They might not be as famous as the Rolling Stones (yet), but one of Terrace’s favourite new bands is painting it black.
King Crow and the Ladies From Hell, a 9-piece Celtic-influenced funk-punk-folk band infused with a touch of bluegrass, will be kicking off their first tour in Terrace on Jan. 12 at the Legion before hitting the road.
This is the band’s very first tour—and its members are painting their newly-acquired yellow tour bus black for the occasion.
“We’re all super stoked and really happy to go touring with the band,” said King Crow’s lead vocalist Bobby Middleton, adding the band has been fine tuning not only its new tour bus but a handful of new songs.
Once on the road, the band’s first stop will be in Prince George to play at the Coldsnap Winter Music Festival.
“In October, the Coldsnap Music Festival in PG announced King Crow and the Ladies From Hell would be one of the mainstage acts featured at this year’s festival,” said the band’s manager Sarah Zimmerman.
“The band decided to see if it could book a few gigs following the Coldsnap festival, given they are already travelling all the way to Prince George.”
So the band will play three more shows in Alberta—one in Calgary Jan. 21 at the Ironwood Stage, a live-music focussed 140+ seat restaurant that hosts shows every night of the year; one at a funky Edmonton music venue called The Pawnshop on Jan 24th; and another Jan. 26 at the Jasper, Alberta Legion.
“Playing at festivals around the region (Smithers and Kispiox) has given the band a lot of experience, but they are really looking forward to seeing if their particular brand of Celtic/folk/rock has a broader appeal,” said Zimmerman.
And ever innovative, the band has purchased a used school bus and is transforming it into a tour bus for the trek.
Formerly bright yellow, it was painted black last weekend and is being made-up with new studded winter tires, a cargo area for gear and lots of seating for the nine King Crow and the Ladies From Hell members—Middleton on lead vocals, acoustic guitar, and harmonica, Torence Sandhals on drums and vocals, Garrett Kerr on bagpipes, pennywhistle, and bodhran, Jamie Norton on violin, Sam Hogarth on banjo, guitar, mandolin and bouzouki, Leah MacKay on vocals, accordion, pennywhistle and tambourine, Jeff Chapman on electric guitar, vocals, and harmonica, Dylan Gordon on bass and Mark Billey on mandolin.