Music
Press
Folk music has certainly broadened its scope since the Hootenanny heyday of the Halifax Three, encompassing a wide range of eclectic and electric acts. Halifax’s Dirty Poets aren’t entirely a folk group per se, but the songs on the quintet’s self-titled debut contain an acoustic/electric balance where the scales get tipped by Kinley Dowling’s fluid viola playing.
Dirty Poets launch their CD on Friday night at the Seahorse Tavern with guests The Grass and Ryan McGrath and the Woodenhouse, but you can get a sneak preview at www.myspace.com/dirtypoetsband. The tunes are melodic and dramatic, with intelligent arrangements that make good use of the sonic textures at their disposal.
Stephen cooke
- The Chronicle Herald
People who caught a show by now-defunct heavy rock/metal outfit Mantra might be surprised if they saw what singer Wess Landry and guitarist Ross Chapman have been up to since the band broke up. Their new project, the Dirty Poets, is a bit of a departure.
“The first couple of shows had, like, no volume,” says Chapman over coffee. “Mantra was so loud all the time, it didn’t matter if it was in tune or not. This band is a lot more intimate. I have to be sober to play this stuff because a lot of it is finger picking style and I just don’t have the motor skills after a few beers.”
Intentionally or not, the Dirty Poets—rounded out with bassist Corey Shortliffe, Kinley Dowling on viola and Kyle Smith on drums—are the latest local act to draw inspiration from classic roots rock of the late-’60s and early-’70s. Like Matt Mays or The Grass, the Dirty Poets are more apt to play a Johnny Cash cover than Alice In Chains.
“I guess people just started listening to good music again,” Landry says. “You realize that almost all the good music was written in a ten-year period: 1965 to 1975, there was a lot of good stuff.”
The quintet officially releases their debut self-titled disc at the Seahorse this Friday. The album is a mixture of sounds, with old-school country numbers, folk-tinged rock songs and heartfelt, modern ballads. The Dirty Poets showcase the dynamic vocals of Landry, the emotional strings provided by Dowling, and the aforementioned finger picking guitar style that Chapman learned while studying music at Dalhousie. Next up is a tour and more shows for a group that has been slowly gaining acclaim in the Halifax scene.
“The best feedback I’ve received is that when people come out to our shows they have a good time because we’re having a good time,” Chapman says. “It doesn’t seem contrived in any way because we really enjoy doing it.”
—Johnston Farrow
- The Coast
It’s Friday night in a popular north end café. A songwriting group is warming up in the background while guitarist Ross Chapman and bass player Corey Shortcliffe sip tea, twitching. As bongos are tapped and guitar strings tuned, two of the members of Dirty Poets explain the source of their frustration: recording an album. It was a long and seemingly painful process for the whole band, which is completed by vocalist Wes Landry, drummer Kyle Smith, and viola player Kinley Dowling.
“Songwriting and playing, good; recording bad,� Chapman says. He later adds that recording was the catalyst for a previous bands’ disintegration.
“At first, it’s fun,� Shortcliffe says. “But it keeps going, and you hear all of your mistakes on tape, and have to do so many takes. It just kind of… sucks.�
His frustration is understandable. The band’s self-titled, debut album, set for release on Jan. 20, took more than a year to write and record. And the process has yet to be completed.
Since the band’s inception in late 2005, Dirty Poets has produced about 15 songs, 12 of which will likely appear on the album. What songs will make the cut, however, is difficult to predict. During the recording process, even song titles can pose a problem. The band’s vocalist and lyric-writer, Wes Landry, often changes song names between practices, though Chapman and Shortcliffe don’t seem to mind.
As the two determine their favourite songs, Chapman mutters to his bandmate, strumming in the air. “The one in G, that goes ‘chunk-da-chunk-da-chunk,’� he suggests.
Shortcliffe comes up with a solution to this problem.
“Wasn’t it New Order that had song names with absolutely nothing to do with the song?� he asks Chapman. “We should just do that and rename all the songs before they get sent out.�
In current incarnation, three songs that will likely appear on the album, “This Bottle,� “Just What I’ve Been Thinkin’� and “So Appealing,� are surprisingly folksy. Given the hard rock-influenced backgrounds of Chapman and Shortcliffe, these folksy, bluesy songs are unexpected.
Despite different backgrounds, the band’s collaboration is solid, and the combined eight years of classical training amongst the members shines through. Dowling’s viola weaves in and around Landry’s vocal melodies and Chapman’s occasional finger-picking gives way to a grittier style without seeming out of place.
It was partially Dowling’s inclusion, Chapman and Shortcliffe say, that pushed Dirty Poets in its current aural direction. “It’s pretty hard to really rock out on a viola,� Chapman says. “Though Kinley comes pretty close,� adds Shortcliffe. Chapman’s current studies in classical guitar at Dalhousie has undoubtedly lent to the band’s sound as well.
Chapman’s studies also scored the group a CD launch at Ondaatje Hall in the FASS building as part of the ‘Halifaxe’ Guitar Concert series, organized by Michael Scott of the Dal’s music department.
Chapman worries he might have to perform a solo piece before the launch party. But he and Shortcliffe share a larger worry: the sheer size of Ondaatje Hall, which, despite a sizeable turnout, will probably still look empty.
“If you can really connect to even one person, through a section or a riff, it’s worth it,� Shortcliffe says. “That’s what is really the best part of being in a band: just performing and having fun.�
“We’ve actually got to practice, though� says Chapman. “We haven’t played live or jammed in a while.
“We’ve just been recording.�
-Saman Jafarian - Dalhousie Gazette, Jan 11 edition
Discography
Dirty Poets - Self-Titled CD - Released January 2007
Photos
Bio
Based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Dirty Poets have released a debut CD containing fourteen original tracks and will be promoting the album heavily in early 2007. The album combines all of the bands influences into a highly original mix of rock, folk, and a hint of old school country. Each musician's unique influences cover a wide range of artistic tastes and styles; finger style guitar, jazzy viola and beatles inspired vocal harmonies have become most prominently evident in Dirty Poets music. The band's influences are drawn from the work of The Band, Tom Petty, Tom Waits, Johnny Cash and others in the singer songwriter vein. Since a majority of the band comes from a hard rock background, this flavor often finds its way into the finished songs. The band owes as much of its influence to Bob Dylan and Neil Young as to AC/DC and Pink Floyd, as well as a few heavier acts. Blend these rock and blues garage band sensibilities with 8 years of combined formal classical training and you have the essence of the Dirty Poets sound. Dirty Poets are quickly gaining recognition as one of Halifax�s newest upcoming acts, having recently been included in Dalhousie University�s guitar concert series at Ondaatje Hall. The band plans to tour extensively beginning in mid spring 2007 continuing throughout the summer in support of the self-titled debut album.
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