White Lightning strikes again

Some bands whip up a few songs and record a four-song EP in a couple of days. And then there’s White Lightning.

The St. Albert rock band took nearly two years to write about 25 songs and record the carefully crafted White Lightning 1979 EP.

“All our music these days seems to have an influence from the ’70s funk era or the disco era,” said vocalist-guitarist Steve Bosch. Sharing the glory is Jason Grilo on bass and Enoch Rottier banging drums.

The threesome is releasing 1979 EP on Sunday, March 8 at The Artery, a popular venue where Grilo worked as a sound tech for several years.

This concert will be one of the last at the Jasper Avenue venue before it closes at the end of the month. Structural issues forced the closure and the building will be bulldozed to make way for an LRT line.

“Our lead single 1979 released at the beginning of the year was in the top 10 songs on NewCanadianMusic.ca and was recently Socan's song of the week,” said Bosch. He added that 1979 and One Last Time, released a week ago, also have posted videos online.

White Lightning started in 2007 as a heavy rock garage band with influences from Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin. Lately, elements of folk and pop have seeped into their indie rock grooves. Bosch compares the mellower vibe to Mumford and Sons.

This trio is no cookie cutter band. They are theatrical on stage, and since the 2011 release of See It All release, a 17-track CD, White Lightning has garnered five Edmonton Music Award nominations and was dubbed Sonic Band of the Month.

“Being band of the month was a cool experience. They assisted us in getting radio play and they helped us getting on Breakfast Television. It was a good learning experience – having commercial radio play your music and seeing how the industry works and generating buzz for our name,” Bosch says.

These experiences taught the band to take the process of music making seriously and craft songs for maximum impact. With an Alberta Foundation for the Arts grant, they hired Vancouver producer Howard Redekopp, known for working with pop heavyweights The New Pornographers and Tegan and Sara and recorded at Edmonton’s The Audio Department.

“For this EP we looked into production across Canada. Howard gets a great balance between a commercial polished sound while still keeping an organic feel and sound of the artists. The EP has something else too. All the instruments are recorded live off the floor.”

As the major songwriter, Bosch starts the process writing lyrics and creating a few chord progressions before Grilo and Rottier flesh out the tunes.

Each of the EP’s four songs carries a different feel. The upbeat, dancey title track looks at a person leading a tough life who is trying to shake it off.

The romantic Make This Love a Home brims with funk rock and One Last Time is a reflective ballad about the need to communicate in relationships. And the final track, Running For Love, has a Talking Heads feel.

White Lightning is also bringing in a few extra ghost band members for the concert. They include St. Albert’s Nathan Carroll (guitar, synthesizer), Melayne Shenkel (vocals, tambourine) and Savannah Bosch (vocals, accoustic guitar).

Folk-pop duo The Royal Foundry opens the show and comedian Charles Haycock will host.

Every paid ticket will receive a free EP upon entry.