Crooked Brothers give straight goods on what makes them tick

Cover art for new album Lawrence Where's Your Knife? (Paul Robles/Ezra Reimer, cover art)

The Crooked Brothers got together just over three years ago.  According to band members Darwin Baker (vocals, harmonica, dobro), Matt Foster (vocals, banjo) and Jesse Matas (vocals, mandolin) their sound is a mash up of "timeless country, backporch blues, and stomping scrapyard funk".   About to launch their second album as they kick off another tour, SCENE asked Jesse Matas to give us the goods...

Summer's about to get rolling for The Crooked Brothers. In a couple of days we'll hit the road. I can already taste the Atlantic & Pacific salt on my lips. Swimming in both oceans. Crossing the country twice over. We've had a great summer of festivals here in Manitoba - spending time outdoors, building a log cabin, river surfing, biking around Winnipeg and now we're ready to get our performing legs back. I do, however, hold the conviction that living outside of touring, performing and playing music is essential to a healthy condition. Even where quality of music is concerned, if you're doing nothing but playing music, what is there to write about other than music itself? There is so much going on everywhere!

Musically speaking though, I was talking with Matt and Darwin yesterday and noted that music is only getting colder from here on. It's an exciting time in a writer's life - winter is on the horizon! Reading by candlelight, dusting off the typewriter, painting with watercolours in the bathtub. Manitoba is beautiful - especially in the winter - the frozen lakes, the moon on the snow. People say winter is dark, but get out on a snowy lake under a full moon and it's daytime. Maybe this is why Autumn is a felicitous time to tour, people getting back down to earth after a long summer of music, dancing, hiking, biking, gardening. Feeling the sun, slowly working their way into the long winter of our country.

Last December, we spent a few weeks in a cabin on a frozen lake recording our new album Lawrence, Where's Your Knife? that we are releasing on this tour. Today is a far off cry from those cold, long nights in the cabin at Falcon Trails, but days are getting shorter and the summer is coming to an end. We kick off our tour Thursday August 11 at the Village Market on Osborne, followed by a night at Times Change(d) High and Lonesome Club in support of NQ Arbuckle and Carolyn Mark (some of our heroes).

This content is provided by Jesse Matas. The views expressed do not express the views of CBC. CBC is not responsible for this content.