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New rockabilly festival in Chemainus P. 8
Tuesday, July 8, 2014
Mid-Isle Highlanders keep winning P. 11
The Wild Romantics are in for a wild ride Lindsay Chung
THE CHRONICLE
The Wild Romantics are in for a wild ride after being named to the Top 12 in the province-wide Peak Performance Project. And Evan Miller and Aleisha Kalina are ready to take that ride together, armed with chemistry, passion, determination and a soon-to-be-released EP of new music. Miller and Kalina graduated from Ladysmith Secondary School four years apart. They may have missed each other in high school, but in 2012, they were both part of an improv alumni event, and they ended up performing on the same night. “I just found it really easy to sing with him,” said Kalina. They started sharing songs together — something they had never done with anyone else — and did a show together. Miller says that one of the things that really worked from the beginning is they both had very open attitudes. They went through some transformations as a band for a while and then ended up taking a four-month hiatus when they got away from that original spark that people really liked, which was just the two of them, singing together. “And then we were like, ‘wait, this is what’s important. You and me are important,’” said Miller. “We just started back with that sort of mentality of knowing what was important.” As their bio states, “Their voices harmonize just as well as they do and tell a story of two young lovers finding comfort and solace from the cold in each other and in the gift of creating music. The Wild Romantics put immense value on being able to share their stories of love, life, loss
and learning by taking their own experiences and creating stories that audiences relate to personally and can take home with them.” They opened for The Lion The Bear The Fox, a 2013 Peak Performance Project finalist band featuring Ladysmith’s Ryan McMahon, and things took off from there. “It was our first show after that break; we kind of just didn’t know what was going to happen,” said Miller. “We did it, and everyone was really excited about it, and that made us excited. Basically, that event was the step off.” Through that show, The Wild Romantics connected with Cory Woodward from The Lion The Bear The Fox, and he is currently producing their debut EP. “I think we knew from the beginning, but what validated what we were feeling was them going ‘you have something special here’ and we’re like OK,” said Kalina. “They’re incredible to work with; it’s nice to have that support sometimes,” said Miller, adding it means a lot because the band is building a career in a way they admire, and they make similar honest music that they enjoy. The Peak Performance Project, launched by 102.7 The Peak and administered by Music BC Industry Association, is designed to educate, promote, develop and launch the careers of some of B.C.’s and Alberta’s up and coming artists. Hundreds of artists apply each year. The Wild Romantics found out they’d made the Top 12 in B.C. in mid-June. This year, 12 artists from B.C. will receive an intensive, one-week training program in music business, live performance, songwriting, See Duo Page 8
Kathi Hooney of Ladysmith samples some of the unique recycled crafts available Saturday, July 5 during the Giant Street Market in Chemainus. JOHN MCKINLEY
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