ON STAGE
What: 91原创 Island Blues Bash featuring Mike Farris and The Fortunate Few, Kevin Burt and Big Medicine, Lindsay Beaver and Blue Moon Marquee
Where: Ship Point (900 Wharf St.) and Hermann鈥檚 Upstairs (751 View St.)
When: Saturday, Aug. 31, through Monday, Sept. 2
Tickets: $49 from the Victoria Jazz Society (250-388-4423), the Royal McPherson box office (250-386-6121), and rmts.bc.ca
Note: Free all-ages performances are also offered
When blues singer Lindsay Beaver made the decision three years ago to stand up while playing the drums in concert, she knew it would add an extra layer of appeal to the vintage rock 鈥檔鈥� roll she was making.
But the Halifax-born musician had other reasons to make the switch from sitting to standing. Her positioning behind the kit has helped ease the stress on her back; a former horseback rider, she鈥檚 now dealing with a compressed nerve.
Her aggressive singing and drumming style was aggravating the condition during long tours, so she adopted the new stance. 鈥淚 took a lot of falls when I was a kid,鈥� said Beaver, 35. 鈥淎s I got older, some of that stuff caught up to me.鈥�
With her high-top hair and striking fashion sense 鈥� not to mention a tattoo on her arms that reads 鈥淭oo Tough to Die鈥� 鈥� Beaver cuts a dramatic figure in concert, and her paint-peeling voice adds an extra ingredient.
But after years of sitting while performing, her positioning has become a calling card of sorts. Her approach recalls the upright drumming styles of Sheila E. and Slim Jim Phantom of the Stray Cats, but hers differs in that she employs a full drum kit while playing.
Sheila E. plays mostly percussion when she is standing, and Phantom uses a cocktail drum kit, which is much smaller. 鈥淪ometimes, when people stand and drum, they simplify things. I didn鈥檛 want to do that, and I didn鈥檛 want it to sound dinky for the sake of standing. It took a little while to figure that out, and the stamina required is quite intense.鈥�
While situated at the front of the stage, Beaver said, she has no choice but to wage war on her drum kit, as bandmates Brad Stivers (guitar) and Josh Williams (bass) both stand more than a foot taller than her five foot, one inch frame. 鈥淭hese two are so tall, if I was sitting at the drums I鈥檇 look silly,鈥� Beaver said with a laugh. 鈥淚t鈥檚 more esthetically pleasing this way.鈥�
Beaver moved to Austin, Texas, for career opportunities in 2018, following a successful run with her former Toronto band, the 24th Street Wailers, which earned more than a dozen Maples Blues Award nominations during its time together. The split wasn鈥檛 entirely amicable, however. Beaver wanted to push her career forward, while some of her bandmates were less business-minded.
She now plays regularly at Antone鈥檚, a legendary venue in Austin that rose to national prominence after booking the Fabulous Thunderbirds and Stevie Ray Vaughan early in their careers.
Beaver collaborates regularly with Fabulous Thunderbirds leader Jimmie Vaughan, whom Beaver became friends with after she started making regular pilgrimages to Austin in 2014 (Vaughan later produced Beaver鈥檚 2017 recording with the 24th Street Wailers).
Now a permanent resident, Beaver used a studio in the Texas capital to produce her new album, Tough as Love, which combines seven originals with covers of songs by Little Willie John and Art Neville, among others.
In some ways, she made the album as a thank-you to the city, which has embraced her as one of its own. 鈥淎ustin has done a lot for me. But everyone in that city is good, so you鈥檙e either going to sink or swim. I鈥檓 an exponentially better musician for having lived in Austin, no doubt in my mind.鈥�
Beaver said it was a weekly jam in Halifax that played a big role in making her the musician she is today, however. 鈥淭he guys at that jam gave me the cool records to listen to. I thought it was more of an education than the college I went to in Toronto. Music school is good for the chops, but it didn鈥檛 really teach me about the stuff I wanted to play. I tried to get a blues ensemble started at the college, but they weren鈥檛 having it. It wasn鈥檛 jazz, so they didn鈥檛 want it.鈥�
Once her tour winds down next month, she will be back in Austin. She is excited to be playing Victoria this weekend, but Beaver is already looking ahead to her pair of concerts next weekend in Winnipeg. 鈥淚 cannot handle how excited I am. Austin is great, and it鈥檚 really good career-wise, but Canada has great audiences and cool venues. Canada will always be home.鈥�
