A Calgary songwriter is revealing both his light and dark sides, backed by an Okotoks multi-genre musician, in a downtown coffee shop Saturday.
Matt Blais, last year’s Calgary Music Awards’ singer/songwriter and male artist of the year, will introduce songs from his upcoming album In Shadow and Light, alongside master guitarist Mike Sands, at Tribal Connection Market May 18 at 8 p.m.
“They’re my strongest songs to date,” Blais said of his album. “I really took a lot of time with this album and picked it apart word by word. Some of the songs are really positive while some have a darker tone, some are hopeful while some are a little more disparaging.”
The 33-year-old roots and rock troubadour will release In Shadow and Light in vinyl, CD and electronically on June 21, but is giving a sneak peek to Okotoks listeners.
There are messages in the songs that Blais hopes will resonate with listeners.
“What I face and others face has two sides, the side that gets down and the side that lifts itself back up,” he said. “Good and evil exist in everything and everyone, it’s what we choose to put forward and what we chose to battle that comes out in art.”
Since playing paid gigs in high school, and then professionally the past 10 years, Blais noticed a change in his music.
“My music is a little bit more serious,” he said. “You’ve got to keep it fresh if you’re playing from the heart and you’re being honest. I’m taking a harder look at the world and analyzing it more, trying to figure it out.”
Blais describes his upcoming show as a musical journey, more specifically, a roller-coaster.
“It’s not going to be all upbeat but I don’t expect people to be crying the whole show either,” he said. “I like to delve deep into all of the emotions in one show.”
Blais spends a lot of time touring western Canada and making it out east as much as possible.
“We try to make it out to Toronto and to all the provinces as much as we can, but it’s such a big country it’s difficult,” he said, adding half of his gigs are solo and the rest are with his band.
In Okotoks, Blais will be accompanied by 30-year-old Sands on electric guitar and harmonies. The two have played together for five years.
“I’ve got a lot of trust in him musically,” said Blais. “I can throw songs at him with short notice or no notice and he’s such a great player, he backs me up solidly and allows me to be really creative.”
According to Sands, he adds some layers to Blais’ music.
“We balance each other pretty well,” he said. “I’m really regimented and I really like to have everything super prepared and he’s more fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants so it’s a good balance. He never makes set lists and will change songs.”
Despite his regimented style, Sands is pretty laid back when it comes to music genres.
“I play anything, I don’t care, I just like to play,” he said. “I’ve done pop gigs, reggae gigs, world music, I play a lot of country now. It’s just a lot of feel. You’ve got to come up with interesting little layers and try to be creative and get good tones.”
As for Blais’ album, Sands said he’s stoked to play alongside him when he introduces some of his songs this weekend.
“I’ve been really waiting for this to see the light of day,” he said. “It’s great. Just last weekend we were playing one of his last singles and when we were done it was like, it’s such a fun tune, just a blast to play.”
Sands said he’s been keeping busy with his freelance work doing recordings, transcriptions, teaching guitar, producing music and playing gigs.
“I’m a freelancer so I get out and play all the time,” he said. “I work 14 hours a day. I haven’t had a break since February. I’m loving it.”
Tickets to see Matt Blais and Mike Sands are $15 and can be purchased at Tribal Connection Market in advance of the concert.
