Spoon River

Once the Montreal act unofficially tapped as “most likely to succeed,” the Royal Mountain Band’s tale is truly tragic. The band had struggled on the local circuit before snagging a juicy collective role as Canadian rockers the Band, backing up Cate Blanchett in Todd Haynes’s Bob Dylan biopic I’m Not There. With good reason too—the Band was one of the Royal Mountain Band’s biggest influences, so considering they already knew how to play all the songs, they were a shoo-in. An album was tracked and preparations made to coincide the release with the film’s, but the collection of songs was sadly stillborn, never making it to the final mixing stage.

“It had really hit a critical mass and the dynamic that worked so well in the band at the beginning kind of started going against us,” says guitarist/singer Tavis Triance. “We just weren’t comfortable with each other anymore, but that’s kind of to be expected when you have 35- to 40-year-old guys in a band. It was just time to move along.”

Move along they did. Triance and a fellow royal mountaineer, keyboardist Jeff Louch, merged with the rhythm section of local boogie rockers Bullmoose to form Spoon River. Solo artist and former Soft Canyon guitarist Jason Kent completed the line-up.

It’s ironic that when I talk to Triance, Spoon River have just gotten off the stage at a Richard Manuel tribute at a music festival in Stratford, Ontario, hometown of the Band’s keyboardist Manuel, who took his own life in 1986.

“This is just so amazing, because the Band is probably my favourite band of all time, so it’s just such an honour that the Manuel family would ask us to be part of this. Just being able to hang out with Rompin’ Ronnie Hawkins was amazing in itself.”

Triance now calls British Columbia home. Despite living on opposite coasts, technology has helped the band grow organically. “Everybody has Pro Tools, so we can just send files to each other—so it’s going pretty good. I just spend all day working on boats, with no distractions, so it’s great to write songs—and that’s where I want to be.”
- Montreal Mirror

Once the Montreal act unofficially tapped as “most likely to succeed,” the Royal Mountain Band’s tale is truly tragic. The band had struggled on the local circuit before snagging a juicy collective role as Canadian rockers the Band, backing up Cate Blanchett in Todd Haynes’s Bob Dylan biopic I’m Not There. With good reason too—the Band was one of the Royal Mountain Band’s biggest influences, so considering they already knew how to play all the songs, they were a shoo-in. An album was tracked and preparations made to coincide the release with the film’s, but the collection of songs was sadly stillborn, never making it to the final mixing stage.

“It had really hit a critical mass and the dynamic that worked so well in the band at the beginning kind of started going against us,” says guitarist/singer Tavis Triance. “We just weren’t comfortable with each other anymore, but that’s kind of to be expected when you have 35- to 40-year-old guys in a band. It was just time to move along.”

Move along they did. Triance and a fellow royal mountaineer, keyboardist Jeff Louch, merged with the rhythm section of local boogie rockers Bullmoose to form Spoon River. Solo artist and former Soft Canyon guitarist Jason Kent completed the line-up.

It’s ironic that when I talk to Triance, Spoon River have just gotten off the stage at a Richard Manuel tribute at a music festival in Stratford, Ontario, hometown of the Band’s keyboardist Manuel, who took his own life in 1986.

“This is just so amazing, because the Band is probably my favourite band of all time, so it’s just such an honour that the Manuel family would ask us to be part of this. Just being able to hang out with Rompin’ Ronnie Hawkins was amazing in itself.”

Triance now calls British Columbia home. Despite living on opposite coasts, technology has helped the band grow organically. “Everybody has Pro Tools, so we can just send files to each other—so it’s going pretty good. I just spend all day working on boats, with no distractions, so it’s great to write songs—and that’s where I want to be.”
- Montreal Mirror

While every note of Spoon River sounds like it was born out of a record dusted off from your father’s record collection, the band was actually formed fairly recently, in both Montreal and Vancouver. Band leader Tavis Triance explains, “We started in Montreal with the Royal Mountain Band, which was a similar thing with early ‘70s songs, but we broke up and I had all these tunes that I wanted to get out.” So, Triance began recruiting. “The keyboard player and I began working on songs, we added Jason Kent (now of the Dears) and added the Cowen Brothers as our rhythm section and recorded our album.”

