Vanstones joked in their first bio that the band was “forged in the fire of a global pandemic,” according to guitarist and vocalist Nathan Schultz, who makes a point that the line should be read out in “a dramatic, deep voice like you’d hear in nineties action-movie trailers.”
Schultz, along with guitarist Amanada Fata and percussionist Sarah Murphy, all of whom share lead vocal duties, are a folk-pop trio with influences ranging from bluegrass to world music. They already have a number of performances under their belts, including the Yukon Arts Centre Birthday Bash with Serena Ryder and The Strumbellas, the Kluane Mountain Bluegrass Festival, and Arts in the Park.
“The real story is that Nathan and I met through a jam hosted by a mutual friend,” Murphy chimed in. “A few months later, he brought Amanda to a jam, shortly after she moved to the Yukon, and it just evolved from there.”
Fata noted that the pandemic comment is true, however, because it was early 2020 when the three musicians started playing together.
“Like most musicians, we had so many gigs cancelled during that period,” she said. “It felt like it took forever to get onstage together. In a creative sense, it was a blessing. By the time we finally took the stage in August 2021, the bones of our debut album, Cascadia, were already in place.”
Cascadia, recorded and mixed by Jim Holland at Green Needle Records, is set for release on August 25, following singles “Sleepy Northern Town” and “Home.” On the subject of what they sound like, the three musicians each bring something different to the table, making it difficult to describe their music as any one style.
“Our individual styles come from a diverse blend of genres,” said Fata, who offered folk, pop, Celtic, samba, soca, Latin, classic rock, ’90s alternative and East Coast music as examples.
While Schultz said the band’s sound can be classified as whatever Radiohead’s style is, the musicians agree that their music is a “mosaic.”
“Collectively, our sound draws on all of those influences and more,” said Murphy. “We tend to put our vocal arrangements to the forefront of each song and build out from there. We all listen to such different music, but classic rock bands like Queen, The Beatles and Fleetwood Mac are a common denominator.”
Vanstone’s songs come together naturally in a variety of ways. Sometimes, one of the members might bring in a nearly complete song and the band will arrange it together, according to Schultz. “Our first two singles, ‘Home’ and ‘Sleepy Northern Town,’ were like that,” he said. “Amanda and Sarah, respectively, had the bulk of those tracks figured out before we worked on them as a group.”
Other times, a song might come together during a jam or even just a conversation where each musician shares ideas with the other, added Murphy.
“The focus track on the album, ‘With You (California),’ is a perfect example of that,” she explained. “Nathan adlibbed what became a part of the chorus—‘she’s got a new tattoo and some ruby lipstick too; I want to move to California with you’—over a rock riff that Sarah created after listening to a Partido Alto rhythm that I was playing on the ukulele. Those seeds grew into a song quickly after.”
With their debut album dropping soon, Vanstones will be heading down to Kelowna, B.C., to participate in this year’s BreakOut West Showcase Festival and conference. As for how they’re feeling about that—“really excited.”
“There’s such a great delegation of Yukon artists this year, and it’s an honour to be part of it,” said Murphy. “We’re all really proud of being a Yukon band, and we’re looking forward to sharing our music with more folks across Canada, too.
“We want to keep growing, and the best way to do that is to get out on the road! BreakOut West is a great opportunity for that, and also an opportunity to meet a lot of industry folks who can help us achieve our goals as a band.”
