TrailerHawk performs at the Osoyoos Community Theatre on Oct. 17. (Contributed photo)
By Dale Boyd
Osoyoos Times
For industry veterans like Vancouver’s TrailerHawk, it is no secret that a career in music is a tough grind, especially these days.
Vocalist Carmen Bruno said there is something inherent in musicians that propels them to bang their head against the proverbial wall of the industry.
“That’s what they bank on though, there’s something fundamental where we have to play, we have to create something. It’s a basic human need,”
Bruno said.
A collection of familiar musical friends who shared a love of old-style country and decided to jam one night, TrailerHawk features a wealth of experience including lead guitarist Rod Bruno, formerly of Mathew Good Band, Don Binns and Don Short from Sons of Freedom and Lanny Hussey from Ginger.
Exploring the more rock ’n’ roll side of classic country music, Bruno said a live TrailerHawk show may be deceptively raucous.
“By all accounts it’s louder than you might think,” Bruno said with a laugh. “It is kind of deceiving if you listen to it on Spotify or Apple Music at whatever volume you think is appropriate at that time, but we hit it pretty hard. It’s hard to ignore.”
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Bruno caught up with the Osoyoos Times after the band was fresh out of the studio on an as-of-yet untitled project.
“We’re kind of branching out from our previous stuff. It’s evolving into something all its own,” Bruno said.
After releasing the final single from Paid In Full in October, TrailerHawk’s next round of fresh tunes had them working with big-time Vancouver producer Dave “Rave” Ogilvie who has worked behind the soundboard on tracks and albums for industry heavyweights like Nine Inch Nails, David Bowie, Marilyn Manson and Queen to name a few.
The branched-out sound treads on familiar territory for TrailerHawk, but with a little more metaphorical weight.
“Heavy Americana Country, I think, kind of making our own genre,” Bruno laughed.
The group usually writes together, getting into a room a couple of nights a week, she said.
“Generally speaking when we do that we come up with one or two new songs in a sitting. Everybody putting their own spin on their own parts. It’s definitely a collaborative effort, someone might come in with a seed of something, but we all work together on it,” Bruno said.
TrailerHawk performs at the Osoyoos Community Theatre at the Osoyoos Secondary School on Oct. 17, as part of the Osoyoos Concert Series. Tickets are $25 for adults, $15 for students. Tickets available at Mills Office Productivity in Osoyoos and Sundance Video in Oliver.
