In 2005, after nine years of music-making, touring, and four CDs, I left this band. Trevor had been working for the past years with both Barry and I at home, and also with a road band based in Edmonton (since I announced in 2001 that I was no longer into doing the long tours). He finally decided it was time to have just one band, and I agreed. The band's latest CD "Show Me What U Got" continues to do well, and received some attention.
Trevor has given me permission to post a few mp3s of his music. The first tune is the title track from the above CD. It's got an up-tempo zydeco groove, and I think I did a pretty good job of nailing that rollin' rockin' snare drum style.
Trevor and I first met back in 1993. At that time we were both attending the regular Tuesday jam sessions at the Rainbow Bistro here in Ottawa. We often found ourselves on stage at the same time, and would start to get to know each other's musical ways. I'm very influenced by drummers that interact with the music, which is common in jazz, but much less so in rock and blues. My early influences included Mitch Mitchell with Hendrix, and Michael Giles with the original King Crimson. In jamming with Trevor, I found a guitarist who actually liked a drummer who would interact this way . (Most of them just want you to keep time and stay out of their way.) So after a while, we always would go on together, just to insure that we would have fun, which is often a hit-and-miss thing at jam sessions...
Trevor became the lead singer/guitarist for a local band called the Suicide Kings (sounds kinda death-metal, but they were actually pop and blues based). He and I kept crossing paths, and I occasionally subbed for their drummer, or the drummer in his other project, Mystery Creek. After a few years the Kings started to implode as bands often do, and Trev decided it was time to steer his own ship. He started getting the band together in late '96, and by the following summer we were busy rehearsing new tunes for a upcoming CD. The writing process can often be a bit gruelling, but I had my fun by writing the horn charts for two tunes on the CD. Once we decided to have a CD release show, we realized that we couldn't have horn players come onstage for just two songs, so I wrote seven more charts, and got to have a whole lotta fun playing with a five-piece horn section live! We even had a 12 voice Gospel choir with us, with the big finale including the horns AND the choir! (Even on the big stage at Barrymore's Music Hall it was crowded.)
I guess what I liked most about working with Trevor is that my opinion was respected, I got to have a lot of input, and could sometimes get away with murder on the drums! I enjoy his guitar playing, and he's one of the best (and most consistent) singers in the business! Night after night, show after show, he never misses a note, and I don't think I've ever heard him sing off-key.
When you've played with a person for awhile, you do get to know their style, and their little tricks. One of the funniest moments I've had onstage with him was during a show at Tucson's here in Ottawa. He was whipping through a solo, and I was doing my usual fills every four bars. On one of those fills, Trev started a run, and I followed him, and it was quite fun, but what happened next was one of the moments of telepathy. He began a flurry of fast triplets, at the exact same moment I did. Neither one of us had set it up - we just both thought of playing the same thing the same way at the same time. When we got out of it, Trever turned to me with a shocked look on his face and shouted "get out of my head!"
Of course, to get all the details on the band, you need to visit the official Trevor Finlay Band website at tfband.com. Everything's there, including a photo gallery (look for the one of me playing acoustic guitar!), tour dates, and other good stuff.
