This weekend's performance by The Paperboys is likely to offer fans of the popular, Vancouver-based Celtic-Latino band a bit of a different sound than they're used to hearing. That's because the lineup for the Brackendale Art Gallery likely won't include two key players - flautist Geoffrey Kelly and banjo and bass player Brad Gillard.
Founder Tom Landa and his gang of merry men and women will no doubt have some old favourites in store for Paperboys' faithful, as well as a few surprises, according to Cam Salay, one-time band member and long-time Brackendale resident. Salay, who now plays with his own duo, The Splinters, was helping to set up the sound system for Saturday's (Feb. 18) performance when he spoke to The Chief this week.
Kelly, a much-loved member of The Paperboys, has been suffering through a particularly troublesome bout of Crohn's Disease and won't be on stage with Landa, fiddler Kalissa Hernandez, drummer Sam Esecson and two or three of the band's regular horn players - most likely Nick La Riviere, Miguelito Valdes and Kareem Kandi.
Landa, the Mexican-born musician who founded the band in the mid-1990s with the intention of fusing folk, Celtic, Latino and bluegrass, added the horns about four years ago. The "new" Paperboys sound was in full flourish when the band recorded its latest CD, titled Callithump, in 2009. The album's sound is steeped in the Mexican Son Jaracho music of Landa's origins, but retains strong elements of the Celtic-bluegrass influences found in The Paperboys' earlier work.
Salay, a banjo and string bass player who was a regular member of The Paperboys 1994 to 2001 and still performs with them on occasion, said he's not sure how many times the band has played the BAG, but said it's always a terrific show.
"They were doing it twice a year for a while, so it's got to be eight or 10 times now," he said.
In addition to Paperboys favourites, Saturday's audience is also likely to hear some material from Locarno, the Landa-led Latin band that also features Hernandez, Cuban-born trumpeter Valdes and trombone and bass player LaRiviere, Salay said.
"They could be dipping into the that material quite a bit. It could be quite a different type of Paperboys show than fans are used to," he said.
Saturday's show starts at 8 p.m. Tickets cost $20 and are available at the BAG or Xocolatl.
