ATHABASCA — The wait is finally over; fans of the Heartwood Folk Club won’t have to wait much longer for the start of the club’s Spring Season, which will be kicked off at the Nancy Appleby Theatre March 9 with a 7:30 p.m. performance from B.C.-based artist Jack Garton and band.
Garton, whose sounds carry notes of inspiration from mid-century doo-wop and rockabilly, will be stopping in Athabasca as part of his tour promoting his new album, Original Skin.
The 14-track album dropped in December 2023, and Garton described the collection as a sort of map, tracing a wandering path through time and space that sheds light on memorable experiences throughout his journey thus far.
“For the first time, I was looking back at my life at a lot of different moments that might have seemed like dead ends,” said Garton. “But I think they’re beautiful, they’re all really beautiful.
“I was looking back at my meandering life and ended up writing songs about a lot of different phases of it in this album, so I’m very much in the mode of appreciating all of those things,” he added.
Garton said the approach to songwriting he took in Original Skin was different than he used for his other two albums, The Frontline is Everywhere (2020), and Love You Over Time (2018).
“I never realized it, but I had always thought about writing songs as, ‘What would people like to hear?’ The question I would ask myself is, ‘What’s going to go over well in a show?’” But his perspective shifted during the COVID-19 pandemic, when live performances and shows seemed a world away.
“I wanted to write songs for myself for the first time,” he said. “I just thought, ‘What would bring me joy, even if there was no one else in the room … ‘What if I just write this down, just so that I have a map of it and I don’t forget.’ It’s a way of reclaiming those things from my own life.”
“It’s very lucky that that all worked out the way it did, because it’s actually much more nourishing,” he said. “It’s a thing that nourishes me first, and then it moves outward from there.
An artist’s evolution
Although his artistic approach has evolved, Garton’s perspective on the winding, unpredictable path of life is nothing new.
“I have a bug for anything that’s unusual,” he said. “If I can see the entire path in front of me and I know exactly where it’s gonna go at every point, it’s kind of boring. I really like zigging and zagging … trying something out that’s new and fresh and undiscovered to me. That’s how I like to move through the world.”
And his music career has been a clear reflection of his outlook. Garton said it didn’t take him long after high school to realize he wasn’t built for an academic path. Busking on the streets of Vancouver was a more appealing option, and it was here Garton connected with friends who he explored theatre and poetry alongside.
Eventually, Garton said the group of friends became a band, and tours across Western Canada, the United States and even Europe taught him much about his craft.
“I started writing songs in that band too, which was a huge step for me because I’d been interested in poetry, but it wasn’t until my mid-twenties it clicked that I could do the two at the same time,” said Garton. “Which seems simple, but it’s simple and not simple at the same time.”
But Garton had been acquainted with the world of music much earlier than high school graduation. “That goes back to being two years old,” said Garton, who recalled being the evening entertainment for his parents and grandparents after dinner.
At the age of five, his parents enrolled him in a music class, and five years later a ten-year-old Garton picked up the trumpet in school and played on his father’s old horn. He also reminisced about guitar lessons and singing in his church's choir as a youngster.
Young Garton’s involvement in the church had him aspiring to a different role than the one he occupies now.
“I wanted to be a priest, but oh God, I’m glad I didn’t do that,” he said. “They have nice outfits, and they get to do music every Sunday … it’s a beautiful community, a beautiful moment in a beautiful building,” he said, but ultimately, priesthood was not the path for him.
In addition to writing and performing his own music, Garton spends his time passing on his skills to others. Offering lessons in guitar, piano, trumpet, and accordion, he said giving back to kids has been a fun, inspiring outlet that hits close to home.
“I feel like it’s come full circle, I’ve developed a class for preschool kids for music, and it’s so, so much fun,” said Garton. “Once they get something, and they learn a song, you can see the confidence or that inspiration in their eyes. It’s very beautiful.”
Accompanying talent
Garton will be joined on the Nancy Appleby Stage by long-time friends and colleagues Steven Charles, and Jodie Ponto and Noah Walker from surf rock duo Kitty and the Rooster. The show will also feature special guest Sammy Volkov, a musician from Edmonton Garton connected with over a shared love of 1950’s music.
“He put out a song called Weather Report that had a very Roy Orbison type of feel to it, and I was like, ‘Oh, I love this,’ and I know Roy Orbison’s work very well.”
Other inspirations for Garton’s musical style come from memories of listening to his grandparents' tape collection. A self-described “obsession” with Elvis, and a proclivity towards the sounds of Myles Davis, Little Richard, and Dion and the Belmonts have shaped the tones and styles of his own music.
Advance tickets for the show can be purchased at Value Drug Mart, Whispering Hills Fuels, or Athabasca Health Foods for $30. Tickets at the door will be available for $35, admission for those 16 and under is free, and a season pass for all four shows is available for $100.
Upcoming artists include John Reischman & The Jaybirds bringing bluegrass and acoustic roots March 21, songs about real situations and people from Trevor Panczak on April 8, and country trio Sister Grace April 18.
