The Key Frames

Genre: Rock
Secondary Genre: Folk Toronto, Ontario Canada Contact

While it’s a difficult feat in a roots scene as accomplished as that of Toronto, The Key Frames have found a way to contribute something both unique and startlingly straightforward. Driving roots-rock, soaring harmony and gutsy soul rub shoulders in a controlled blaze of tried-and-true melody.

Artist Information

Biography

Spend a bit of time walking through downtown Toronto and live music will jump out at you: from buskers, from small stage matinees, outdoor events, open second-floor windows and from somewhere else, rumbling up above where you can’t see it. Having been around now for more than six years, The Key Frames have been all of those bands at one point or another.

For the past two summers, the Key Frames have followed up well-received appearances at Toronto's North By Northeast festival with a slew of cross-Canada summer tour dates. In 2011, the band promoted their debut album, "Out On The Point", with a fourteen-gig, nine-day tour of Atlantic Canada, working literally day and night. In 2012, their sophomore album was supported with another nine days in the Maritimes and Quebec, and then followed by a three week jaunt by the band's two guitarists to the Yukon, Vancouver Island, and everywhere in between.

The band has recently had the opportunity to share the stage with the likes of the Weber Brothers at Port Dover's Lighthouse Theatre, and The Sadies at Toronto's Horseshoe Tavern for the 2013 edition of their long-running New Years' Eve bash.

The tours and albums alike have helped bring into focus the tight but varied elements of what The Key Frames do best: rootsy, banjo-inflected rockers; gutsy, Everlys-meet-Stax vocal harmonies; soaring, classic pop hooks next to lonely late-night laments. One listen will tell you that guile isn’t really their thing. Finding the depth and contrast in simple and appealing melodies, however, is.

Building on the enthusiastic audiences, blog and alt-weekly love, and college radio chart forays they garnered the first time around, “Low Light High Light” features the veteran production of Josh Finlayson (Skydiggers, Gord Downie) and mixing engineer Don Pyle (Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet). Replete with eleven new tracks, their second disc shows a continuity and an evolution of their style. It retains the same energy and effortless attention to song craft that fans of the band are used to, but this time out, viewed through a glass darkly. Or at least through a darker glass.

“Low Light High Light” and “Out On The Point” are available through iTunes, Bandcamp, and other online retailers, and at select record stores. The Key Frames’ complete gig listing and more is available at www.thekeyframes.com.

Instrumentation

Rob Webster - Vocals, Guitar, Harmonica
Theo Edmands - Banjo, Vocals, Harmonica
Ryan Higgins - Vocals, Bass
Brian Passmore - Vocals, Guitar
Dan Schwartz - Drums

Discography

LOW LIGHT HIGH LIGHT
CD, Digital Download
Released Sep 29 2012

OUT ON THE POINT
CD, Digital Download
Released May 31 2011

"Annie Annie"-"Lonesome Road Blues"
7'' vinyl
Released May 31 2011

"Steal You Away"-"It's The Women"
Free Download
Released Dec 30 2009

"Annie, Annie"-"Our Age"
Free Download
Released Jun 15 2009

Official Website

http://www.thekeyframes.com

Links

Audio

Video

Photo Gallery

Press

  • Performance video: "Use Me Blue" [+ Show ]

    Southern Souls video performance, by Mitch Fillion and Brian Wirth, of "Use Me Blue", recorded live ...

  • Music: Reviewed. The Key Frames - Low Light High Light [+ Show ]

    Rating: 7.25/10 “Rootsy, banjo-inflected rockers!” That’s straight from The Key Frames’ website. ...

  • Toronto Concert Picks for Dec. 18 [+ Show ]

    The Key Frames. Banjo-and-guitar country-pop-rock (sounds complicated, but it’s not at all) from a T...

  • Key Frames and GGG in Oshawa Saturday [+ Show ]

    This past September, Toronto's Key Frames played Murphy's Pub, but on Saturday the five piece return...

