Kacy and Clayton will head west to play in the Nov. 27 Beneath the Arch concert at the Flare 'n' Derrick.
“We’re going to be playing as a duo, just two acoustic guitars, and I feel like playing in small indoor places with acoustic instruments,” said Clayton Linthicum, who will be accompanied by cousin Kacy Anderson. “It’s just easier to connect, it’s easier to make an impact and see people’s reactions a little closer.”
Jumping west of the Saskatchewan border will mark the first opportunity to make that connection since before the pandemic.
“We’re playing a couple shows out in Alberta this weekend and those will be the first indoor shows that we’ve played in almost two years,” Linthicum said.
“We played a couple festivals, but it’ll be good to play for people inside again.”
Hailing from Wood Mountain, Sask., Linthicum and Anderson put their own twist on old roots.
“Our biggest influences are sort of old-time and traditional folk musicians such as Doc Watson and the Carter Family,” Linthicum said.
“We love lots of country musicians as well like Merle Haggard and just a kind of amalgamation of early country blues and American folk musicians.”
The fun doesn’t stop there, drawing on some old world vibes filtered through a prairie lens.
“We’ve got a little bit of Scottish ballads in there, British music, so that kind of music has also been filtered through bluegrass and American folk music so it’s kind of connected in that sort of way,” Linthicum said.
The two began in 2011 with their self-titled album Kacy & Clayton before crafting another five, including a team-up with New Zealand singer/songwriter Marlon Williams titled Plastic Bouquet.
The duo is one Beneath the Arch organizer Suzanne Searle has sought to book in the past before the pandemic hit.
“I’ve seen them many times at folk festivals and I became aware of them,” Searle said.
“(Kacy) has an exceptional voice, and (Clayton) is a very good guitar player, so I just thought they were original and they’ve been on my shortlist for a long time, but it just never worked out before with dates, times, etcetera.
“To hear that sort of blue-grassy, old-timey music, but original music, it just struck me.”
The series, Searle pointed out, is all-Canadian save for one American act.
The event will be operating under Alberta’s Restriction Exemption Program, requiring proof of double vaccination at the door.
For more information visit beneaththearch.ca
