The Cheap Seats
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The Cheap Seats

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"Ottawa Buzz: Marc Charron May Be Skiing Into A Town Near You"

For Marc Charron, touring is a kind of perpetual state. He's crossed Canada six times in two years, stopping in small towns that all have two things in common: an appreciation for a one-man band and nice, big hills.

"Skiing has been my lifestyle for well over 17 years," Charron says. "I moved to Whistler as a young 18 year old and got my butt kicked by the size of it all.

"Skiing to me is kinda like taking a solo in song. Depending on your talent, you can play all over a mountain and carve lines in it. Actually, skiing is a lot like me and my music: all over the place, free and risk-taking."

Charron takes to the slopes by day and pursues his love of music by night. He's known around Ottawa for playing in the funk-folk band Lure, but on his own he's hardly less dynamic. A "solo" show often includes guitar, drums, keyboards and effects — all easily juggled by Charron.

It's a feat that goes over well in the smaller cities that Charron prefers. Take Fernie, British Columbia, for example.

"Fernie is a small town in southeast B.C. that I lived in for a few years in the late '90s," Charron explains. "It is a special place in my heart.

"It is where my one-man-band show was born, and it's where I first started to make a living at music and realize the possibilities. It is a gem of a town tucked in the middle of three valleys, and it gets upwards of 35 feet of snow annually — a world-class mining town with history and folklore."

Charron is becoming part of Fernie folklore himself by playing a three-night stand at the Brickhouse. He's also excited about getting a gig in Saskatoon ("it always hurts to pass through a midsized town on my way to or from Edmonton"), and at Vancouver's highly regarded Railway Club. Charron seems to be proof that the hard slog of working the Canadian live music scene, one city after another, can successfully build an audience the old-fashioned way.

Here are Marc Charron's tour dates:

Feb. 2 Sault Sainte Marie, ON @ Searchmont Ski Hill
Feb. 4 Sault Sainte Marie, ON @ Searchmont Ski Hill
Feb. 7 Revelstoke, BC @ Woolsey Cafe
Feb. 8 Nelson, BC @ The Royal
Feb. 9 Kaslo, BC @ Muddy Hands
Feb.10 Kelowna, BC @ The Grateful Fed
Feb.13 Vancouver, BC @ Railway Club
Feb.15 Red Deer, AB @ The Vat
Feb.16 Edmonton, AB @ Velvet Underground
Feb.17 Canmore, AB @ Canmore Hotel
Feb.18 Banff, AB @ Rose And Crown
Feb. 21 Golden, BC @ Packers
Feb. 22-24 Fernie, BC @ Brickhouse
Feb. 26 Saskatoon, SK @ Lydia's
Feb. 28 Thunder Bay, ON @ The Apollo
March 2-3 Toronto, ON @ Fionn McCool's
- ChartAttack.com


"Snoop was top dog during visit, say impressed recording studio workers"

Rap superstar Snoop Dogg showed up 2.5 hours late for his booking at an Ottawa recording studio on Thursday. He brought a bunch of people and ignored the rules about no smoking. He wrote on the walls with a permanent marker.

But when it got down to business, Snoop's efficiency was impressive, say the two audio engineers on duty at Raven Street Studios.

They'd had a phone inquiry a couple of weeks ago from a man named Ted Chung, who Nick Beaton realized, is vice-president of A&R for Snoop's DoggyStyle Record label.

Although Chung didn't specify which artist required the time, studio staff felt that chances were pretty good that it was for Snoop himself, since he was in town for last night's concert at the Civic Centre.

The time was booked for 10p.m., but it was well past midnight when Snoop and his entourage, including bodyguards and ladyfriends, finally showed up. Marty Sobb say the mission was to record Snoop's part for a collaboration with Chamillionaire.

Sobb had the sense that Snoop Snoop had never heard the Chamillionaire track before. He listened to it four of six times, then went to work.
"He was grooving with it and asked me for a pen and paper, and wrote a bunch of stuff down. Within 10 minutes, he ripped it off in one take," said Sobb, who's 32. I'm no hip-hop guy, but I was pretty impressed.

