It's a family affair
Dave Jaffer
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Doucet: "I want to die on stage when I'm 90"
photo: Ivan Otis
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Toronto's Six Shooter Records brings the whole stable to town
The Six Shooter Records philosophy is refreshingly old-school. Pithy and clear, it's a no-nonsense piece of advice, and, if you're the type to look at everything as a fight, both a rallying cry and a call-to-arms.For the uninitiated, that philosophy is: "Life is too short to listen to shitty music."
And it is, it really is.
On the topic of non-shitty music, Night of the Shooting Stars is shaping up to be an unforgettable night courtesy of Toronto-based Six Shooter's stable of artists. As the story (via a press release) goes, the soirée was "inspired by the Finale performance on Six Shooter Day at the Ottawa Bluesfest in 2008," and essentially, what that shakes out to is this: Not only will Night of the Shooting Stars feature a good portion of the label's formidable crew of artists, including Luke Doucet, Justin Rutledge, NQ Arbuckle, Royal Wood, Melissa McClelland, BidiniBand, Amelia Curran and The Beauties, but for added effect they'll all be playing together. Like, together together. Like, alongside and amidst each other.
Mind you, this ain't some travelling road show making a pit stop in the capital for some gas and a lumpy motel bed. Rather, it's a one-time, one-night event created specifically for Ottawa. Yes, its timing is deliberate, because the Ontario Council of Folk Festivals is holding its annual conference in town from October 15 to 18, but, according to Six Shooter head honcho Shauna de Cartier, it's about much more than that.
It's about giving back.
"Ottawa is
a very good community for us," she says. "The Ottawa Bluesfest is a really big supporter of Six Shooter; I think they've had almost everybody on our roster at their festival." It's easy to see why. Six Shooter attracts artists with a certain power, a certain allure, and that in turn radiates back outward, winning and charming as all giddy-up. As opposed to sex appeal or Internet hype or something impermanent, Six Shooter's pheromones are of a different stripe - those of people who want to do something very well for a very long time.
And yes, people still respond to that.
XXX
Six Shooter has been on the block since 2000, and, since 2000, has received acclaim for its output as well as for the way it handles itself. In short, people love Six Shooter as if the label were an artist itself, which in a way it is.
If the question in a word is "Why?" the answer in a word is "Authenticity."
"The label comes from a core value that I hold about the importance of art in our society," says de Cartier. "I look for artists who are career artists who are going to be making music and art until they're dead, [like] it's not just something they're trying on, or something that has an expiry date on it, or that they're doing to make money. I tend to look for the real thing."
Among the real things is Luke Doucet, who's been on Six Shooter since Christ was a cowboy. The label's first release was his solo debut Aloha, Manitoba, and if anyone is qualified to talk about what it's like being a Six Shooter artist, it's him.
"[Shauna asked] 'What do you want to do?' and I said 'I want to make 20 records and I want to tour my whole life and I want to die on stage when I'm 90,'" he recounts. "She said, 'Okay, let's go, let's do this.'"
Doucet adds that the label fosters a real sense of community.
"One of the things that I always hoped that playing rock'n'roll music would achieve was that you get to be in a gang," he continues. "Instead of being the lone nerd who gets beat up by the quarterback of the football team because you're awkward and small, you have a gang of the cool guys because they play music, and there is a bit of that with Six Shooter. People going 'We all have similar priorities. We all like Merle Haggard and we don't feel stupid about it.'"
In contrast to Doucet, Darin McConnell of The Beauties is a new member of the Six Shooter family. That said, his opinion is strikingly similar. "It seems like a family," he says. "They'll give you the shirt off their backs to make your dream come true."
The more I dig, the more of this I hear. In separate emails, Curran, Rutledge and McConnell's bandmate Derek Downham all say similar things, all three specifically evoking this idea of community, and moreover, how fortunate they feel to have found one.
I guess the family that plays together, stays together.
"It's a hard world out there for anybody, but it's really hard out there for an artist," says de Cartier. "So it's really nice to have that roof over your head, so to speak, and feel that you have a family of other artists, which is part of what this show specifically that we're doing in Ottawa on October 16th is about. It's a celebration of the community that surrounds Six Shooter."
Night of the Shooting Stars
w/ Luke Doucet, Justin Rutledge, NQ Arbuckle, Melissa McClelland,
Royal Wood, Bidini Band, The Beauties
@ Capital Music Hall
Oct. 16
I have been a fan of Six Shooter Records since, well since the beginning I guess. I purchased Aloha Manitoba when it was hot off the press. The sense of community is certainly a driving force behind their appeal, but more importantly as far as I am concerned is their ability to put out really solid music. I used to describe Luke Doucet to my friends as "the best musician that you have never heard", and I truly believe that this can be applied to numerous Six Shooter Artists. Shauna and Helen have done an excellent job in assembling like-minded musically talented artists that have put on some really excellent shows. Which brings me to another point: the cds are great, but the live shows are far superior, and at times magical. I wish I was in Ottawa tonight to see the show, but can only hope that "The Night of the Shooting Stars" turns into "Nights" at some time in the near future, and we get to see the whole posse together and "together" on stage in Toronto.
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Rick Burrows
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| Six Shooter worth the Drive!! |
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We live in Hamilton but never shy away from a road trip to see a Six Shooter Band. This trip was an easy drive down the 401 and was well worth the effort. We've seen Luke and Melissa in Pittsburgh, Ann Arbor, London, Orillia, Hamilton and St. Catharines. NQ Arbuckle in St. Catharines, St. John and Toronto. Justin Rutledge in in Toronto and Hamilton and Amelia Curran in Hamilton and St. John. They never disappoint. Once again they blew away Ottawa Last night! Great Job Gang.
David & Marilyn
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David Sanderson
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