Since their 2011 beginnings, Cochrane’s Chicago blues four-piece the Smoking Aces have grown their weekly rehearsals to some 40 gigs and a handful of festivals per annum.
The blues brothers in arms will be making a stop at Legacy Guitar and Coffee House Jan. 11 at 8 p.m., showcasing the material on their upcoming EP, Tom Cat Blues, which is marked for an early 2014 release.
Something of a purist at heart, frontman, singer/songwriter and bassist, John White, keeps his songwriting traditional.
“There’s people out there writing blues songs about Starbucks coffee and the Internet and I admire that, but I like writing about the old themes…kind of true-blue themes,” said White.
Among the themes are love lost, cheating wives, no pay, unrequited love – the usual suspects to any recipe for blues stew.
Loss has been no stranger to the group, who mourned the passing of their guitarist, Brian Guest, who died in a motorcycle accident in Calgary Jan. 8, 2012.
On the brink of releasing their premier album, the devastated Aces recorded a live 10-track compilation that included the additional title track of the album, My Brother’s Keeper — a song written by Guest and found on his cell phone following his untimely death; the album was released in June 2012.
It was eventually Dave MacRae who came in to fill the boots of guitarist for the group, joining original members White, Glenn Watts (drums) and Kyle Nunweiler (guitar).
The spring of 2013 saw the departure of Nunweiler from the group, leaving an open seat once again.
“We messed around with other guitar players, but we didn’t find the right one,” said White, adding that the decision to bring keyboardist, Barry Valgardson into the group instead has set the stage to broaden the group’s horizon.
With Valgardson on board since September of 2013, the Aces seek to release their sophomore, full-length album by mid-2014, Road Kill Café, which will include four tracks recorded with Nunweiler.
“We’ve got enough material to do another two albums,” said White, who’s thrilled with his immersion into the realm of songwriting these days, rounded out by enough live performances to keep the Aces busy performing at events including highlights such as the 2012 Calgary International Bluesfest, the 2012 Sky High Blues Festival, where they opened for David Gogo and the 2013 Canada Day celebration at Mitford Park, where the Aces opened for Emerson Drive.
Their repertoire includes a meeting of hard-driving Chicago blues covers like “Messin’ With The Kid”, “Sweet Home Chicago” and “Hoochie Coochie Man”, mixed with Aces’ originals.
John White also runs a music jam at the BullHorn Saloon Sunday afternoons from 2-6 p.m.
Learn more at smokingaces.ca. Tickets to the Jan. 11 show are available at legacyguitarhouse.com.
