arts
A Broad Experience
Gunner and Smith explore new musical territory with “River Of Stone” by alex J MacPherson
E
volution does not trace a tidy arc. It happens in fits and starts, long periods of inactivity punctuated by moments of frantic change. This is the story of Gunner and Smith, an alt-country band from Saskatoon. In just over three years, Gunner and Smith has been transformed from a singer with a backing band to a fully realized musical project, where feel is everything and ego is meaningless. “It started out as a solo project,” explains Geoff Smith, who plays guitar and shares vocal duties with Olya Kutsiuruba. “The first set of songs was really something that developed around me being the focal point. As time went on we developed a bit more of the dual vocal aspect. And also in terms of the structure of the songs, and being more drum heavy and the guitar work being more intricate.” Smith attributes the shift to harmony-laden country in the style pioneered by Gram Parsons and re-engineered by Uncle Tupelo to dozens of live performances. Playing shows allowed Gunner and Smith to transform the material on their early EPs, which were conceived as sparse
Photos: courtesy of matt smith
acoustic songs, into much broader musical experiences. This is evident on “River of Stone,” the band’s latest single, which hints at the scope of the band’s forthcoming full-length album. “I’d always wanted to work with a band, but I hadn’t been able to find the right people,” Smith says, adding that the group — which also includes Nick Dueck, Jordan Bechtel, Lance Brown, and Tyson Goodyear — came together organically. “It just snowballed: I started out working with Nick, and we slowly added pieces until we had the five-piece going on. It wasn’t something I had planned, but everybody filled the need that we had.” “River of Stone” is a moving altcountry ballad which casts a guitar lick reminiscent of “(Ghost) Riders In
The Sky” against a haunting violin line before Smith’s sonorous baritone wends its way into the mix. Kutsiuruba’s airy alto adds yet another layer to the tapestry of sound, which is at once relaxed and driving — the unmistakable sign of first-class playing. Gunner and Smith have come a long way in the year since their second EP, Compromise Is A Loaded Gun, was released. And they are planning to spend the summer holed up, writing and rehearsing a new batch of songs that are sure to capture the feeling of “River of Stone” — while launching the band to even greater heights. Gunner and Smith May 31 @ Vangelis $8 @ the door
The process of portraiture
Barbara Reimer on the search for an ecologically responsible photograph
Photos: courtesy of mendel art gallery
G
reen Man Portraits is ostensibly an Artists by Artists exhibition, a chance for an experienced creator to share knowledge and wisdom with an emerging one — and in the process create a body of work. But Green Man Portraits
is unusual. It is both a continuation of photographer Barbara Reimer’s long association with artist and critic Bart Gazzola, and an extension of the project that has consumed her life for almost five years. “This particular exhibition came out of previous work that I’d done,” Reimer says, referring to her quest to “Find A Green Photo,” a socially and ecologically responsible art practice. Most film is developed using a number of different chemicals; Reimer latched onto a parallel, nontoxic process that uses coffee. “It came out of the idea of form versus content,” she
by alex J MacPherson
says, referring to the time she spent shooting in Nicaragua. “I wanted to have my methods of working relate back to the content.” This is more complicated than it sounds. The photographs that make up the exhibition were shot in Canada and abroad. They relate to her history of photographing waste, consumption, and garbage. But Reimer conceived the show not as a contribution to portraiture, but as an exploration of process: the act of making art, and a desire to match the pathos of her portraits with a responsible, and not merely detached, process.
This quest to balance form and content has bedeviled artists for centuries. Reimer is not the first, nor will she be the last, to question tradition, to shape perspective with a responsible process. But the processes used to create Green Man Portraits echo the images themselves — and raise important questions about how portraits ought to be interpreted. Reimer, who says the show’s mandate was sharpened and refined by long conversations with Gazzola, freely admits that she broke rules while photographing her subjects. “I wanted to be really aware of what I was shooting,” she explains, “where
I was shooting, and how I was representing what I was shooting.” This awareness of the subject created a feedback loop that led Reimer to adopt a novel process — which in turn points inexorably back at her subjects, whose eyes reveal far more as a result of her efforts. Green Man Portraits Through to June 2 @ Mendel Art Gallery Feedback? Text it! (306) 881 8372
@VerbSaskatoon amacpherson@verbnews.com
13 May 24 – May 30 @verbsaskatoon
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