>>PREVIEW
CAM PENNER AND THE GRAVEL ROAD
Saturday, October 1
Bowness Community Hall
If necessity is the mother of invention, then adversity is the father of growth. Or so it must seem to Cam Penner, whose life this past year has echoed the name of his band, The Gravel Road. While Penner found himself dodging the rock chips of the disintegration of his nine-year relationship and negotiating the potholes born of quitting his 13-year job as a social worker, he also found that among that gravel were golden nuggets of opportunity.
For example, the split with his wife meant he had to liquidate his Inglewood home, which put a decent chunk of cash into his pocket allowing him to quit his job at the Calgary Drop-In Centre a month ago.
"I had a bit more of a budget to do it. There’s a sadness, but out of sadness comes goodness, I believe. I didn’t know what else to do with my money," says Penner, who cashed in his RSPs as well and put the money towards recording.
This cash, along with the sudden freeing up of time that being single affords, is reflected in Penner’s new album, Felt Like A Sunday Night. While the album sports more bangles than 2003’s Get Up, Penner’s distinctive presence as a singer-songwriter is absolutely intact and in fuller bloom than two years ago.
"I definitely wanted more layers this time," says Penner, who took his time in the studio, working at fleshing out tracks with a Hammond B3 organ and precision backup vocals. "I think it’s been playing with a band, too, over the last year and a half. It’s definitely still the singer-songwriter thing, but with a band, and lots more guitars. I still wanted it to be a roots rock album and analog, too."
Penner’s ex-wife contributes vocals to the track "No Stars in the City." He says it’s important that they remain amicable. "You choose a direction if you want to be happy or not still. Leaving my work after 13 years of working on the street with people, that was sad… but this is what I wanted to be doing full time."
Going all out to chase his musical dreams might be a good thing for a writer as talented as Penner. Felt Like a Sunday Night features songs with a more full-bodied flavour than the previous album, perhaps because they are steeped in the gravel stew of Penner’s last few bittersweet years. Jeff Drummond (Ground) produced the album at Sundae Sound and contributes guitars, demonstrating an ear finely tuned for shifts in mood and dynamics. Songs like "Rye Whiskey" pound along jauntily and irresistibly before the album swoops down into quiet moments like "Lonesome As Me." It’s an open postcard of a song that could only have been written by someone who spent years holding onto the hands and hearts of homeless people who had no other hands or hearts to hold on to, and then learned to feel the other side of that handshake when the tough times came. Now Penner is forced to find a way through the complex emotions that come with leaving his previous life, wife and career behind.
"I dealt with the guilt in the last year by trying to really be honest with myself and the guys in the (addictions counselling) group. I always felt like to be a social worker, you’ve got to be real. Otherwise, you’re not going to be able to teach anybody anything."
After the CD release gigs, first on Penner’s list is moving to England for three months, where he sold out of Get Up from the stage at gigs there last year. A session with the BBC and some gigs are already planned. Penner also says he has some contacts there who believe in what he’s doing. "I’m at a crossroads – I’ve sunk all this stuff into this project, and… we’ll see." |
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