Shred Kelly stoked to return

Fernie band to headline March concert

Fresh off a tour of Germany and another of the United States, Shred Kelly is excited to be returning to Canada and in particular, Sun Peaks.

The Fernie-based band will be returning on March 26, nearly a year after their last Sun Peaks appearance, to headline a three-act outdoor concert. They opened for Tokyo Police Club as part of the Dew Tour AM Series last March.

“(We’re) really excited to come back,” said Sage McBride, who sings and plays keyboard for Shred Kelly. “Last year was great. It was so nice, sunny, warm and beautiful, so we’re hoping for a similar situation.”

The winners of album of the year and best live act at the 2015 Kootenay Music Awards will bring their dynamic and energetic performance to an outdoor, mountainside stage in Sun Peaks, although the exact location of the concert will depend on the snow base leading up to the show.

It will be a high-energy live show that will definitely be a great way to celebrate the ski season

“It’s always really fun to play those types of events, especially if it’s sunny out or if it has snowed a lot,” McBride said. “At the end of the day, people have had a great day on the hill and they’re looking to have an even better day dancing to some tunes at the base of the hill. It’s always everyone in a great mood and looking to have a great time, which helps us perform better.”

The band described their style as “stoke folk,” a term coined by their friend because they had difficulty promoting their music. It was too energetic to be considered folk and didn’t have the right sound to be considered folk-rock.

“It’s folk music that gets people really riled up and energized. We just found that it suited and it was a good, short way to explain what people might expect,” McBride said.
The band features five members and a unique assortment of instruments led by Tim Newton on banjo and vocals, McBride singing and playing keyboard, Ty West on guitar, Jordan Vlasschaert on bass and Ian Page-Shiner on drums.

Their music is largely influenced by their surroundings. The lyrics are inspired by the town of Fernie, the mountains and the outdoors, and the mountain scenery is featured in their music videos.

Their most popular video, Sing to the Night, won the 2015 Western Canadian Music Award for best music video. The video has over 60,000 views on YouTube and McBride said it will definitely be a part of the show.

“That’s one of our favourites to play live for sure,” she said. “It’s just a really energetic song because the music video got spread around in mountain towns so a lot people seem to be familiar with that song.”

Kamloops’ Jeremy Kneeshaw will open the concert, followed by John Welsh Band, with Shred Kelly taking to the stage at 7:30 p.m.

“It will be a high-energy live show that will definitely be a great way to celebrate the ski season,” McBride said. “We’re really looking forward to being back at Sun Peaks again.”