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The Burying Ground returns to town

Old-time quartet from Vancouver plays second local show at McKinney’s Pub
The Burying Ground
The Burying Ground, a four-piece country, ragtime and blues band from Vancouver, plays McKinney’s Pub on Friday, January 19.

As a musical genre description, the tag “old-timey” perfectly describes Vancouver quartet The Burying Ground. Returning to Powell River to play McKinney’s Pub after a successful show a year ago at Cranberry Community Hall, the band’s music is a mix of blues, ragtime and country, including reimagined covers of traditional songs from as far back as the 1920s.

“I like the raw feeling and simple complexities of this kind of music,” says guitarist/vocalist Woody Forster. “Sometimes the chords and songs might seem simple, but there are lots of little things that are going on within the music.”

Currently on a 10-day BC tour with a road trip to Europe planned for later this year, Forster says the band members are excited to return to Powell River to perform another concert.

“It was a really good show last time and we had a full house there in Cranberry,” says Forster. “We’re looking forward to trying McKinney’s near the tail end of our current tour.”

Forster says he’s been playing traditional styles of music for a decade and has been in other projects with musical cohort Devora Laye, who plays washboard and saw and also provides vocals for their latest band.

When a previous project in which Forster and Laye were serving as a backing band for another musician ended, the opportunity presented itself to start The Burying Ground and focus on their own music. Since then, it’s been a lot of touring for the duo and their associated band members.

“It keeps us busy and we get to travel around and meet new people, sometimes in places we’ve never been before, so it’s been a good way to see the country and other parts of the world,” says Forster. “That’s one of my favourite parts, playing music for people in places we wouldn’t otherwise be.”

Joined by Bonnie Northgraves on trumpet and Wynston Minckler on upright bass, Forster says he and Laye promise a night to remember when they play in Townsite.

“It’s going to be a fun time with dancing music,” says Forster, “and it’s a good live band that we are bringing with us.”

The Burying Ground
When: 8 pm, Friday, January 19
Where: McKinney’s Pub
Price: $10-$20 sliding scale
Info: facebook.com/mckinneyspowellriver