Steamers

On a sweltering hot day this June, The Steamers recorded a live album at Robot!House!! and it’s finally available for your listening pleasure. Steammates features three originals by the local power-folk band as well as three very special covers. What makes these covers so special, is that the artists they covered, Cory Levesque, Jon Creeden and Robots!Everywhere!!, joined them for the performances.

The Steamers set up the performance so that they bounced from originals to covers constantly mixing it up, and they nailed it. The recording of the EP doesn’t only capture the music, but does a great job of representing the comedic personalities within the band. The humour gets going early, as they introduce themselves to Stittsville, Ontario (playing in Centretown) and say they are a band from Niagara Falls. The little comments and jokes can be heard between tracks.

The opening track, “Blue Skies,” is the seven-piece’s flagship track which got people singing along right away. They then get into their first cover “All My Friends Are Here” by Robots!Everywhere!!, which also features great sing along portions. Up next is the heavy and emotional original called “Mike.” You can really feel the hurt in the lyrics and the still quiet of the crowd. Getting back to the covers and keeping with the heaviness, the band is joined by Cory Levesque to play the bleeding heart ballad “Words Are Hard These Days.” In their final original, the band really shows its folk roots with the harmonica-driven tale of being stranded in a dead-end town in “Stay Here to Bleed.” Rounding out the album is the track that excites me the most. I never had a chance to see Jon Creeden in a band (missed those Dead Weight days) so it was really cool to see a full band sound combined with his powerful vocals on “Tired.” As you can tell on the recording, I was not alone in my excitement, as many people joined in and were looking for some love from the man.

Take a listen to Steammates below, and note that all EPs purchased help support a Steamers full-length in the works for Spring/Summer 2015. Hmm, steamy goodness! - Ottawa Showbox

The inaugural Steamfest was a sweaty hit full of friends crammed in and outside of Robot!House!! on Saturday June 28.

With the seven-piece power folk/bluegrass band, The Steamers, all set up and ready to record a live album, the anticipation in the air was almost as heavy as the humidity. It was quite a special night. Not only were The Steamers recording a live album, but they teamed up with local acts Jon Creeden, Cory Levesque and Robots!Everywhere!! for two of their songs each. Seeing all these solo acts with a full band backing them was amazing. Highlights included “Best Friends” by R!E!!, “Broken Chords” by Cory Levesque, and “Tired” by Jon Creeden.

Even with sweat dripping off all the band members and everyone in the crowd, there was no slowing The Steamers or staggering the energy in the room. The Steamers have a great collection of original tracks that had us all dancing and singing along. My favourite track is “This is a Song,” but I also love that everyone in the band sings at times – sometimes in French but mostly in English. Another thing that is really cool about a band like The Steamers is all the instruments on stage. The standards are there — guitars, bass and drums — but what really moves me is the banjo, mandolin and ukulele… now that is refreshing. It was great to finally see the band in front of a crowd, I once sat in on a practice, and I can’t wait to get my hands on that live album.

Before we moved inside to the steam room (I mean Robot!House!!) we all had a few brews, some great BBQ eats, snacks and acoustic entertainment. Jon Creeden, my favourite acoustic act going, delivered as he always does. He played all the songs you could want to hear, including “Coast to Another,” “Swept Away” and the always requested “The Captain.” But what I really loved are his two new songs about Ottawa, which were debuted at Ottawa Explosion. One of the songs is about Robot!House!! (video above) so it was very fitting to hear in the backyard. The other is about 558 Scum House, which is where Jon and I met. Hearing the song about the now-defunct house venue live surrounded by friends at another house venue was a pretty great experience.

Also playing outside was the quasi-distraught Cory Levesque. He powered through his set even after having accidentally hit a baby goose while driving at work. “There was no way to avoid it,” he said and for this staunch vegetarian it was a traumatic event. The crowd consoled him (…ish) and he serenaded us with some sweet original tracks. He played some of my favourites “What I live for” and “Never Call Again.” Two personal highlights of his set was when he played a song I have never heard him play before and when he had Brian from The Glancers join him impromptu on the harmonica for “Where I’d Rather Be.” Brian nailed it, even though I doubt he had ever even heard the song.

Getting things started was The Glancers, formed in South Korea by way of Ottawa and Detroit. This was there second stop on their world tour which started in South Korea in 2013… Two friends, Matt and Brian, met in South Korea while teaching English there. They unfortunately lived in different cities, but made a pact that every time they hung out they had to write and record a song on the spot of something that had recently happened to them. This led the band to mostly write songs about inside jokes but the boys are great at between song bantering to get us all caught up. Two of their songs really stood out to me, their song “Jack Layton and Chinggis Kahn Ride Into the Sunset (Goin’ East),” about Jack Layton’s passing and the first song they ever wrote together, “You’re So Pretty I’m So Shitty,” which has hilarious lyrics and had me laughing through the entire song. They just released a five-song EP, I Guess That Will Always Be the Case, with both the aforementioned tracks on it and it is only $3, check it out here. - Ottawa Showbox

Featured on Lunch Out Loud's 100th blog! (URL available). - Lunch Out Loud

Si vous vous cherchez un exemple d’une scène musicale bien en santé, le sextuor Steamers fait preuve des possibilités artistiques qui s’étalent aux Ottaviens. Ce projet, démarré dans le but de perfectionner l’instrument secondaire de chaque membre, a su réunir un groupe dynamique qui emporte avec lui un riche bagage d’expérience musicale.

