Not many shows begin with directions to the flushable toilets, but you are sure to remember the ones that do.
Matt Blais played to a provincial park filled with eager listeners over the weekend. Blais brought his new album, In Shadow and Light, to the park on July 27.
Blais says that he's never played a show quite like this one.
"It was very much like you get on a plane and like here are the emergency exits. And here are the flushable toilets." he said. "But that adds to the charm and the specialness of what this is I I don't think I've ever done a gig quite like this before."
Blais relished the chance to play in a provincial park.
"I have always loved that and prided myself on taking music and taking art to places where there might not be otherwise." he said. "I've played music in a steel mill. I've played music on a boat. The weirder opportunities are great for the artist, because we can do the show. They're unique, but they're also great for the audience, because it's something different."
The laid back atmosphere of the park was a good ambience for the show, according to Blais.
"you can smell the campfire from the stage, you're going to be a good storyteller anytime there's a campfire." he said.
WATCH a VIDEO of Blais' song Fools Gold
The Calgary-born artist has been performing professional for 10 years. He says his musical career began as a songwriter before he felt like a musician.
"I view myself as a songwriter first, and a musician second" said Blais. "Before I even played guitar, I was writing poetry and writing songs. So then I got into the more rock and roll poets like Bob Dylan, Jim Morrison, they were sort of my my influences." he said. "I thought to put the poetry to music, I needed to play some sort of instrument. So I picked up the harmonica and the guitar (sound) of Bob Dylan because his chords didn't sound that difficult. I thought that would be a good place to learn. "
Blais says his most recent album, In Shadow and Light , took years to make, even causing him to question if it would be his final album.
"I thought this might be the last album I make, I had this sort of mortality thing, and I thought, if this is going to be your last album, what do you want to say?" said Blais.
No song seemed ever good enough, he recalled, saying he kept going back to the drawing board and reworking the songs and then scrapping a song and bringing in a new one.
"It was quite a lengthy, self reflective, self deprecating process of always trying to get the best out of myself that I could," he said.
All crowds
Blais says he loves to play in Western Canada and he loves the opportunity to play smaller town shows.
"Alberta is my home" said Blais. "I do love the smaller town shows, or the smaller festivals where I get to meet people and shake a few hands, and it's a little bit more personal That's what turned me on to this show in particular ... You can tell stories that you can't tell at a club show, you can play songs that are maybe more emotional, and you don't have to worry about beer sales."
Jaclyn Denman, Parks Development Officer, helped organize the event and thinks it's a great reason to come see the park and meet some great musicians.
"A lot of them are independent musicians that probably most people have never heard of before. It's a great opportunity to bring your kids , kid ages 12 and under are free. And you get to come to the park, so it's a great atmosphere." she said.
