on Feb. 15 and at the Fanny Bay Hall Feb. 16.
“We don’t get up to Canada that often now, but we’re really looking forward to the tour,” Evans says. "It’s going to be great."
Find tickets and details on the entire Canadian tour at slocanramblers.com.
