Local Athabasca band Brandid is playing July 1 at 5:30 p.m. for the Magnificent River Rats Festival at the riverfront.
Band member Kevin Verschoor said the band was established in 2007.
“With musical backgrounds from country, blues and Texas rock, the group formed, not knowing the exact direction they would be heading,” Verschoor said.
Verschoor explained when the band started with just three members, they were performing basic songs: covers of classics that many bar bands had played before them. He said this allowed them to “build confidence and a strong fan base … (and) go through the ups and downs of any young band.”
The band then decided they needed their own sound.
“The band now plays across western Canada as a five-piece and occasional six,” he said. “We play all types of venues from cabarets to outdoor concerts, bars and arenas.”
The band recently released an album of “old-time country in a new-age world,” said Verschoor.
The recently formed Treble Busters will be playing at the Magnificent River Rats Festival on July 1 at 3:30 p.m.
“We got together in the last six months, around January, for the first time,” said band member Gary Glewinski. “I appreciated the chance to join a permanent group and travel a bit.”
The band is a folk-rock and blues combo group.
“We throw in some old-time music and some country, because, well, everyone in Alberta likes country,” he said. “We have a myriad of influences, from Jack Johnson and John Butler Trio to Alan Jackson and the Soggy Bottom Boys.
“We expect a lot of different age group demographics at the River Rats, and that works perfect for our mix of styles,” Glewinski added.
Glewinski moved to St. Albert from Scotland four years ago.
“I taught music in schools there, and now I’m a freelance music instructor and musician in the Edmonton area,” he said. “I teach guitar, bass, upright bass, mandolin, ukulele — even beginner’s banjo.”
Glewinski explained that music pays his bills.
“That makes me very grateful,” he said. “I love jumping in the back of a van on the weekends and exploring a new part of Canada each time we have a gig.”
Band member Mike Roste was born in Saskatchewan.
“He plays guitar and mandolin, Athabasca’s very own Carson Schafer plays drums, and I play electric bass and upright bass in the group,” Glewinski explained.
Roste explained where the name comes from.
“The idea of the name Treble Busters came from when I was a kid and my dad used to nickname me Buster, (by) which he basically meant ‘mischief maker,’” Roste said.
Schafer grew up in Athabasca.
“Athabasca has always had a great selection of piano and vocal instructors, so from a young age, my parents encouraged me to be involved in musical theatre and signed me up for vocal lessons for a numbers of years,” Schafer said. “But when I was 10 years old, my parents bought me a drum set for Christmas, and I was hooked.”
Schafer began playing drums at the Athabasca Reformed Church.
“The support, patience and grace I received from the congregation, musicians and my parents meant the world to me,” he explained. “I played in bands with friends while I was in high school and always looked forward to Battle of the Bands each year.”
Schafer is currently studying at MacEwan University for drum set performance.
He said he is excited to play in his hometown.
“I’m looking forward to sharing our music with the wonderful crowd at the Athabasca River Rats Festival,” he said. “It’ll be a lot of fun to play in front of familiar faces on the riverfront.”
