i By Shaun Conlin _ Contriauting Writer LOCAL musician Daniel Rhodes is taking his best shot at the no-faced beast know as “The Biz.” Reiuctrantly admitting to a few shortcomings B when involving himseif in the risky matter of self pro- motion, — Rhodes Shas taken several MB solid steps forward Mand may very we disinguishing him- self as a noveworthy taleat. The Lynn Valley native recently release his firss CD, You and 1, which is chock full of abrupdy likable nines. After naive handling of the press and an inability to find worthy pertommance venues, Rhodes has been lucky enough to find himselfa promoter and local management with the help of his friend, rock critic Tom Harrison (in “The Biz,” it’s who you know}. With those trouble- B some af! in someone else’s hands, Rhodes 8 can now focus on what he does best, write com- mercially viable, decidedly pop run Though some people regard this song writ- ing-style as “selling out ” Rhodes easily defends himself? and explains why such writing comes naturally. “Right now, I like stuff thar I think people f want to listen to and to bu “And still, in taat song writing, I sell get co vent my demons and clear my head. I never write son } thing chat doesn’t mean anything to me.” a = The title track of his new CD has already had airplay on CFOX and several college radio sta- tions, facts which may well enable Rhodes to realize his next goal. ps “EF want ro quit my day job,” he explains with § asmile and adds thar ‘uldmately he wants “to get out of here. Hit the road. Nor because this is a (lousy) cown, | just want to see rhe world. Play the world. I want to drink beer is: Norway, you know?” Unassumingly, Rhedes has a knack for throwing a good ald-fashioned North Shore beer bash and wisely used this ability when he organized and threw his own CD-release party last month. He followed a simple formiuia for an other- wise daunting task: Put a few kegs of beer in a room, invite your friends and your friends’ Wednesday. December 11. 1996 - Nortn Shore News - 21 eases YOu ail HOU SNOT John Trajan, keyboardist Claudia Trojan and d:untner Wayne Morneau; put on what was probably their most energized performance to date. Rousing, raucous Rock ‘n’ Bull. “Thad a good mime.” said Rhodes at the end of the night as he downplaved his involve ment behind the scenes. “Ir was fun, but I'm glad irs over . J was pretty stressed the last stress was the order of the day it cli- maxed in a focused manner. Rhodes’ perfor- mance lacked any semblance of complacency. There was 4 nervous energy in the air which actually seemed to aid Rhodes’ already pow- erful vocals; spurred the lead-guitar player into fits of psychedelic genius and urged the rhythm section to a groovy mania. Rhodes also had the foresight to bring in fe!- Jow Lynn Valley son Shawn Carle — another unrealized and understated musician — to “warm up” the crowd. Carle, who's present- ly working on a third album of his own, enthralled the assembled with some serious! potent singing and acoustic guitar mashing. More importandy, he constantly re-focused the crowd by thanking Rhodes for the oppor- tunity to partake in the milestone event. There's nothing catty abou: a North Shore performer and this scems to be a phenomena peculiar to this side of the inlet. Our musi- cians are cager to share the spotlight, if not redirect it entirely away trom themselves. Carle shrugged off this apparent selflessness by simply stating, “It’s North Van, you know?” As if North Van is nor just a place but a state of mind. Rhodes echoed the philosophy when describ ing Carle: “Oh veah. Shawn's great. F'm re. ty glad he came out.” And Rhodes used the same enthusiasm to describe his band: “So far, it’s been a group of friends. I've been doing the writing and | have the direction bur these guys have been more than happy to build my material with me. The most impertant thing is that we don't hate each other y “We're close.” he adds with a chuckle, “bur friends, throw a couple of rock bands on stage and cook. You invarial bly end up ‘vith a tre dously successful soiree. not yer.” NEWS photo Cindy Goodman = With a great party and an instantly-friendly LYNN Valiey musician Daniel Rhodes (above) unveiled his first CD, You and I, last CD under his belt, Rhodes has set his sights Or, as Rhodes puts it, a basic, humble month at a bash in North Vancouver. The title track off the CD is getting some airplay = on the well-trodden but quickly tapering premise: “Lots of booze. Lots of people. Try ro on CFOX and several coliege radio stations. sell a couple of CDs.” Typically, wk - such evenis include “fhe Biz” they rend to attract sleazy s ozers, hangers-on, has-beens and wanna-bes which usually leave. the musician reaping the least of the benefits. Rhodes bled by holding his event in the quaint ambivalence of the North Shore, but was ultimately rewarded with a serious lack of GALLERIES 77 \ West Vancouver Memorial Library industry scum (though he does admit the scarcity of press was dis- couraging, for better or worse). There was certainly no shortage of good mus bash — the most crucial element of the great-party plan. In spite of ar the release a few technical glitches, Rhodes’ quintet (including bass player Museum = and r Collects! lish bas- technology (tum o3 the century Gallery: Journevings Inte Watercolor, a World War Two). Info: 925-7295. works by artist Gina Charies and A Dundarave Cafe: Season's Greetings, View of Your Own, mixed media works — paintings by Ann Hurst. Presentation House Benveen Dreaming and Livin by artist Elaine Sills to Jan. 5. Info: 925-7410. Gallery: Ferry Building Gallery: Christmas tion by Vikky Alexander. “Fantasy” Group Show, the works of 10 Nonh | environments constructed for public Shore artists ina variety of mediums. — use. To Dec. 15. Info: 986- To Dee. 15. Gallery winter hours: 11-5 Outer Space: Presenta daily, closed Mondays. Info: 925-7266. Theatre Lobby: Jerry Tam, classical Silk Purse Arts Centre: Ch s photographic works. Craft Show. w Dec. 15. Infor 925-7292. North Vancouver Civic Hail Gallery: 9 Archiv North Vancouver Museum and The Amess Collection, con- Jacquie Morgan, watercolors, present tinues to Jz. 8. Bottoms Up! A Walk in ed by North Vancouver Community 9 Burrard Inlet, March 9. What Gues Arts Council. Mon.-Fri.. 8:30-4:30. North Vancouver District Hall: Peak Performance. performance pho- tographs from a recent evening of ccl- laborative perf: rmance at by 60 local students. “Fo Jan. 4. Jack Ploes ceramic pottery. Presented by N Vancouver Community Arts Council. To Jan. 8. Both exhibits during dust On Below The Surface?, to March 9. Sev more page 22 THE Suriday-night crowd at Jack Lonsdales rocked out tc the sounds of loveliesbleeding. Band members include (left to ness hours. Seymour Art Gellery: Viesor Mies. Info: 924-137 re right) Colin Dickson, Mike Adams, Fred Norman and Craig Wilson. musical path. While his chances of climbing into bed with the big bad “Biz” beast and surviving are dubious at best, he stands firm on his decision to try. T don’t want to be one of these people that end up sitting at home going ‘Oh I coulda-been, shoulda-been, woulda-been.” | want to take a big kick at the can and see what happens.” NEWS photo Terty Peters nein ix “eb