Tim is back! Not that he’s ever been really gone, but Tim Buckley and his crew are setting up a little tour in western Canada this December, starting here in Calgary. He and co-Tim.buck.two’er Derek Pulliam recorded one of the tracks off of their upcoming album in The Lantern, a church in Inglewood, and that experience suggested more of the same. The sound is spectacularly simple: “A Thousand Times”, the only cover Tim’s got on the new album, is a Billy Cowsill harmonious duet with bass, guitar, and a high note that makes me ask, “Do you always hit that note?”
The track is remarkable for the simplicity of the recording: a mike in front of Tim and Derek, and a couple up in the ceiling to catch the ambience. They recorded it live, after a few takes.
Cowboy Junkies-like?
“Yeah. It was about five cuts to get it right: ‘move back a bit’, that kind of thing.” He laughs. I’m assuming there was a fair bit of ‘that kind of thing’, but the result is strikingly beautiful, and fits perfectly with the other material that Tim wrote. Clearly, he shares some of his muses with Cowsill.
Tim asks, “If you can mention that this project was recorded at SymPul Studios in Calgary that would be great” Not only does Derek Pulliam play upright bass, electric bass and sing backing vocals, he is also the album’s recording engineer. Between he and Tim, and Tim Leacock, who’s got production, more stringed instruments and more vocals in his kit bag, Tim.buck.two was a force to contend with.
Now, with an official name change to T.Buckley, they’ve gone right over the top, requiring a four to five-piece band to flesh out the songs that are being released in November. At the Lantern performance, Tim hopes to include as many of the ten performers that appear on the CD as possible. “This won’t just be a CD release piss-up,” he says, denying that it’s a release party at all. “More of a concert-like performance. We’re going to have the doors at 7:00, Joe Nolan will open up at 7:30, and we’ll come on sometime after 8:00.”
Following that, they’re taking their roots-revue to Kelowna, Salmon Arm, Nelson, Vancouver and Victoria, before he comes home again to Calgary.
The disc, named “Roll On” for one of its tracks about travelling between Alberta and B.C. (“where the fruit falls from the vine”), will be ready for the masses in early November. Your first chance to find it will likely be at the “Live at the Lantern” show, Saturday, November 27. The Lantern Community Church is located at 1401-10 Ave., SE, and though it is NOT a CD release party, they’ll sell you one if you ask nicely.
It’s definitely worth it.