Folk duo the Chimney Swallows are returning to Powell River and the musicians vow neither stormy seas nor cancelled ferries will see the show kiboshed.
The proclamation comes because this is exactly what happened two years ago when a storm on the Salish Sea saw the Chimney Swallows’ Raghu Lokanathan and Corwin Fox stranded in Comox, and their Powell River performance cancelled.
“This time I have a plan,”said Fox, “even if we have to get into those squirrel suits the cliff-jumpers wear and fly over there.”
Based in Cumberland, 17 nautical miles from Powell River, Fox is one half of the Chimney Swallows’ musical medley. Named for birds returning each year to nest in Cumberland’s chimneys, Fox said the band’s music has a similar wandering quality.
“We will start a song with one instrument and migrate to another,” said Fox. “We’ll go from guitar to accordion, then mandolin and banjo.”
Although loyal to its acoustic folk routes, the Chimney Swallows’ music contains notes of hip hop and jazz as well.
“We want to be folksy and fun,” said Fox. “Our sound comes out like a conversation between the two of us.”
While music from their first self-titled album has been played on CBC Radio, Powell River listeners will have the chance to hear previously unreleased tracks, including song-games requiring audience participation.
“It’s fun. We or the audience yell out word substitutions or switches,” said Fox. “Playing with words creates whole different meanings in the song each time it’s played.”
Fox said he and Lokanathan spend a lot of time on stage trying to make each other laugh. This makes the show a fun experience that Fox said lends itself to a rather unexpected synchronicity.
“We have had strange convergences,” said Fox. “We are magically linked and I feel that when we play together.”
That link is perhaps born of the duo’s time working together at a public library in Victoria. Even now with Lokanathan calling Prince George home and Fox in Cumberland, their musical connection is as strong as ever.
“We’ve each written songs about working at a public library,” said Fox. “We even write about reading the same books.”
Playing a distinctive style of folk music peppered with hip hop and jazz, the duo is content to keep their sound rough around the edges.
“What we do is not about being super polished,” said Fox, “it’s about feeling the music and almost trying to inhabit the song.”
The Chimney Swallows play Cranberry Community Hall on Friday, November 13.
