mvyradio’s Barbara Dacey Speaks with members of the John Henrys before their set at the Cisco Systems Ottawa Bluesfest.

The John Henrys may be a new band to the general public and the typical country music fan, but to the alt-country and roots music fans in Canada who are out seeing new bands regularly at the clubs and are all about what is hip, the John Henrys are the next big thing.

Already in demand and currently on tour in the USA, hitting markets like Austin, Pittsburgh, Memphis, Nashville, and Cleveland, the John Henrys are getting heard in places that are far from their hometown of Ottawa, Ontario, in support of their new album, ‘Sweet as the Grain’. Produced by the band themselves at their rehearsal-turn-studio space, the album features songs like ‘Lost in the Canyon’ and the title track are sweetly laid back alt-country, while the angry ‘New Years’ and tongue-in-cheek ‘No More Rock n Roll’ and ‘Ain’t Gonna Drink No More’ keep the album interesting with variety and humor.

Released on the bands own 9LB Records imprint, distributed by Universal Music, it hit #1 on iTunes Canada Roots Music Albums the week of release, and #1 on the Exclaim/Earshot National Campus and Community Radio Folk Roots chart. It is being released in the USA and internationally this summer. Although four band members contribute to the songwriting – songs that are rich in storytelling tradition, it is the band’s unmistakable musicianship that suggests The John Henrys are not as traditional as the legendary character of their namesake.

The John Henry of popular folklore, and immortalized in dozens of traditional folk songs, was a giant of a man who labored laying railway tracks and digging tunnels. He challenged the first steam powered drilling machine to a race to determine what was stronger – man or machine. His superhuman effort won him the race, after which he immediately died of exhaustion.

“We picked The John Henrys for our name because the story has so many undertones that we can relate to”, says vocalist/guitarist Rey Sabatin Jr, whose Ojibway, Pilipino and Irish heritage, along with his background in the craft of lutherie (Guitar making) are reflected in the band’s sound influenced yet precise musical arrangements. Rey, along with Steve Tatone (keyboards) Doug Gouthro (Guitar) Darryl Quinlan (Bass), and Geoff Ward (Drums) have been creating music and working together since 2003, writing, arranging and rehearsing so many songs that they have trouble deciding what to play in a live set.

Their debut album, released locally in their Ottawa in 2004 went all the way to #1 on the influential college radio station CKCU, and was featured on CBC radio, who asked the band to perform on their nationally broadcast ‘Definitely Not The Opera’ program. Over the next few years the band performed selectively – more concerned with writing songs than being road warriors – accepting invitations to perform with in-the-know artists like The Sadies, Cuff the Duke, The Golden Dogs, Elliot Brood, and FemBots, all the while writing and arranging the songs that would eventually be recorded and released on ‘Sweet as the Grain’.

Upcoming shows:
2008-08-23 Hoe Down Festival Barrymores Ottawa, ON
2008-09-05 Southside Shuffle Mississauga, ON
2008-10-03 ONE Music Festival Greenwood, AL
2008-10-03 ONE Music Festival Greenwood, AL

(This is part one of two videos, the second of which can be seen right here.)

It is, Pierre Chretien insists, still very much an Ottawa band.

But increasingly, The Souljazz Orchestra is bringing its infectious global sound around the globe.

Late last year, it was a string of sold-out shows in Europe. Last month, the sextet was wowing them in Brooklyn. Come July, it’s back overseas for club and festival dates in the U.K., France, Austria, Denmark and Hungary. Further shows in such exotic locales as Iceland are in the works. “To them,” Chretien muses with a laugh, “we’re exotic Canadians.”

Yet despite such globetrotting activities, Chretien and band will find time in their busy schedule to play three local dates over the next five weeks, beginning with a celebration of Souljazz at Barrymore’s on Saturday. (A more intimate show at Gatineau’s Le Petit Chicago is slated for June 21; a considerably less intimate performance will take place in Confederation Park on July 1.)

“We’re still an Ottawa band,” Chretien says. “I mean, we live here, these are our stomping grounds.

“We’re playing more and more all over the world, but we’re definitely an Ottawa band. Ottawa taught us to interact with crowds and to get them participating. Ottawa has been our training camp.”

Few bands have trained harder for the success now coming Souljazz’s way.

Five years’ worth of weekly local gigs saw the band graduate from residencies at the University of Ottawa’s Cafe Nostalgica to the Mercury Lounge to Babylon.

By the release of the band’s superb second album, Freedom No Go Die, the combo’s ensemble playing benefited from near-telepathic communication between members.

Moreover, what had begun as essentially an opportunity for U of O music students (Chretien continues to pursue masters studies in music composition) to play jazz has evolved into a multicultural band whose ability to craft original dance music in funk, Latin and afrobeat styles has rightly commanded international attention.

“We started out a little jazzy, a little more laid back, but after a while you want that crowd participation,” Chretien says of the evolution.

“We started exploring genres related to jazz, but not your intellectual, listening jazz. So afrobeat, Latin, funk … it was all kind of a natural progression.”

The group’s 2005 debut, Uprooted, captured Souljazz in the midst of that transition. But if Uprooted represented a band not yet fully formed, it was no less appealing for it. And within months of the CD’s independent release, ears well outside the 613 were perking up.

“We were just doing it for the fun of it,” keyboardist/songwriter/arranger/vocalist Chretien says.

“But when the album started getting airplay all over the world, we started figuring something was happening. Then we got a record deal and things really started to happen.”

The deal, through Toronto’s Do Right! Music, will see the band’s next, already completed album see international release following its Canadian arrival in September. On CD and vinyl. (The label has also reissued Freedom No Go Die on LP.)

Much touring will follow thanks to the group’s having recently been picked up internationally by The Agency Group.

“They do Pink Floyd and Dolly Parton and all those people,” Chretien says of the world’s largest booking agency. “That has helped a bit.”

A bit. But the bulk of the credit for the band’s success must go directly to the musicians — a not only talented, but also determined lot.

“The music side is important. You need to have your chops and to practise and all that,” Chretien notes.

“But you also need to take initiative and take care of the whole business aspect of it. I think it’s important to promote yourself and to get out there. It’s a lot of work, but a lot of musicians ignore that part of it and go unnoticed because of it.”

Want an album? You got it!

UPCOMING SHOW:

Saturday May 31st 21:30pm Souljazz Orchestra : w/ DJ Zattar Barrymore’s Music Hall, Ottawa, ON

(This article made possible by Souljazz Orchestra going global by Allan Wigney-Sun Media)