Last year when Dawn in the City won Situation Critical, a battle of the bands at River Cree Casino, it was a great personal triumph. After four years of beating the bushes, or in their case the clubs, the foursome was finally getting recognition for their unusual mix of rock, R&B, funk and Latin.
“It’s a long drawn-out process to be successful, even on a local level. Every performance is a new chapter,” says St. Albert drummer William Gold.
Situation Critical’s $2,000 first place win and a slot to open for Platinum Blonde’s gig at River Cree was nothing to sniff at.
“It opened up a couple of doors for us with booking agents and it got us a few shows,” Gold says.
But it also reminded them how much marketing was still needed to keep the momentum going – setting up mini-tours, contacting indie stations to play their songs, joining in podcasts and keeping fans in the loop.
“Each time we rotate in one of our pub-style venues, our audience gets bigger and we get more bookings. It just keeps snowballing,” Gold says. “We feel very lucky. A band is kind of like a restaurant. About 90 per cent never make it.”
The foursome, composed of Gold, Bernal Ibarra (lead vocals/guitar), Andrea Dawn Ibarra (bass) and Mike Glessing (rhythm guitar), bring their sweet sound to Apex Casino on Feb. 17 and 18.
They play an eclectic mix of up-tempo originals and covers from favourite artists of the last century that include the Rolling Stones, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Marvin Gaye, Wilson Pickett, The Commodores and Stevie Ray Vaughan.
Dawn in the City also likes to sprinkle a few originals into the mix, tunes such as Honda Civic, a fun song about a car that gets jacked; Sugarstack, a feel-good homage to James Brown, and Rhythm Shakin’ Woman, a song that captures the essence of what makes a woman beautiful.
A brainchild of the two Ibarras, the band was designed five years ago to appeal to a broad audience. Instead of focusing on one genre, Dawn in the City’s originators pulled together a variety of musical threads to create an upbeat dance style.
“The biggest change in the band in the last five years is that Andrea was the original drummer,” Gold says. “They had a couple of bass players, but they didn’t quite click. The pieces didn’t fall into place. About a year ago, Andrea – who had always wanted to play bass –moved over and they hired me as the drummer.”
In 2010 the band released their eight-track debut album, Groove in Every Stitch. A smattering of everything, the catchy tunes have been played on 25 college stations and roughly 100 indie stations.
“People like the variety. It’s upbeat. We’re not angry rock kids. We have a mellower, laid-back feel. We really give off a good vibe.”
Both shows at Apex Casino start at 9 p.m. No cover.