However, Montreal was not all it was cracked up to be for Spoon River. “Most Anglophone bands in Montreal aren’t from Montreal,” says Triance, “but it’s a hub because rent is cheap, there’s a good culture, and people go out and support live music. That’s what drew us to Montreal in the first place.” Triance continues, “While we found out lots still happens there, people’s tastes are more towards orchestral rock/pop like the Arcade Fire, the Stills and the Dears. They’re all good people but isn’t our thing. The other big scene is the garage rock scene and we’re not into that. So we found we had decent crowds but no real push.”

This lack of interest led Tavis and his wife Rachel (also the band’s keyboardist) west to Vancouver. “We needed a change and Vancouver has a tradition of roots rock kinda music. We definitely fit more with the established tastes here,” says Triance. As the heart of Spoon River is Triance and Rachel, he notes that the dual nature of the band “allows us to have both east and west bands so it makes the possibility of touring Canada more manageable.”

As for Spoon River’s nostalgic sound, Triance states, “I really like the Band – their style of singing is echoed in us – but whereas the Band is piano-driven, I write most songs on acoustic or electric guitar and that’s what drives us. I also like stuff like Reigning Sound, the countrified garage kind of stuff. And we have elements of the ‘70s country/soul/folk; it’s all in there but we don’t hearken back to a particular thing.”

This cross section of influences translates well for Spoon River’s fans. “We straddle the line between the hipsters and the older, rootsy crowd because it’s never just one kind of person who comes to see us. It also helps that the band members are all in ages from their early 30s to early 40s so the age spectrum helps shape people’s tastes as well.”

After everything they’ve been through together, Triance praises the maturity of his bandmates. “Everyone has done it; we have the experience and the comfort, and whatever direction we want to go on stage, we can take it there. I’m opinionated but it’s never an argument in the band: it’s always a discussion but an amicable one because we’re laid back. They nudge me but we don’t push each other.” Triance plans on keeping Spoon River flowing indefinitely. “It’s my wife and I so it’s sustainable and we want to put out Spoon River records for a long, long time. It’s a high and it filters the world and it’s a platform for the rest of our lives." - Beatroute Magazine

While every note of Spoon River sounds like it was born out of a record dusted off from your father’s record collection, the band was actually formed fairly recently, in both Montreal and Vancouver. Band leader Tavis Triance explains, “We started in Montreal with the Royal Mountain Band, which was a similar thing with early ‘70s songs, but we broke up and I had all these tunes that I wanted to get out.” So, Triance began recruiting. “The keyboard player and I began working on songs, we added Jason Kent (now of the Dears) and added the Cowen Brothers as our rhythm section and recorded our album.”

However, Montreal was not all it was cracked up to be for Spoon River. “Most Anglophone bands in Montreal aren’t from Montreal,” says Triance, “but it’s a hub because rent is cheap, there’s a good culture, and people go out and support live music. That’s what drew us to Montreal in the first place.” Triance continues, “While we found out lots still happens there, people’s tastes are more towards orchestral rock/pop like the Arcade Fire, the Stills and the Dears. They’re all good people but isn’t our thing. The other big scene is the garage rock scene and we’re not into that. So we found we had decent crowds but no real push.”

This lack of interest led Tavis and his wife Rachel (also the band’s keyboardist) west to Vancouver. “We needed a change and Vancouver has a tradition of roots rock kinda music. We definitely fit more with the established tastes here,” says Triance. As the heart of Spoon River is Triance and Rachel, he notes that the dual nature of the band “allows us to have both east and west bands so it makes the possibility of touring Canada more manageable.”

