Absolut Thursday - With Graven - March 11th - 10 PM - No Cover!

Here's one for you... I got an email from Matt McKechnie about booking a band he was working with (Little Jackie Wright) in southern Ontario. They were on their way east and needed a gig in Halifax. I couldn't offer much - except maybe one of our Absolut Thursday night shows - but I offered it to them. Matt got back to me to say the band couldn't, after all, make it out during the time frame he suggested, BUT, he was interested in coming out instead. I thought he was just a booking agent!

Anyway, I checked out the tunes and thought they'd be great for the room. So that's the story and I'm sticking to it. Ought to be a good time... AND, we don't generally do live music on Friday and Saturday nights but, seeing as how they were going to be out here anyway, we decided we'd keep them on to play for the party animals that are The Brier crowd. Oh, yeah, methinks it'll be a good weekend all around, hahaha...

Here's some info Matt sent along to give you an idea of what you're in for...

Growing up, Matt McKechnie was a massive listener of J Mascis (Dinosaur Jr.), Stephen Malkmus (Pavement) and Led Zeppelin. Having played in garage bands since his mid-teens, he began to adapt and progress with the shifting musical terrain around him while still staying true to his idyllic influences. Graven is more about free-form, switching genres and the ‘meat’ of a song than it is about falling in line. Matt’s songs are truly different and rare and with a solid yet shifting band of ever-talented individuals (all of whom are a part of the homespun collective label ‘GravenRecords’) backing him, his music generates both interest and intensity.

With production and inspiration from folks like Charles Austin in Halifax (producer of Buck 65, Matt Mays, Joel Plaskett) and Dean Watson in Ottawa (producer of Meredith Luce, The Soiree, The Murder Plans), Graven is ready to hit the streets and rumble for the good of soul-singers everywhere.

Sometimes changing all of the players (except for Matt) depending on the sound, Graven is a sonic refuge of hope in the abyss of over-produced generic music. Crossing ranges between folk, hard rock, countrified cottage music and alternative country, Matt McKechnie’s songwriting style cannot be pinned down.

This trip to Halifax is especially significant for Matt & the Graven crew because it is where he first decided to go ahead with his own music due to the recording, production and encouragement of his friend Charles Austin in 2002. It will be Graven's first performance outside of Ontario.

Check out Graven on myspace or on the official site and home of their collectively run record label, Graven Records for new songs and soon to be posted tour and album updates.