The Contemporary Lovers

The Contemporary Lovers are a genre-crossing, heart-warming, multi-talented, and musically intelligent band from Vancouver, BC, Canada.  The core of this group is a trio formed by Anndreyah Vargas (vocals, glockenspiel, tap dancing), Cole Schmidt (guitar, compositions), and Alex Kelley (upright bass, compositions); however, they are often joined by a drummer and have an artillery of auxiliary musicians on hand, including a clarinetist, a trumpeter, and a violinist.

The Lovers' unique brew of music is characterized by solid, creative, and interactive instrumental playing and a combination of beautifully composed and tastefully improvised material, all of which is topped off by Miss Vargas' soulful vocals. The group's two songwriters each add their own distinct styles to the mix: Kelley's compositions are catchy and melodic with heart-wrenching lyrics, comparable to the music of Brian Wilson and Tom Waits; Schmidt's compositions are intellectual, multi-faceted and exciting. While most of the group's material is original, they also enjoy playing covers of many of their favourite songs, which demonstrate how varied their influences are: their repertoire includes arrangements of music by Nick Drake, Horace Silver, The Beatles, and The Beach Boys.  The Lovers are all talented improvisers as well as gifted performers who have an uncanny knack of hitting their audience right in the heart.

All the members of the Contemporary Lovers hold Bachelor of Music degrees from North Vancouver's acclaimed Capilano University Jazz Studies program, and can be found individually throughout British Columbia's lower mainland playing, singing and dancing with various other ensembles.