  • Best of 2012: Canadian Albums ("LLHL" ranked at #3) [+ Show ]

    10 Actual Water The Paisley Orchard 9 Boxer The Horse French Residency 8 Young Rival Stay Young ...

  • The Key Frames Go West on Stripped-Down Tour [+ Show ]

    The Key Frames wrapped up their Eastern Canadian tour just a couple of weeks ago, and now the Toront...

  • Toronto's Key Frames Head East on Canadian July Tour [+ Show ]

    Toronto roots rockers the Key Frames just dropped Low Light High Light, their second album in as man...

  • NXNE 2012 [+ Show ]

    The Key Frames Saturday @ Annex Live, 9:20pm Despite having to face the unfortunate consequences...

  • Low Light High Light (album review) [+ Show ]

    Low Light High Light sees the value of being a regular live band. Where The Key Frames’ debut record...

  • The Key Frames: "Low Light High Light" (album review) [+ Show ]

    8.5/10 Rarely does an album come around that's as easily enjoyable from start-to-finish as Low Li...

  • Review - "Low Light High Light" - The Key Frames [+ Show ]

    It’s been a little over a year, so it came as a surprise to me when I heard from the Key Frames a fe...

  • The Key Frames - Out On The Point [+ Show ]

    Toronto-based foursome [sic] The Key Frames have filled out their debut album, Out On the Point, wit...

  • The Key Frames - Out On The Point [+ Show ]

    The Key Frames Out on the Point Self-Released Anyone remember an early 90s American band called...

  • "Steal You Away" Live on CTV Morning Live

    Original air date: Sept. 7, 2011

  • "Our Age" Live on CTV Morning Live

    Original air date: Aug. 30, 2011

  • Key Frames offer diverse musical stylings [+ Show ]

    Key Frames offer diverse musical stylings Published Friday August 26th, 2011 Toronto band refuses ...

  • Pick of the Week [+ Show ]

    The Key Frames OUT ON THE POINT (Snarlophone Music) Full of country rock twang, pop guitar jang...

  • Time is key for The Key Frames [+ Show ]

    Time is key for The Key Frames The Toronto roots-rockers bring their well-honest first release *Ou...

  • Key Frames (video interview) [+ Show ]

    (A cool, though exceptionally hot, interview, as well as some performance footage from our greasy CD...

  • Review- “Out on the Point”- The Key Frames [+ Show ]

    Posted on July 13, 2011 by glasspaperweight reviewed by Michael The blue sky and grey-brown la...

  • NOW Mag NXNE 2011 Coverage [+ Show ]

    Like the itinerant folksingers, country rulebreakers, British invaders and roots rockers from whom t...

Setlist

A typical set might comprise roughly 75% original songs, 15% interpretations of folk standards, and 10% cover songs.

For example:

Annie, Annie (R. Webster)
The Hit Plays You (R. Higgins)
Sorted Out (R. Webster)
Lonesome Road Blues (trad., arr. T. Edmands)
Yer Spell (R. Higgins)
Way to Love (R. Webster)
Pig in a Pen (trad., arr. R. Higgins)
The Bullet To Lay Me Down (T. Edmands)
Our Age (R. Higgins)
Feel Like A Fool (R. Webster)
Get Up Jake (J.R. Robertson [The Band])
You've Been On My Mind (R. Webster)

Basic Requirements


Calendar

DateTimeVenueCity
May 24, 2013 Friday 10:00 PM Montreal House Peterborough, ON, CA
May 28, 2013 Tuesday 9:00 PM The Piston Toronto, ON, CA
Jun 15, 2013 Saturday 9:00 PM The Thirsty Monk Oshawa, ON, CA
Jun 22, 2013 Saturday TBA Kerr Village Street Celebration Oakville, ON, CA
Jul 12, 2013 Friday 9:00 PM Kaffe 1870 Wakefield, QC, CA
Jul 13, 2013 Saturday 9:00 PM Brutopia Montreal, QC, CA
Sep 14, 2013 Saturday 9:30 PM Moonshine Cafe Oakville, ON, CA
Sep 20, 2013 Friday 8:00 PM 3030 Toronto, ON, CA
Nov 30, 2013 Saturday 9:00 PM The Woolwich Arrow Pub Guelph, ON, CA