A Calgary blues man and his motley band are playing Beneath the Arch this weekend
Taking to the stage at the Flare n’ Derrick on Saturday, Nov. 18 is Tom Phillips and the DT’s.
Billed as a honky-tonk hero and sporting a new band, Phillips brings a decidedly bluesy flavour of country while skirting folk and Celtic with their harmonies.
"The band is all about contrast, we cover a lot of ground,” Phillips said.
“My influences as a songwriter, they come deeply from country in many ways, Hank Williams, Merle Haggard, that sort of thing, but also like Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan and all that stuff is the most important stuff to me.
“So, the song is the more important thing to me.”
The DT’s formed out of an old partnership between Phillips and Tim Leacock, a former bandmate from past project Men of Constant Sorrow.
“That was a straight up country band, had a pedal steel guitar and accordion, and Tim and I started doing a bunch of duo things together,” Phillips said.
Enter sisters Shaye and Sydney Zadravec. Phillips met each of them separately.
“Shaye, when she turned 18, she showed up at my jam at Mikey's Juke Joint,” Phillips said. “I didn't know her, and she just came up and asked if she could sing the song the Night Riders Lament with me, and I just thought if an 18-year-old knew that song, sure.
“So she got up and did this beautiful harmony to it, like immediately."
It was a similar story for Sydney, who seemed to already have the songwriter made.
“Her dad brought her down to this place called Rhinos, where I played, and she came up to me and asked if she could sing Love Hurts, of all the songs, with me because I did that at the time,” Phillips said.
"She got up, and she just once again she did this beautiful harmony to it and I said, ‘Well, do you know anything else that I do?’
“And she said, ‘Oh, I know all your songs.’”
Both signing on with the DT’s, the sisters deliver harmonic vocals, with Sydney also taking up bass.
Also on the all-star roster is Thom Moon.
“He played for many years with Ian Tyson, and he's played with everybody,” Phillips said.
“And so playing at the Blues Can on Tuesday nights, this whole band sort of came together about five years ago, and since then it’s morphed into the band that’s the DT’s.
“It’s got great harmonies, great musicianship and we’re doing mainly songs that I’ve written.”
Over the years that has varied, with Phillips writing to the message rather than the genre label.
“So it's all over the place from some straight up western sort of stuff to a little bit of soul and a little bit of harder edged things as well,” he said.
This will be the DTs’ first time Beneath the Arch, but Phillips played there before with the Men of Constant Sorrow, although the band has separately performed in the area before.
Doors open at 7 p.m., with the concert beginning at 7:30 p.m. For more information visit beneaththearch.ca/concerts.