As for Spoon River’s nostalgic sound, Triance states, “I really like the Band – their style of singing is echoed in us – but whereas the Band is piano-driven, I write most songs on acoustic or electric guitar and that’s what drives us. I also like stuff like Reigning Sound, the countrified garage kind of stuff. And we have elements of the ‘70s country/soul/folk; it’s all in there but we don’t hearken back to a particular thing.”

This cross section of influences translates well for Spoon River’s fans. “We straddle the line between the hipsters and the older, rootsy crowd because it’s never just one kind of person who comes to see us. It also helps that the band members are all in ages from their early 30s to early 40s so the age spectrum helps shape people’s tastes as well.”

After everything they’ve been through together, Triance praises the maturity of his bandmates. “Everyone has done it; we have the experience and the comfort, and whatever direction we want to go on stage, we can take it there. I’m opinionated but it’s never an argument in the band: it’s always a discussion but an amicable one because we’re laid back. They nudge me but we don’t push each other.” Triance plans on keeping Spoon River flowing indefinitely. “It’s my wife and I so it’s sustainable and we want to put out Spoon River records for a long, long time. It’s a high and it filters the world and it’s a platform for the rest of our lives." - Beatroute Magazine

Driven to seek out new creative forums, singer-songwriter Tavis Eachan Triance migrated from Quebec, leaving his position in Montreal’s well-respected Royal Mountain Band to live on the B.C. coast. Finding greener pastures on that side of the country, he wasted no time making himself at home on the local Northern Electric record label. With the help of fellow RMB veteran Jeff Louch, Tavis pieced together his winning ensemble, Spoon River, featuring musical accompanists Jason Kent, the Cowan brothers Seamus and Jeff, and Rachel Horkenheimer. Three more additions, including talented bassist Chris Young, guitarist Jon Wood and drummer Ed Goodine, were “borrowed” by Triance from like-minded troubadour and labelmate Rodney DeCroo.

“Rodney has been a great resource for Spoon River; we definitely have a similar sort of vibe,” explains Triance, the high school English teacher who named his band after an Edgar Lee Masters’ novel. “We both work with sort of an early ’70s, late ’60s, country-inflected rock thing. He’s a little more of a storyteller, whereas my style has a little less story to it and tends to be more poemy in nature. I try to keep to themes that come from a general place and to deal with the big questions like ‘What does it mean to be a good person?’ ‘What does it mean to live a good life?’”

Built to withstand the test of time, Spoon River’s newly minted debut album, Kingdom of the Burned (Northern Electric), promises to gently introduce audiences to the band’s unapologetically nostalgic scene. The musical equivalent of slipping into a warm bath, Spoon River’s multi-part harmonies ebb and flow with an organic sensibility that typifies its decidedly unpretentious approach to the business of making music. Hammond organ hums and pretty piano flourishes swirl around guitar currents that eddy into Triance’s shimmering vocal currents, drawing strength from the depths of his raw emotion.

“I like what The Black Keys have done with the old blues; I’m definitely a fan of that era,” he says. “I think it has a lot to do with that direct sort of sound. We use low-end production and a lot of luck to get the job done. If we make a few mistakes along the way it just gives the piece authentic feeling.”

“I’m always trying to find new ways to go forward, and now that I can do things a bit quicker, I’m working harder at it than ever before,” he continues. “I can be locked up in a room with my digital soundboard and production tools, have a conversation with myself and produce an album. It’s very immediate; very liberating.”

Apt to liken his chosen style to that of idols like Neil Young and The Band, Triance had the opportunity to take things one step further by playing a characterization of The Band’s Rick Danko in Todd Haynes’s Bob Dylan biopic I’m Not There, while his real-life band portrayed The Band. Swinging freely between sweet southern rock and woodsy folk, Triance and company have crafted a debut that is firmly rooted in the rock ’n’ roll they grew up with, embellished with their signature “heavy-country-noir” twist.

