Misery Mountain Boys entertain at Kindersley and Leader
By Joan Janzen
The talented musicians - Misery Mountain Boys from Edmonton, entertained at Kindersley on Thursday evening, May 1st and at Leader the following evening. Thanks to the Arts Council in both communities, local audiences could enjoy a night of exceptional entertainment provided by Ethan Markwart on drums, Joe Sample on clarinet/saxophone and Keith Rempel on upright bass. Steven Gevenich amazed the crowd with his jazz guitar as the band played finger pickin’ blues songs.
The Misery Mountain Boys performed at Kindersley on Thursday evening, May 1st and at Leader the following evening. Thanks to the arts councils in both communities, audiences enjoyed an evening listening to their exceptional talent. PHOTO BY JOAN JANZEN
Steven was also the storyteller, introducing each song with a lighthearted tale. He described how the band started in the Peace River district of Alberta before the musicians impressed their audience with their musical talent.
Their music was reminiscent of nostalgic tunes from the 30s era, as was their attire of collared shirts and suspenders. They played velvety smooth love songs while Steven advised the audience, “If you’re writing a long song, you should probably be in a relationship with that person.”
Whether they performed love songs or swinging jump-blues, all were accompanied by lighthearted stories. “Gimme the Juice” came complete with a story of Steven’s love of juice.
The title track from their new record, “Somebody Stole My Peaches,” introduces a true story about a time when someone stole a box of beautiful Creston, BC peaches from Steven. “You know I love peaches; it’s my favourite fruit,” Steven quipped. But after some investigation, it turned out it was his older sister who was the rightful owner of the peaches in the first place.
This was just one of the many stories the audience heard. The band delivered their final original song - a cautionary tale about north country gals, before concluding the evening by inviting the audience to sing along as they performed the familiar tune ‘Move It On Over.’