North of Here shine in northern Alberta

Edmonton band North of Here brought their youthful exuberance to the Nancy Appleby Theatre stage Nov. 12, the farthest north the group has played so far.

The performance was put on by the Heartwood Folk Club, after organizer Peter Opryshko scouted them.

“I think he heard a song of ours on CBC Radio, showed up at a show of ours in a dinky little club in Edmonton and was confident enough in our 15-minute set to book us for an hour and a half, ” said bass guitarist and vocalist Luke Jansen. “I don ’t know what that logic is but, thanks again. ” ;

The group, which features Jansen, Caleb Sinn, Ian St. Arnaud, and Will Holowaychuk, started the show off looking a little uneasy, but the more they played their confidence grew, and so did their sound. Watching this transformation on stage, it was clear to see that with some experience, the band has a great future ahead of them. ;

By the end of the show they were cracking jokes between tunes and belting out a beautiful blend of original works and cover songs.

One of their best pieces of the night was a harmony sung immediately after the intermission. At some point the band realized the mic was, in fact, off, however, the harmony melded beautifully and reverberated around the theatre. ;

“You can turn off your hearing aids now, ” Jansen said, cracking wise with the older crowd, inciting a mixture of laughs and “ooooohhhhs. ” ; ;

The quartet formed in high school, and recently started touring around the province, opening for the likes of Craig Cardiff, Aidan Knight and Michael Bernard Fitzgerald. They also receive regular airplay on the CBC. ;

The band has put out a couple of EPs, but is currently in the process of putting together their debut album.

“Big full length albums take years and years and we ’re trying to give it the time it needs., ” Jansen said. ;

“We really want to do it right, ” St. Arnaud added. “We want to do it, to really pose ourselves how we ’ve learned from other stuff. ; We ’re getting to play these shows, we ’re getting to test new stuff. ”

The band hopes to have that album finished some time next winter. ;