“My father turned me onto some of my favourite artists before he passed away — I’ve always had a real strong feeling for those old three-part harmonies,” Triance says. “When I got my first record player, I listened to The Band, J.J. Cale and Dylan over and over again. It left a huge impression on me. Dylan was my father’s go-to for musical selections. Thanksgiving dinner, Easter dinner; whenever they asked me to put on some music for supper it was always time for Dylan.” - FFWD Weekly

Driven to seek out new creative forums, singer-songwriter Tavis Eachan Triance migrated from Quebec, leaving his position in Montreal’s well-respected Royal Mountain Band to live on the B.C. coast. Finding greener pastures on that side of the country, he wasted no time making himself at home on the local Northern Electric record label. With the help of fellow RMB veteran Jeff Louch, Tavis pieced together his winning ensemble, Spoon River, featuring musical accompanists Jason Kent, the Cowan brothers Seamus and Jeff, and Rachel Horkenheimer. Three more additions, including talented bassist Chris Young, guitarist Jon Wood and drummer Ed Goodine, were “borrowed” by Triance from like-minded troubadour and labelmate Rodney DeCroo.

“Rodney has been a great resource for Spoon River; we definitely have a similar sort of vibe,” explains Triance, the high school English teacher who named his band after an Edgar Lee Masters’ novel. “We both work with sort of an early ’70s, late ’60s, country-inflected rock thing. He’s a little more of a storyteller, whereas my style has a little less story to it and tends to be more poemy in nature. I try to keep to themes that come from a general place and to deal with the big questions like ‘What does it mean to be a good person?’ ‘What does it mean to live a good life?’”

Built to withstand the test of time, Spoon River’s newly minted debut album, Kingdom of the Burned (Northern Electric), promises to gently introduce audiences to the band’s unapologetically nostalgic scene. The musical equivalent of slipping into a warm bath, Spoon River’s multi-part harmonies ebb and flow with an organic sensibility that typifies its decidedly unpretentious approach to the business of making music. Hammond organ hums and pretty piano flourishes swirl around guitar currents that eddy into Triance’s shimmering vocal currents, drawing strength from the depths of his raw emotion.

“I like what The Black Keys have done with the old blues; I’m definitely a fan of that era,” he says. “I think it has a lot to do with that direct sort of sound. We use low-end production and a lot of luck to get the job done. If we make a few mistakes along the way it just gives the piece authentic feeling.”

“I’m always trying to find new ways to go forward, and now that I can do things a bit quicker, I’m working harder at it than ever before,” he continues. “I can be locked up in a room with my digital soundboard and production tools, have a conversation with myself and produce an album. It’s very immediate; very liberating.”

Apt to liken his chosen style to that of idols like Neil Young and The Band, Triance had the opportunity to take things one step further by playing a characterization of The Band’s Rick Danko in Todd Haynes’s Bob Dylan biopic I’m Not There, while his real-life band portrayed The Band. Swinging freely between sweet southern rock and woodsy folk, Triance and company have crafted a debut that is firmly rooted in the rock ’n’ roll they grew up with, embellished with their signature “heavy-country-noir” twist.

“My father turned me onto some of my favourite artists before he passed away — I’ve always had a real strong feeling for those old three-part harmonies,” Triance says. “When I got my first record player, I listened to The Band, J.J. Cale and Dylan over and over again. It left a huge impression on me. Dylan was my father’s go-to for musical selections. Thanksgiving dinner, Easter dinner; whenever they asked me to put on some music for supper it was always time for Dylan.” - FFWD Weekly

Well aware that the key to being a good substitute teacher is having the ability to win the kids over early, Tavis Eachan Triance has developed a strategy. If he’s learned anything about walking into a high-school classroom cold, it’s that a little name-dropping will earn you plenty of goodwill.

“The first thing I do is look for a Priestess shirt,” says Triance, on the line from his East Vancouver home. “Then I go, ”˜Hey—we shared a jam space with them when they were the Dropouts.’ ”

Give things a year or so, and Triance—who subs as an English teacher in Greater Vancouver—might very well find himself getting the same level of instant respect by mentioning his own band, Spoon River. The group’s debut disc, Kingdom of the Burned, is something of a shocker, mostly because it sounds like the work of seasoned vets who’ve been at it since Dylan was first thinking about going electric.

