NXNE Preview: The Travelling Band

Transatlantic phone interviews are inherently problematic. You always run the risk of hearing static interference, having crossed wires that cause the audio from another dialog to obscure your conversation, or interviewing a soft-spoken subject with a thick Mancunian accent.

When I connect with Adam Gorman of Manchester's The Travelling Band I hit the jackpot and get all three. Lucky me!

Bad connections be damned, this is rock and roll, and I've got a musician to interview.

Since The Travelling Band, winners of the 2008 Glastonbury Festival New Talent Competition, operate primarily acoustic, their performances are a bit more flexible than those of louder bands. Gorman tells me this sometimes leads to spontaneous busking sessions, so pay special attention to street performers in Toronto for the next few days.

I tell Gorman that the band really harkens back to simpler times for me, often reminding me of Crosby Stills and Nash or the earliest work of America. He tells me that the bands "big influences are the harmony bands of the 60s - late 60s ... [but] our influences go right up to all the current day stuff ... The influences go right across the board pretty much."

The band already has 2 EPs out that have been well received in the UK. Their debut, If This is a Gag, I'm In, featuring the delightfully silly "Crocodile Song," has long sold out of physical copies (it's currently only available digitally), and their follow up, The Redemption of Mr. Tom, will likely follow suit in the very near future.

However, a full-length is in the works and will be available this fall. "There's a couple of the songs from the EPs on the record," he says, "but we recorded that over in New York and Brooklyn, finished it off last December. It's just been mastered now, so we're looking forward to getting it out in October."

I'm really looking forward to it, truth be told. The Travelling Band excels at gentle, lilting songs with well-crafted harmonies that just break your heart. If you're curious, I highly recommend you check them out at the Dakota Tavern (249 Ossington), Friday, June 13th at midnight.

Photo by Sy Evans

• The Travelling Band's MySpace
• North by Northeast Website