In October 2013, Headless Owl Records, based in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, invited Shotgun Jimmie, Steve Lambke (Baby Eagle/Constantines), Richard Laviolette, and Ian Kehoe (Marine Dreams/Attack in Black) to travel north for a very special collaborative recording project with Michael Feuerstack, Mathias Kom (The Burning Hell), Colleen Collins and David Trenaman of Construction and Destruction, Wax Mannequin, and Kyle Cashen. Each songwriter was invited to contribute a new song for the occasion and to contribute musically to the other songs. The next few days were completely magic: filled with hard work, dedication, beautiful music, and many laughs, all moved by a wonderful and rare spirit of collaboration.
The live performances of the group, featuring live projections by acclaimed visual artist Shary Boyle, and presented as “The Cost of Doing Business”, won the 2013 Yukon Arts Audience Awards for Best Music Performance in both Whitehorse and Dawson City.
Community Theatre – Northern Register collects the Whitehorse recordings in a beautiful gatefold jacket featuring illustration and collages by Shary Boyle. The music ranges from the Crazy Horse/Magnolia Electric Co style rock of Richard Laviolette’s Snailhouse, to the dark dub-pop of Kyle Cashen’s Engines. A choir of positivity joins Shotgun Jimmie on Onward & Upward! Construction and Destruction get glacial (slow and heavy and sparkly) on Winter Studies No. 4. Baby Eagle tells a John Prine inspired shaggy-dog story on Plymouth Acclaim: For Sale. Michael Feuerstack’s beautiful Will You Know? gets the full We Are The World treatment.
We are very happy to be releasing this unique album in collaboration with Headless Owl Records.
Listen to Richard Laviolette lead the group in Snailhouse, below:
