Ready to rock
They just finished their first full-length album, recorded in Nashville under the aegis of performer/ producer Colin Linden, who’s worked with many major artists the likes of Colin James, Bruce Cockburn and Lucinda Williams.
But the opening line in Sam and Luke Remedios’ song Hittin’ The Road – from the new album, Standing In A Room – shows they’re not about to disown the town where they grew up.
“We started on this journey from White Rock...” the brothers sing, in a musical recounting of their trip to Nashville.
And they’d be as likely to deep-six their trademark ties and miss the chance to join the talent lineup at this weekend’s Spirit of the Sea Festival, where they’ll appear on the East Beach stage at 3:30 p.m. Saturday, July 31 with regular bandmates Jade Derrett (drums) and Graham Scott (bass).
It’s one of a host of grass-roots B.C. performances this summer for the blues-tinged pop and rock act, including the Tsawwassen Sun Festival (Aug. 2), the Rarearth Jazz and Blues Festival in Vernon (Aug. 7) and Music In The Park in Kamloops (Aug. 21).
Staying in touch with audiences continues to be important for U.S.-born-B.C.-raised Sam (19) and Luke (who turns 16 this Sunday).
And it’s worth noting the soft-spoken and unfailingly polite brothers have literally won their connections by dint of hard work and sustained effort.
Their 2008 win in the White Rock Blues Society’s Roots and Blues Talent Search took them from promising garage band and coffee house busker status to a whole new level of incipient professionalism.
Travelling to Nanaimo, they won the chance to appear in a show there with legendary Downchild Blues Band – which led to them being chosen by SHORE 104 FM to appear again with the veteran performers at a subsequent Vancouver performance.
“It just so happened that Colin Linden was opening for them,” said Luke.
“After that, we kept in contact by phone, and everything started to fall into place.”
The idea of recording an album with Linden wasn’t even discussed at first, Sam said.
“We started out with just general musical talk and what influences we had,” he said. “It was our first time talking backstage at a theatre with another artist, which was really great.
“Everybody who’s worked with Colin said he’s the nicest and best guy to work with – and it’s absolutely true.”
Recording the album itself was a 2½-month process, including the brothers’ first experience collaborating with other songwriters such as two-time Grammy winner Gary Nicolson, drummer Tom Hambridge (who plays on all the tracks in the album) and young Canadian songwriter Liam Titcomb.
“We were amazed at how well and fast that went,” said Sam.
“We’d work on that for two hours a day and some days we’d come away with two new songs.”
It was also a great family bonding experience, the brothers said, as dad Ken and mom Jude joined them at the same extended-stay hotel through the end of March to the beginning of June.
Scariest aspect, they admit, was not the recording sessions but being in Nashville during hurricane season. Numerous tornado and flood warnings kept them confined to the hotel for several days, the brothers said.
Fortunately, their hotel was only seconds away from a general store so the family didn’t suffer too much for material needs.
And they discovered, travelling to and from the studio for seven-hour daily recording stints that what locals say is true – everything is 15 minutes away from everything else in Nashville.
“It was great fun – Colin really knows how to keep everyone energized,” said Luke.
Another great thrill, they recounted, was working with such legendary session sidemen as bassist Bob Babbit of the Funk Brothers (Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Gladys Knight and the Pips and Jimi Hendrix) who appears on eight of the tracks.
“He was incredibly respectful of us,” marvelled Sam, noting the contribution such an experienced talent made to the title track Standing In A Room.
“The bass line he did on that chorus was pure genius – when we heard it we started laughing because only he could come up with a bass line like that.
“He did our session and then flew down to L.A. to record with Phil Collins.”
“All the guys we worked with down there, no matter how many awards they have, are all very down-to-earth and all really open,” Luke said.
It seems like an exponential advance for them in just three scant years of performing together, but the brothers find it hard to assess the growth they have experienced as musicians.
“I’m still at a loss for words about it,” said Sam. “We have grown as musicians, but it happened so gradually from our perspective, we didn’t notice it that much when it actually happened.”
Still, he reflected, “it’s a long way to go from playing in coffee shops to recording in Nashville.”
“It seems fast for others,” said Luke. “But for us it feels really slow, because we’re doing it every day.
“The one thing I learned from this experience of recording is that I have to work very hard – it’s not all rock n’ roll.”
For more information – including upcoming gigs, how to purchase songs on i-Tunes or to buy the physical album – visit samandluke.com
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