That’s no accident. Spoon River may be new on the Vancouver music scene, but Triance is anything but a neophyte when it comes to the music business. For much of last decade, the Western Canada–raised singer-guitarist was based in the indie mecca of Montreal, where he fronted the Royal Mountain Band.

Had that project got off the ground in the early ’00s, when the Kings of Leon, Drive-By Truckers, and My Morning Jacket were all topping the Hot List in Rolling Stone, the RMB would today share a pedestal with fellow hometown heroes Wolf Parade and Arcade Fire. Instead, the group got together to celebrate the gorgeousness of Americana-tinted ’60 and ’70s rock at a time when Montreal was garnering the world’s attention for its indie underground.

“The stuff that was really focused on while we were starting was the stuff that was more orchestral, kind of a little bit electro,” Triance says. “You know, the Arcade Fire, the Dears, Stars, the Stills. They all got really big, and there weren’t so many kind of rootsy-oriented bands coming out of Montreal at the time. So we struggled with that a little bit.”

Still, the Royal Mountain Band didn’t spend its entire time together hoping for a break that never came. The group was tapped to play the role of the Band in the Todd Haynes bio-flick I’m Not There, backing up Cate Blanchett’s Bob Dylan. But what would eventually prove frustrating for Triance and keyboardist Jason Kent (who joined him in Spoon River) was the Royal Mountain Band’s inability to move forward.

“We couldn’t agree to even take it on the road—there were so many arguments about that,” Triance says. “We had a lot of big personalities in the Royal Mountain Band—people who had a certain amount of exposure through touring as hired guns with big bands through the ’90s. They wanted major label [interest] or nothing, and that’s not reasonable. You kind of have to just get it out there at this point, and work it yourself a lot more than you would have had to in the past.”And that’s exactly what Triance and Kent have done with Spoon River, whose Kingdom of the Burned is loaded to the teeth with shimmering Hammond, dust-bowl guitars, and vocals that sound distilled from backwoods moonshine and unvarnished southern rock. From the loose-limbed country rambler “When the Doctor’s Gonna Come” to the roadhouse boogie of “Fool” to the golden-sunset lament “California”, it’s brilliant stuff.

After briefly performing as a duo post-RMB, Triance and Kent (who also plays with the Dears) hooked up with siblings Seamus (bass) and Jeff Cowan (drums), recording Kingdom of the Burned quickly, working live off the floor in Montreal.

“I just wanted to put something out, get it out to people,” Triance says. “I was tired of sitting on my songs. That was really a big focus for me. I had lots of material—that’s never really been a problem for me. I just knew from the Royal Mountain Band that it had to come out.”

Part of his determination to get things rolling might be explained by the fact that, despite playing in a band when he was younger, he only got serious about writing and performing later on in life. Triance notes that his father had a profound impact on who he is as person; for one thing, his dad was an English teacher too. The sudden death of his father, who drowned in Mexico, would indirectly lead him to the sound he’s embraced with Spoon River.

“I’ve always been a huge music fan, but I was going to school, so I put things on hold,” Triance says. “Then my father passed away and I sort of fell back in the love with the music that he grew up with, and that was always in our home and in our family. Dylan, Neil Young, the Band—a lot of the Band—Tom Petty. I fell back in love with all that around 2001, and that really focused me. I start writing and playing in that vein.”

For a good idea of how serious Triance is about Spoon River, consider that he currently has two versions of the group on the go. When the band plays in Montreal and Eastern Canada, he’s backed by the Cowans and Kent. On this side of the country, Spoon River - The Georgia Straight

Well aware that the key to being a good substitute teacher is having the ability to win the kids over early, Tavis Eachan Triance has developed a strategy. If he’s learned anything about walking into a high-school classroom cold, it’s that a little name-dropping will earn you plenty of goodwill.

