rungmc

'The perfect blend of crap and don't bother.' - New Music Magazine

Jennifer Miller jmiller@whistlerquestion.com

Whistler – When Vancouver trucker band Run GMC plays a gig, it promises audience members two things: they’ll have no voice left from singing along and they’ll suffer leg cramps from hours of solid stomping.

Though it sounds like you might be a little worse for wear after checking out Run GMC’s show at the GLC on Saturday (Sept. 13), the night of fun music and good times will be worth a bit of hoarse limping.

“This is a show that everybody can be part of,” said Chris Duncombe, the band’s banjo player and vocalist who goes by the name Dunner. “The songs are all really fun songs that come out of stories about the trucking lifestyle.”

Dunner said Run GMC plays a mix of bluegrass and trucker songs, with covers that date back to the 1920s. He said though people don’t think they’d recognize music from that era, most audience members end up singing along to every word.

“You’d be surprised that you know it,” he said.

The seven-piece band, complete with mandolin, fiddle, washboard, banjo, guitars, drums and five singers, also plays “at ton” of original music, Dunner said.

“It’s sort of a beer-soaked O Brother Where Art Thou,” he said of the movie starring George Clooney.

Run GMC is finishing up a busy summer of touring, having played through B.C. and Alberta with gigs at the Calgary Stampede and other events. The band has been together for four years and has grown from four to seven members.

While the band is getting ready to go into the studio to record its first official EP, Dunner said they often post new live material to the Run GMC MySpace site (www.myspace.com/rungmc).

In advance of Saturday’s show, the Run GMC crew will head up the Sea to Sky Highway as part of the sixth annual Music Therapy Ride, a music industry fundraiser for various B.C. charities. Dunner is part of the music industry team organizing the ride, and he said the event is designed to get friends from music agencies and labels together to raise money for the Canadian Music Therapy Trust Fund.

Starting Saturday morning at the River Rock Casino in Richmond, about 85 motorcycles and 10 hot rods set out for Whistler with an escort by the Vancouver Police Motorcycle Drill Team. The ride ends at the GLC, with lunch and silent and live auctions and a performance by Run GMC. Special guests, such as Ed Robertson of the Barenaked Ladies, Jeremy Fisher and Russel Peters, are expected to attend.

All proceeds from the event stay in B.C. and go toward music therapy for terminally ill children and others, as well as organizations such as Music in Motion, Canuck Place and the B.C. Cancer Agency.

Because Run GMC will be in Whistler for the Music Therapy Ride, the managers at the GLC have asked the band to stick around for another show on Saturday night (Sept. 13). Everyone is invited to join the party for a singing, stompin’ good time. Doors open at 9 p.m. and entry is $10. - Whistler Question