Formed in 2009, Winnipeg folk trio Sweet Alibi have been turning heads right across Canada with their self-titled debut album. Produced by former Crash Test Dummies drummer Mitch Dorge, the album earned the group a Canadian Folk Music Award nod last year.
Sweet Alibi performs at O’Leary’s Pub (46 Princess Street) in Saint John on Saturday June 8 and Sunday June 9.
Here Magazine spoke with Sweet Alibi’s Michelle Anderson earlier this week:
How did Sweet Alibi come together?
Jessica [Rae Ayre] and I knew one another from school and would often play music together. When I approached Jess to start a band, she suggested that Amber [Nielsen] be a part of the project, who she had met through mutual musician friends. After I met Amber at the first rehearsal, everything just clicked.
Winnipeg boasts one of the most collaborative and most musically diverse music scenes in the country. What do you attribute that to?
Winnipeg musicians are diverse because of the support each artist has for other artists in the city. They often go on tour together, and pick up influences from other cities. Everyone covers each other’s songs and puts their own take on it. It inspires creativity and encourages the community to stretch their ideas.
From what I’ve heard, Sweet Alibi tends to explore a few different musical avenues. Pinning down the band’s sound to one specific genre is not necessarily an easy task. Was this a goal of the group from its inception?
It is hard to put a label on our music because we try to be diverse, and everyone has a different idea of what roots, pop or alternative means. People have found similarities between our music and the likes of Amy Winehouse, The Good Lovelies and The Wailin’ Jennies.
Your group features wonderful vocal harmonies, which isn’t terribly common these days. Do you feel that some artists or groups fail to want to put in the effort to give audiences something memorable?
There are many artists who put a lot of effort into being original, and portraying their own personal experiences through their music. Audiences associate with that, and if the artist is good they will be memorable in the end.
Article published in the June 6, 2013 edition of Here Magazine