Songs you’ll want to hear

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Devon Floyd may not have chosen to seclude himself to focus on his work as some artists do, but when his car broke down in the Northwest Territories, he wasn’t left with much option. The time he spent up north turned profitable too, as The Lonesome Weekends’ guitarist came up with the title for his upcoming solo album, At Peace With The Black Cat.

“Last summer, I was up in Whitehorse, and I got stranded there for like two weeks, but I have a friend up there, so we were camping in a back yard, and it was all good. But, one day I was sitting in the back yard, probably drinking, and was writing, and there was a cat walking along the fence. It was a black cat, and we just had that moment that I felt like something had to let go in my life,” said Floyd.

He and fellow Lonesome Weekends guitar-mate, Chris Sleightholm, are playing a release show together for both of their respective solo albums on Friday, July 27 at Creative City Centre.

Sleightholm, who will be releasing his solo material under the moniker Snake River, luckily didn't have to be stranded to come up with his album’s title, Songs No One’ll Hear, but similarly it comes from solitude.

“Recording on your own, sometimes it feels like, ‘Who’s going to hear this?’ You don’t even really know what you’re doing; you’re just recording just for fun,” said Sleightholm.

Notwithstanding the fact that both Floyd and Sleightholm contribute songs to The Lonesome Weekends, both said they had no trouble writing material for their own use and distinguishing which project any particular song falls under.

“Songs just come whenever they want to come, and it depends where the band is at that time. If we’re working on new songs, then it’s easier to fit songs in, but if we’re busy playing shows and not preparing new material, then those songs often spend a few months not getting played, but you still want to play them,” said Sleightholm.

“I think that the songs on my CD are a little bit more quirky or wordier or more personal,” added Floyd.

Both At Peace With The Black Cat and Songs No One’ll Hear would require more than two musicians to perform most of the songs as they sound on record, but Floyd and Sleightholm will either be playing alone or with one another on Friday. Nevertheless, Sleightholm said the sparse arrangements will add new dimensions to the songs.

“We both record things at home on our own, so you have a lot of time to experiment and add things and take things out. Often with more upbeat music or fuller arrangements, it’s nice to listen to, but I like performances where it’s more stripped down, and you hear the skeleton of the song. The melody and the words are the most important thing, and sometimes they get lost with full arrangements. It’s really nice to just do it, and let it be on its own,” said Sleightholm.

Along with material from the new albums, Floyd and Sleightholm will be playing “some of our old, old songs, some covers, some bluegrass, just a little bit of everything” on Friday. Tickets are $10 and can be bought at the doors which open at 8:00 PM.

You can listen to both albums here and here

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