Vancouver band Blackberry Wood will play its first concert in Olds this Saturday at Tracks Pub at 9 p.m.
The band has been together for the last five years and fluctuates between three and nine members.
“I do full time. A couple of my bandmates are going to music school,” said Mitchell.
“They are just finishing up. It's looking pretty good.”
The band usually spends summers touring Western Canada and the U.K. In fact, they have already been booked to play the famous Glastonbury Festival, which takes place every two years in southwestern England.
On its website, the band describes its brand of music as alt-country-gypsy-circus.
“Our music is influenced by a lot of older recordings, like some of the early recordings of North American music. Early country, early jazz, like Bob Rose and the Texas Playboys, that's like Texas swing,” said Kris Mitchell, Blackberry Wood singer.
“Back then, a lot of music had less divide between it. It wasn't like you were playing just one kind of music.”
Mitchell mentions the collaboration between Louis Armstrong and Jimmy Rogers as an example of this frequent style mingling.
“Jimmy Rogers was a country artist. He is considered the father of country,” he said.
“And yet, they did a song together. Louis's wife is also on the song.”
The band really wants spectators to dance during the show.
“We are all about getting people dancing. A lot of my inspiration comes from the early country bands that did all the hall dances,” said Mitchell.
“That's the kind of feeling and vibe we like to bring to places.”
On top of offering a different style of music, Blackberry Wood members also dress up in colourful, vintage-inspired costumes for shows.
“Half the show is the presentation. It's important not just to show up in a pair of jeans and a T-shirt,” said Mitchell.
“We like to dress up. We like to make things fun and have fun.”