Snoop was there for about 3 hours, while others in his group stayed most of the night to work on their own material. Beaton lasted until 5:30a.m.; while Sobb finally kicked the last of Snoop's crew out around 9 a.m. to get the studio ship-shape for the day's business.

Raven Street Studios is one of Ottawa's biggest and best-equipped studios.

Collective Soul, Avril Lavigne, The Guess Who and Dame Edna are some of the high-profile clients who have used the facilities while passing through town. - The Ottawa Citizen


Discography

Guinea Pig Sessions (to be released late Spring 2008)

Photos

Bio

Individually, MARC CHARRON (vocals, guitar) MARTY SOBB (guitar, bass, organ & piano), and MATT SOBB (drums, percussion) have distinct musical paths. We have all played The Ottawa Bluesfest with different acts!!

MARC CHARRON performs a nationally touring one-man band show that is not to be missed and is a founding member of Ottawa indie-rock band LURE. He also finds time to stage manage at festivals like the Canadian Tulip Festival and the Ottawa Bluesfest. The Cheap Seats is yet another important outlet for this constantly-creating songsmith.

MARTY SOBB is an energetic guitar-playing singer-songwriter who fronted his own bluesy-rock touring band for over 10 years. Marty Sobb & The Mobb toured across Canada 5 times in the 90's, released an EP to critical acclaim and received national radio and television airplay with their single "Tan Party Van". Marty toured and opened for Colin James for a dozen shows in the 90's, and opened for both Colin and Bryan Adams at the 2004 Ottawa Bluesfest. Some other high profile shows include playing with Tom Cochrane and Big Sugar at the Corel Centre ( now Scotiabank Place), also sharing the stage with Amanda Marshall, Kim Mitchell, April Wine, and several other top Canadian acts.

Marty is now also focused on developing his career as an engineer/producer as well as an audio engineering instructor. He has worked with several international recording artists such as Snoop Dogg, Avril Lavigne, Burton Cummings & Randy Bachman, Creed's new incarnation (Alterbridge), Dame Edna, and Jeff Martin (ex-The Tea Party)

MATT SOBB is a busy Ottawa-based freelance drummer who plays regularly with The Tony D Band, Trevor Finlay and anyone else who calls! His freelancing has allowed him to play live and in studio with many renowned artists such as Jeff Healey, Johnnie Johnson (Chuck Berry), Kim Wilson (The Fabulous Thunderbirds), Tom Wilson (Blackie & The Rodeo Kings, Junkhouse), Colin Linden, Richard Bell (The Band, Janis Joplin, Bonnie Raitt), Juno Award winner The Mighty Popo, David Gogo, Shaun Verrrault (Widemouth Mason) and many more . . .

The live show is rounded out by Ottawa music scene veteran GARNEY PATERSON (The Paper Boys, Dean Batstone, Moonlight Graham) on bass guitar and vocals

Collectively, these paths have merged and have come to be known as THE CHEAP SEATS . . .

Initially, the 3 Ms came together to supply songs for the students of The Audio Recording Academy at Raven St. Studios in Ottawa in the fall of 2003. Years later, the guys realized that they couldn't deny the musical chemistry or quality of material that they had amassed and have decided to take it to a new level. The result is The GUINEA PIG SESSIONS due out in spring 2008. Imagine Neil Young, Jerry Garcia and John Lennon strumming & singing by the fire as Jimi Hendrix throws a gallon of gasoline on top! THE CHEAP SEATS have now unleashed their Canadian brand of rock'n'roots live to the world . . . keep your ears peeled . . .

Go ahead; check it out from THE CHEAP SEATS . . .

LINKS:

http://www.myspace.com/ottawacheapseats
http://www.myspace.com/marccharronmusic
http://www.myspace.com/thestickswinger