Tonic Records Vancouver recording artist Bocephus King — along with band mates Paul Townsend, Wynston Minckler and Charlie Hase — will be hitting the Snoring Sasquatch stage Nov. 23 for an evening of soul-soaked psychedelia that will include a batch of new songs.
The enigmatic Vancouver native, who’s effortlessly and melodiously skirted between blues, alt-country, traditional songwriting and modern aesthetics, now finds the voice of a songwriter and musician on a new path within his constantly evolving and distinct sound. The results are nothing less than glorious on his most recent album, Willie Dixon God Damn.
Starting with where he left off on the critically acclaimed genre-smashing album, All Children Believe in Heaven, King has sabotaged the typecasting of his early work. The gravel-raw hobo-rock alternating with jazz-noir torch songs have been replaced by a sense of urgency, as if the album is a signpost at the end of the world. King’s own voice has never been more present and contemporary as he avoids the easy answers — and therein lies some of the majesty of the tone on King’s latest work.
Willie Dixon God Damn finds King at his poetic best with words that pour out of his heart like a bottle and take you on an evocative trip down a strange memory lane. Musically, you can hear a vast array of influences ranging from the spaghetti-western soundscapes of Ennio Morricone to the Tex-Mex blues of T-Bone Burnett to the psychedelic folk-rock of Bob Dylan’s Bringing it All Back Home, and all kissed with Middle Eastern and Gypsy mystery.
Fresh off the heels of a year of relentless European and Canadian touring, the band is filling out the rest of the year with performances at some of their most beloved B.C. And Alberta haunts. Proving themselves to be a well oiled touring machine, King and his band show absolutely no sign of slowing down and as the year comes to a close, expect to hear new and exciting music from an artist who is sure to surprise you with his inventiveness.
Tickets are $12 in advance at Kingfisher Used Books, Buffalo Trails Coffee House and Black Bear Books, and $15 at the door, which opens at 6 p.m.; the show starts at 7.
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