A rare musical opportunity is coming to Black Diamond. The Stop Coffee House in the foothills community is welcoming Canadian alternative country band Cuff the Duke for one show only Tuesday, October 25.
Awareness of the band has grown significantly through its association with perennial chart toppers Blue Rodeo.
“We went out with them in 2008,” Cuff the Duke’s Wayne Petti said of opening for Blue Rodeo. “We did it again when ‘Way Down Here’ came out. We did all of Western Canada with them actually.”
“Way Down Here” is Cuff the Duke’s fourth album from 2009. The band recently followed it up with the October 4 release of “Morning Comes” the band’s fifth studio effort. It was produced by Blue Rodeo singer-songwriter Greg Keelor in his rural Ontario home studio.
“We worked really well with him because we did this record in about six and half days.” Petti said of collaborating with Keelor.
Cuff the Duke’s front man has further familiarized himself with the members of Blue Rodeo having provided backing vocals to 10 songs on their 2009 release “The Things We Left Behind.” The last couple of years Petti has also toured with the group responsible for such hits as “Til I Am Myself Again” and “Lost Together”.
A growing Canadian music force in its own right, Cuff the Duke was formed in 2001in Oshawa, Ontario and is now based in Toronto. Guitar player and keyboardist, Petti is the group’s primary songwriter and lead vocalist. Also in the band since the beginning is bass player Paul Lowman. Rounding out the current lineup is percussionist Corey Wood and Dale Murray, who plays pedal steel and other guitars, is also the nephew of legendary Canadian recording artist Anne Murray.
Cuff the Duke’s current “Morning Comes” album is unusual in it is part one of a two-disc project with the follow up to come out about a year from now. With many of the songs written recently, the band was determined to come up with the best way to get all the material out.
“We weren’t into the idea of doing a double record but we thought we could do two and kind of link them together through a lyrical theme,” Petti said.
“Morning Comes” delves heavily into subject matter related to loss and change.
“You reach that point where for the first time in your life you reflect. You see that things aren’t quite what they used to be and your outlooks and priorities change in your life. So there’s a bit of that element in the songs but there is also dealing with the loss of loved ones on a personal level too.”
Laying all the tracks down in less than a week was beneficial to the creative process.
“It makes for a really spirited recording and good time,” Petti said. “Whenever we were playing something, it was right in the moment and not being over analyzed. We didn’t do a lot of preproduction for this record.”
“Morning Comes” like the other albums in Cuff the Duke’s catalogue, features the band playing some off-the-beaten-track instruments. Not afraid to mix things up, the band has incorporated the sounds of a moog synthesizer, a vibraphone and a glockenspiel into their music.
For more information about this unconventional act Tuesday, October 25 at The Stop Coffee Shop and Gathering Place in Black Diamond, call 403- 933-3002.
