Flowshine

Calgary-based rock band Flowshine is bringing good tunes and chill times while touring their first-ever album Mountain Queen.
The trio is made up of Jeremiah Erhardt on guitars and vocals, Greg Brown on percussion, and Dallen Muise on bass and vocals. They will be performing at The Root on Saturday Nov. 16.
Like many bands they started out by playing in various high school events, whether it be folk music or metal. Bands came and went for a few years until Erhardt began writing more mellow songs and tried to concentrate on groove. He asked Brown and Muise to help him polish some of the material and perform with him leading to the creation of Flowshine and eventually their debut album Mountain Queen.
“I think part of the charm of the album is its dynamics,” Erhardt said. “We are all very open-minded when it comes to music. We love variety and music from all over the spectrum. I think we were able to blend and shift styles over the songs on the record and that is very much a reflection of our personal taste.”
So far the band’s first album has had a warm reception and Erhardt said it was a great learning experience. The lessons learned will be put into practice with their next record, which is currently in development.
As an up-and-coming band, Flowshine has a few career goals in mind, including one day conversing with Jian Ghomeshi and George Stroumboulopoulos, although this particular goal is something they like to put on social media sites in a half-joking manner to show they don’t take themselves too seriously.
“I think we also find social media etc. to be a bit of a stretch,” Erhardt said. “We are all quite reserved, quiet people, but in the industry today you need to really put yourself out there. The tone we take with a lot of our Internet presence is often deliberately ridiculous, perhaps to keep ourselves from getting too caught up in it.”
As for more immediate goals, the members of Flowshine right now are focusing on travelling across Canada to share their music and are pleased if it ends up making any difference with their listeners. As an example, Erhardt recalled a time when a friend sent them an email after their album release letting them know how much he enjoyed the record.
Whether it is people listening to their music while sitting in traffic or catching them at a live show, Erhardt says Flowshine wants to spread good times and get their audience excited.
Tickets for Flowshine at The Root are $10 at the door. - Meridian Booster

November 30, 2013 - Riley's Pub, Prince George, BC
November 29, 2013 - Nancy O's, Prince George, BC
November 28, 2013 - The Grateful Fed, Kelowna, BC
November 24, 2013 - Home on The Range *Private Function* Calgary, AB
November 16, 2013 - The Root C.E. Lloydminster, SK
October 26, 2013 - Black Dog Freehouse, Edmonton, AB
October 4, 2013 - Vern's Tavern, Calgary, AB
October 3, 2013 - The Common, Edmonton, AB
September 22, 2013 - Nose Creek Valley Museum, Airdrie, AB
September 14, 2013 - The Vat, Red Deer, AB
August 10, 2013 Edge of the World Festival, Haida Gwaii, BC
August 4, 2013 The Alibi Room, Calgary, AB
August 3, 2013 Owl Acoustic Lounge, Lethbridge, AB
August 2, 2013 Studio 37, Calgary, AB
July 26, 2013 Studio 37, Calgary, AB
June 11, 2013 Ironwood Stage and Grill Calgary, AB
June 8, 2013 Black Dog Freehouse, Edmonton, AB
June 7, 2013 Brixx, Edmonton, AB
May 25, 2013 The Dirty Jersey, Kamloops, BC
May 23, 2013 Falconetti's Vancouver, BC
May 21, 2013 O'Flannigan's Pub Kelowna, BC
April 27, 2013 The Alibi Room Calgary, AB
April 20, 2013 Studio 82 Calgary, AB
April 13, 2013 The Vat Red Deer, AB
April 5, 2013 Studio 37 Calgary, AB
March 15, 2013 Crave Medicine Hat, AB
March 9, 2013 Velvet Olive Red Deer, AB
March 2, 2013 Zoo Zhop Vancouver, BC
March 1, 2013 Plaza Theatre Calgary, AB
February 27, 2013 Live at CJSW cjsw.com
February 23, 2013 Owl Acoustic Lounge Lethbridge, AB
January 31, 2013 Dicken's Calgary, AB

December 28, 2012 Studio 37 Calgary, AB
December 21, 2012 Dog and Duck Calgary, AB
November 24, 2012 Shooter's Calgary, AB
October 6, 2012 Home on the Range Calgary, AB
August 10, 2012 Dicken's Calgary, AB
July 18, 2012 Ship & Anchor Calgary, AB
July 6, 2012 Lord Nelson's Bar Calgary, AB
May 19, 2012 Dog and Duck Public House, Calgary, AB
April 21, 2012 Vern's Calgary, AB
April 1, 2012 Blind Beggar Calgary, AB
March 23, 2012 Dog and Duck Public House, Calgary, AB
March 16, 2012 Ceili's Downtown Calgary, AB