“The first thing I do is look for a Priestess shirt,” says Triance, on the line from his East Vancouver home. “Then I go, ”˜Hey—we shared a jam space with them when they were the Dropouts.’ ”

Give things a year or so, and Triance—who subs as an English teacher in Greater Vancouver—might very well find himself getting the same level of instant respect by mentioning his own band, Spoon River. The group’s debut disc, Kingdom of the Burned, is something of a shocker, mostly because it sounds like the work of seasoned vets who’ve been at it since Dylan was first thinking about going electric.

That’s no accident. Spoon River may be new on the Vancouver music scene, but Triance is anything but a neophyte when it comes to the music business. For much of last decade, the Western Canada–raised singer-guitarist was based in the indie mecca of Montreal, where he fronted the Royal Mountain Band.

Had that project got off the ground in the early ’00s, when the Kings of Leon, Drive-By Truckers, and My Morning Jacket were all topping the Hot List in Rolling Stone, the RMB would today share a pedestal with fellow hometown heroes Wolf Parade and Arcade Fire. Instead, the group got together to celebrate the gorgeousness of Americana-tinted ’60 and ’70s rock at a time when Montreal was garnering the world’s attention for its indie underground.

“The stuff that was really focused on while we were starting was the stuff that was more orchestral, kind of a little bit electro,” Triance says. “You know, the Arcade Fire, the Dears, Stars, the Stills. They all got really big, and there weren’t so many kind of rootsy-oriented bands coming out of Montreal at the time. So we struggled with that a little bit.”

Still, the Royal Mountain Band didn’t spend its entire time together hoping for a break that never came. The group was tapped to play the role of the Band in the Todd Haynes bio-flick I’m Not There, backing up Cate Blanchett’s Bob Dylan. But what would eventually prove frustrating for Triance and keyboardist Jason Kent (who joined him in Spoon River) was the Royal Mountain Band’s inability to move forward.

“We couldn’t agree to even take it on the road—there were so many arguments about that,” Triance says. “We had a lot of big personalities in the Royal Mountain Band—people who had a certain amount of exposure through touring as hired guns with big bands through the ’90s. They wanted major label [interest] or nothing, and that’s not reasonable. You kind of have to just get it out there at this point, and work it yourself a lot more than you would have had to in the past.”And that’s exactly what Triance and Kent have done with Spoon River, whose Kingdom of the Burned is loaded to the teeth with shimmering Hammond, dust-bowl guitars, and vocals that sound distilled from backwoods moonshine and unvarnished southern rock. From the loose-limbed country rambler “When the Doctor’s Gonna Come” to the roadhouse boogie of “Fool” to the golden-sunset lament “California”, it’s brilliant stuff.

After briefly performing as a duo post-RMB, Triance and Kent (who also plays with the Dears) hooked up with siblings Seamus (bass) and Jeff Cowan (drums), recording Kingdom of the Burned quickly, working live off the floor in Montreal.

“I just wanted to put something out, get it out to people,” Triance says. “I was tired of sitting on my songs. That was really a big focus for me. I had lots of material—that’s never really been a problem for me. I just knew from the Royal Mountain Band that it had to come out.”

Part of his determination to get things rolling might be explained by the fact that, despite playing in a band when he was younger, he only got serious about writing and performing later on in life. Triance notes that his father had a profound impact on who he is as person; for one thing, his dad was an English teacher too. The sudden death of his father, who drowned in Mexico, would indirectly lead him to the sound he’s embraced with Spoon River.

“I’ve always been a huge music fan, but I was going to school, so I put things on hold,” Triance says. “Then my father passed away and I sort of fell back in the love with the music that he grew up with, and that was always in our home and in our family. Dylan, Neil Young, the Band—a lot of the Band—Tom Petty. I fell back in love with all that around 2001, and that really focused me. I start writing and playing in that vein.”

For a good idea of how serious Triance is about Spoon River, consider that he currently has two versions of the group on the go. When the band plays in Montreal and Eastern Canada, he’s backed by the Cowans and Kent. On this side of the country, Spoon River - The Georgia Straight