There’s no one person calling the musical shots in Standing Stones as the cross-denominational gospel band is a true collaborative effort.
Jennifer Fulton, on the seven members of Standing Stones, said when the act first got together about nine years ago she and fellow musician and composer Dora Hall carried the songwriting duties, but over the years the others have become more involved.
“Everybody is writing music,” Fulton said. “We go off on these retreats, usually in the fall. We rent this place up at Caroline. During the retreat last year we wrote seven songs which was a miracle.”
The fruits of those songwriting labours can be found in abundance on Standing Stones recently completed second album “Into The Deep”. A CD release party for the record is being held Friday, June 10, at 7 p.m. at Holy Cross Lutheran Church in Okotoks.
Unlike many bands where one member’s opinions and moods dominate the musical direction of the band, Fulton explained there’s a welcome give and take in the creation of original material for Standing Stones.
“We’re a group,” she said. “We work together. We listen to each other. We take each other’s suggestions. Sometimes someone will add in a bridge or someone will suggest a tag to a song. Other times we share up the writing of the lyrics.”
Fulton said the band’s practice of meeting about once a week for the past nine years has allowed them to develop into a close knit unit.
With seven members and seven musical influences Standing Stones’ music can be described as roots alternative and it’s driven by the voices of its seven members.
“We have very strong vocals,” she said. “Everybody sings.”
Two members of the Okotoks group, Karen Jones and Colleen Fernley, provide vocals with Robert Arsenault and Ian Willumsen on guitar, Shannon Deardoff playing drums, Fulton on bass and Hall serving as Standing Stones’ keyboardist.
For her part Hall, who is a renowned music teacher, said she is proud of the songs Standing Stones produces. She said the far ranging musical tastes of the band are in evidence on the new “Into the Deep” album.
“We bring together everything from country and rock to reggae,” Hall explained. “The wildest song on the album from us as a contemporary Christian band and is called “God in the Shower”. A friend of mine said the musical style of it is actually ska. I didn’t even know what that was before we recorded it. Our big joke in the band is our music is like Alberta’s weather, if you don’t like it, wait five minutes and you’ll hear a different kind of song.”
Standing Stones will be performing live and will have copies of “Into The Deep” available for sale at their CD release party June 10. Anyone interested in attending can reach the band by e-mail at [email protected]