December 30, 2011 Blind Beggar Pub Calgary, AB
September, 16, 2011 Blind Beggar Pub, Calgary AB
July 30, 2011 Cochrane Summer Festival, Cochrane, AB
July 23, 2011 Vulcan Festival, Vulcan AB
July 13, 2011 Vern's Calgary, AB
May 15, 2011 Vern's Calgary, AB
March 25, 2011 Blind Beggar Pub Calgary, AB

December 23, 2010 Lord Nelson's Bar & Grill Calgary, AB
July 31, 2010 Blind Beggar Pub Calgary, AB
July 30, 2010 Captain's Cabin Pub, Medicine Hat, AB
July 29, 2010 Cathedral Freehouse Regina, SK
July 28, 2010 Spadina Freehouse Saskatoon, SK
July 24, 2010 VulcanFest Vulcan, AB
July 20, 2010 Raw Canvas Vancouver, BC
July 18, 2010 Voodoo's Penticton, BC
July 17, 2010 The Royal Nelson, BC
July 16, 2010 Ray Ray's Invermere, BC - On the Gig

With stops in three new communities this year, Untapped Alberta is ready to take its fourth road trip around the province. Beginning in April, the homegrown music series will bring diverse lineups of emerging and established Alberta artists to all corners of the province.

Presented by ATB Financial, Alberta Music and CKUA, all three organizations are thrilled to help celebrate the diverse musical talent found in our province.

"Alberta has a thriving community of musicians and songwriters" says Peggy Garritty, ATB's Senior Vice President, Reputation and Brand. "ATB Financial is excited to help shine a light on Alberta's amazing musicians."

Untapped will kick off in Peace River April 5 before moving to Jasper (April 6), Fort MacLeod (April 12), Red Deer (April 13), Lloydminster (April 26), with its final show in Calgary (April 27).

Untapped Alberta has provided opportunity for growth, not only for artists, but for emerging venues like The Root in Lloydminster. Since taking part in last year's Untapped series, The Root owner Amanda Amundred has seen growth in her community's live music scene.

"Untapped Alberta is doing something absolutely fantastic!" exclaims Amanda. "This event is offering such a terrific opportunity to artists, venues and communities. We are ecstatic to be part of it. Last year, the room was overflowing with people and talent. What a success!"

With the success of last year's Untapped Alberta show on CKUA, the radio network will be back on board this year to record and broadcast a radio series from the six live concerts.

"The Untapped series has given CKUA opportunities to introduce some of Alberta's most promising new artists to the province and beyond," says Katrina Ingram, CKUA's Chief Operating Officer. "Alberta has a rich music scene that needs to be celebrated, and we're proud to give exposure to these talented up 'n comers." - www.wearealberta.ca

There’s a lot to be said for first impressions. They tell us everything: good or bad, our instincts are the first feeling toward love or hate. In listening to a new album, we often know right away whether it’s worth a few more listens or better off serving as background music at a slaughterhouse. In the case of Mountain Queen, the new album from Calgary’s Flowshine, our instincts are definitely right: this is a fantastic release, worth a few listens, a first pump and a membership to their fan club.

Flowshine seems to have come out of nowhere. They’ve been around for a couple years, but now they’re impossible to overlook, with good press, a presence on every website and a lot of excitement buzzing around their upcoming shows. Once you hear Flowshine’s music you realize the reason for the attention they’re getting: simply put, they’re really good. They’re a band the whole family will love—if your family’s cool, anyway.

Part of the album’s likeability is its diversity. Each of the six songs is a little bit different, almost to the point that they sound like different bands altogether. They don’t have the ‘signature sound’ you might hear with other bands, but this isn’t necessarily a bad thing: some bands get so caught up in their ‘sound’ or their image they become boring and predictable. Flowshine does not have that. They show huge variety in their music, from blues-rock to psychedelic funk-rock to more happy pop. Everything does have a slightly old-school feel, so if they have one quality to call their own, ‘retro’ is probably it.

Because of their diversity, it’s hard to name just one band Flowshine sounds like. “The Coast” brings out the heavier blues-rock, sounding almost like Cream, Zeppelin or the more modern Queens of the Stone Age. “Red Thread” and “Good People”, though, are more poppy; they’d be great to dance to. You might think of The Killers or Weezer, bands with definite radio appeal and huge fan followings. “Something to Go On” is a funkier version of The Killers, with wicked bass lines carrying the music forward. The bass stands out quite a bit, actually: it really complements the guitars and drums throughout, putting together completely solid arrangements of music and showing off some very talented song-writing.

The more you listen to this album, the better it gets. It’s hard to name a favourite track, probably due in part to their diversity. Listen to this album lots. It’s easy to do so, especially with how quickly the six tracks fly by. For a taste of the music, check out their tunes on Soundcloud, and then go like them on Facebook and visit all the other online houses listed on their main website. - indie403