« Souvent il arrive que dans nos pratiques les gens plus folky disent que le groupe commence à vraiment prendre une direction punk », explique en riant Garett Barr, guitariste du groupe, « tandis que les punks se disent impressionnés de la qualité folk du son ». Ayant déjà deux albums à son effectif, The Home EP (2013) et Steammates (2014), le sextuor collecte présentement des fonds pour endisquer leurs 14 nouvelles chansons composées depuis mai dernier par le biais d’un concert, ce vendredi 16 janvier, au House of TARG.

La genèse du groupe date de 2010 mais est le produit de plus de 15 ans d’amitié et de collaboration musicale. L’amour est palpable sur scène, comme les six voix, les guitares, le banjo, la basse, la mandoline, le ukulélé et la batterie s’unissent dans un foudroyant mélange sonore. Les noces d’un de ses membres au Mexique ont galvanisé la formation actuelle et le groupe s’est produit autant dans la rue que dans des salons, des bars et des salles de concert, faisant notamment la première partie de Lisa Leblanc l’an dernier. Ils se disent soulagés que le syndrome des bras croisés se dissipe peu à peu dans la capitale et que les gens se gênent moins de danser comme des fous. « Parfois on jouait des concerts où la salle en entier nous passait au crible sans bouger et qu’ils venaient nous voir par après débordant d’éloges. […] On n’est pas un groupe à observer tranquillement dans un siège. On veut que tu te lèves, que tu boives, que tu bouges et que tu fasses l’expérience d’Ottawa! », déclare Sarah Fitzpatrick, épouse de Garett et bassiste du groupe.

Steamers cite en particulier le documentaire critiquant le manque de culture dans la capitale, The City That Fun Forgot?, comme une inspiration pour se réunir et prouver que la scène locale est bien vibrante. Lorsque La Rotonde leur a demandé s’ils avaient un message pour les étudiants universitaires, ils répondirent d’une voix : « Commencez un groupe de musique! », certains des membres affirmant que c’est l’unique raison qu’ils ont pu compléter leurs études universitaires. - La Rotonde: Le journal independant de l'universite d'Ottawa

The Steamers made it a family affair Saturday night when they rocked two sets at The Branch in Kemptville.

The intimate venue was filled with family members, colleagues, local regulars and a few of us who made the trip down from Ottawa. Continuing with the family theme, the night began with the cutest of two song sets as lead singer and guitarist, Quin Gibson was joined by his 10-year-old daughter Reagan. The two covered Dan Mangan’s “Robots” and it was wonderful. Reagan’s soft, yet confident voice was contrasted by Quin’s booming rasp and acoustic picking, complimenting each other very well. The rest of the band then joined them on stage for a cover of Aiden Knight’s “Jasper.” These songs had full-grown men in the crowd tearing up. What a beautiful way to start off a show.

As people wiped their eyes and blew their noses, The Steamers (minus banjo player Greg Fitzpatrick) got down to business. They played a more mellow acoustic set than usual, but it was stellar none the less. One of the things that always astonishes me about The Steamers, is that all of the members sing and don’t just back up. It seems like every member has a song where he or she sings lead vocals and that adds such a great dynamic to a live performance. Then on top of that add in the fact that they have songs in both official languages and have many opportunities for crowd participation and you truly are in for a treat. One of the best examples of that is their song “Wolfgang Presley” which is a French track where the crowd is often called upon to howl like a wold at the top of their lungs.

The band played two great sets filled with originals new and old and some really fun covers. The first set was highlighted by “Head North,” “This is a Song” and “Wood Smoke Whisper” which is the first song the band ever wrote. “Wood Smoke Whisper” was originally written by bass player Sara Fitzpatrick about camping, but as she said “once the boys got a hold of it, it is now about murdering people.” Hey almost every good folk/bluegrass band has a song about killing someone and burying them in the woods.

After a little break, a few drinks and chatting with family and friends, it was time for set number two. By now Quin’s children had gone home and he could finally let loose. “Ah, the kids are gone, I can swear now,” he said with a chuckle. This set featured great originals such as “Blue Skies,” “Mike,” and “Destination” plus drummer Phil Castiglione being the first drummer I have ever seen in my life play while wearing a cardigan. They threw in a female-led slowed down mellow version of The White Stripes’ “Hotel Yorba” which was really well done. Lastly they capped off the night with “Strings and Skins,” where they worked in a bunch of snippets of other songs including “Pints of Guinness Make You Strong” and “Sink, Florida, Sink,” some “Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen, “Don’t Stop Believing” by Journey, “Linoleum” by NOFX, “Roxanne” by the Police and rounded it all out with “Wagon Wheel.” - Ottawa Showbox