Finger Eleven preparing to record new CD

@ Finger Eleven opening for I Mother Earth at the Croatian Cultural Centre, 3250 Commercial Drive, Oct. 4 Tickets: $23.50, 280-4444.

John Goodman

This Week Editor jobug@nsnews.com

FINGER Eleven can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.

The Toronto band has been touring almost non-stop since September of °98 and plan to make one more jaunt across the country before tak- ing a break from the road.

They last came through Vancouver in July with Edgefest. “We had a good time,” says guitarist Rick Jackett, “Summer festivals are always fun and we knew some of the bands.”

Prior to their Summer of

’ Edge, Finger Eleven spent 10 months crisscrossing the U.S. “A lot of people think we're from the States and they’re surprised to hear we’re from Canada,” laughs Jackett. “I heard so many horror stories about Canadian bands trying to make it down there. But the truth is they don’t care where you're from as long as they like the music. We'll play anywhere as long as they don’t throw beer bortles at

us. The band’s debut CD nip

came out last fall on the New York label Wind Up and was picked up by Sony in Canada this spring. The chart success of

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Phote Annamaria DiSanto

FINGER Eleven (left to right) James Black (guitar), Sean Anderson (bass), Scott Anderson (vocals), Rich Beddoe (drums) and Rick Jackett (guitar) play the Croatian Cultural Centre Monday night with | Mother Earth.

Singer Scott Anderson has defined the term Finger Eleven as “when everything is pushing you in one direction and your

the lead-off single “Quicksand” gave them a quick introduction to North American rock fans.

“We have a lot of fun in New Orleans,” says Jackett. “In fact the whole southeast part of the States has been good for the

and.”

Finger Eleven spent time on tour with both Creed and Fuel as well as hooking up with several other bands, such as Jimmy’s Chickenshack, that are relatively unknown outside the region. “There’s successful bands down there that nobody has ever

instinct drives you in another” and that’s an apt description of their sound as well. Their ying-yang approach to recording achieves some surprising results as the band is not afraid to experiment with dynamics to subvert the formula. As on tip, the band will again work with producer Arnold Lanni (Our Lady Peace) to get what they're looking for.

The fast year has prepared them well for the work ahead. “We spend seven to cight hours a day in the rehearsal space so that when we go into the studio we'll have the songs finished,”

heard of up here and vice versa. It depends on where you arc

and what’s popular.”

Next Monday, Oct. 4 they open for I Mother Earth at the re heading back to Toronto to

Croatian Cultural Centre be! start work on their next CD.

says Jackett.

again.

Finger Eleven plan to start recording their second CD in November and have it compicted in time to salute the new mil- lennium. And by that time they should be ready to hit the road

Two new discs display downhome charm

@ *&k&*&kk Northumberland Rant -— Traditional Music from the Edge of England (1999 Smithsonian Folkways 40473). Music category: high level ranters from Newcastle.

Burt Feintuch’s definitive collection of Northumbrian folk music has to be heard to be believed.

The four-decade labour of love (and scholarship) includes historical private recordings as well as studio productions.

Royce Wilson, an American working

in Newcastle, bought a tape recorder to

. document the music in 1958 and the School of Scottish Studies at the Univessity of Edinburgh made further recordings in 1964.

Much of the music is played on the smallpipes which are indigenous to the area and differ greatly from the more familiar Scottish highland bagpipes.

The chanter, or main melodic pipe, is cylindrical (not conical, as in highland instruments) giving it a sweet sound. “With cighteen keys,” writes Feintuch in the liner notes, “the chanter is fully chromatic over its range. No other bag- pipes can make this claim. But what is

most striking about the Northumberland chanter is that it is closed at the bottom end.”

The closed chanter means musicians can stop the sound during performance and create sharp, staccato notes. If Charlie Parker had taken up the bagpipes he would have chosen the smallpipes.

Although the instru- ment provides the most unique sound on the

_ CD they are by no means all that Northumberland’s rich musical tradition has to offer. Feintuch’s 1990 field recordings of fid- dler Willie Taylor in his cottage are an equally stunning display of downhome virtuosity.

@ kre Dixie Chicks — Fly (1999 Monument NK 69678). Music category: honky tonk pop. Ignore the Hee Haw photo spread inside the accompanying booklet (based around the concept of the girls and

“jlics”) and pay close attention to the music on the disc. The Dixie Chicks’ follow-up to their hugely-successful debut is mainstream country at its best.

The talented trio of Natalie Maines, Martie Seidel and Emily Robison make every track count with ‘strong performances throughout. The set of original songs and well-chosen covers (from such writers as Dennis Linde and Jim Lauderdale) make this CD a must for country music fans.

The funky mix of country and pop genres is similar to what Delbert McClinton and

Chip Yourg were trying to do on their classic Murfreesboro sessions for ABC. That the brilliant songwriter Dennis Linde was part of that scene also helps to authenticate the Dixie Chicks sound. Nor that they need it — everything here works like a charm.

— Jolm Goodinan

LANET OP 2000 CD -

tront:Briney Spe ‘Backstreet Boys. Mont (Billie «Brandy.ani CFO ‘Among-the 16 tacks . womanly ghys'are in. John-Goodman : Whitey fyte:,” : Case binta aes

Grupo Mania enjoy club . success with merengue

1. Como Baila — Grupo Mania

2. Music of My Heart — N’Synch with Gloria Estefan 3. Yeso — Control Machete

4, Bella — Ricky Martin

5. Deseos — Charlie Zoa

6. I Need to Know — Marc Anthony

7. Tell Me Its Real — K-Ci & JoJo

8. Bailando — Loona

9. Crasy — Britney Spears

10. One for Sorrow — Steps

Grupo Mania

“Como Baila” is Grupo Mania’s new single release from their album, The Dynasty (La Dinastia). This is a merengue song with a catchy chant that people enjoy singing along to in clubs. True to the style of many merengues from Puerto Rico, this merengue is not fast, nor too slow, but in-between. The interesting thing about “Como Baila”, is that towards the end of the song it starts to go faster and the tempo picks up noticeably. Grupo Mania is currently enjoying success similar to one of its founding members, Elvis Crespo whto, although no longer part of the band, has gained tremendous populanty

in the recent past with his solo recordings. . — DJ Raul Cruz, Rio Crazy

inson | rusoe

The Adventure Classic - Fun For the Whote Family Written by Danlel Defoe co Adapted for Stage by Colin Heath and Micheal Wolski

Saturday, October 9th ¢ 2pm Box Office: 990-7810 Tickets: Aduit $2/Child

Capilano College Performing Arte Theatre 2055 Furcell Way, North Vanouver <i