It’s not surprising when you are the lead singer and most recognizable face of a popular music group for fans to wonder when you’re going to do a solo project. For Russell deCarle, front man and bass player for the multiple Juno award winning country act Prairie Oyster, it’s been a long time coming.
He released his first solo disc “Under the Big Big Sky” last September and it came out about 24 years after “Oyster Tracks”, the first record from the band that put him on the map.
deCarle said there was no rush to put out his own material because he was in a place of musical contentment. Recording and touring with Prairie Oyster kept him pleasantly engaged throughout the majority 80s and 90s.
It wasn’t until he had the chance to tour with a true country music legend the solo wheels began to turn in his mind.
“In 2004 I ended up on Merle Haggard’s Canadian tour,” deCarle recalled. “My friend Steve Briggs and I did it as a duo. That was a new curve for me doing that sort of thing. It kind of inspired me to start thinking of making my own record.”
Out on the road promoting “Under the Big Big Sky” the artist will perform on Saturday, Jan. 22 at the Bragg Creek Community Centre at 8 p.m. The performance will feature deCarle on acoustic guitar and lead vocals, the aforementioned Steve Briggs of the Bepop Cowboys on guitar and Dennis Keldie on keyboards and accordion.
It’s a stripped down, intimate show mostly featuring music from deCarle’s solo record. He admitted “Under the Big Big Sky” is different from the diverse country sound of Prairie Oyster.
“I guess I would call it a torchy bluesy kind of a record,” deCarle said. “It’s quite a departure from the Oyster thing. I mean the Oyster records have always been pretty eclectic as well. We’ve certainly touched on this kind of material. But with this one I wrote nine of the 11 songs myself and it’s a bit of departure for me instrumentally.”
To complete the album deCarle called on some of his well-known Canadian music friends.
“There’s lots of great guests on it,” he said. “Jim Cuddy (Blue Rodeo) is on it so are David Wilcox and Amos Garrett who is, of course, no stranger to people out in those parts.”
Garrett, a High River resident, is one of the most renowned musicians to call the Foothills home. He is widely acclaimed for his ability to bend more than one guitar string at a time creating sounds others can only produce on a sit down steel guitar.
deCarle said he was pleased to be able to call on such a unique talent for the recording of “Under the Big Big Sky”.
“Amos played guitar on a couple of tracks,” he said. “One tune he played on is “Can’t Find the Song in My Heart” as soon as I wrote it I thought of him for it.”
Prairie Oyster fans don’t need to be concerned as deCarle’s disc and current tour are side projects and not a sign of him leaving the band. While there are no firm plans in place, the Oysters are hoping to get in the studio and record a new album later this year.
Tickets for Russell deCarle’s concert on Jan. 22 are available at the community centre office at 23 White Ave. in Bragg Creek. You can also get them by calling 403-949-4277 or on-line at www.braggcreekca.com
