After a successful stop in Prince Albert as an opening act, Humboldt band Tadoma is returning as part of a double bill on Saturday with the band 66 Aces at the Spice Trail.
This Threadbare Productions double bill brings together two bands with roots in the Humboldt punk scene of the 1990s, 2000s and today.
Tadoma is made up of singer Caleb Frey, drummer Corri Barnes and lead guitarist Jason McCord and bassist Jeff McCord and made a great first impression when they played with Driveway Legends in April.
“We are very happy to be playing again in Prince Albert,” Frey said. “Last time was such a surprise, it might be hard to top that experience.”
Their first release ‘Wendemo’ came out spring of 2018, and was self-recorded at Barnes’ Earthquake Records studio in Humboldt. It contains seven original pieces.
Frey said playing with 66 Aces is a great experience.
“Playing with 66 Aces is like doing a showcase of what Humboldt was back then, and is right now,” Frey explained. “(They are) good friends of ours.”
The other act on the double bill is 66 Aces made up of Acey Lonsberry on guitar and vocals, Brent Stadnick on drums and Corri Barnes on bass.
The band 66 Aces is a project combining two bands Spy 66 and Lonsberry’s former Alberta band Aces.
Spy 66 was active from 1994 until the year 2000 when guitarist and founder Jason Keller passed away in an automobile accident.
“I lived in Calgary for 26 years and had a couple of different bands in Calgary and my last band I had there since 2016, I think to 2020 or so, was called Aces and was a punk metal band very similar, to Spy in some ways for sure,” Lonsberry said.
Lonsberry moved back to Saskatchewan in 2021 with his family and he called up Barnes and asked if he wanted to jam.
“I knew he was doing the Tadoma thing,” Lonsberry said. “We had done some shows with Tadoma previous to that, and I know Corri is a super busy guy. He’s always playing and working and working side jobs and all that kind of stuff, so I didn’t know if he’d have time. I didn’t want to put any pressure on him.”
At the time former Spy 66 Drummer Shea Giesbrecht was around and was interested in working together again.
“So Shea and Corri and I got together and jammed out in Humboldt and we played a few Spy tunes and a few old covers that we were still familiar with and what have you, and it went well,” Lonsberry said.
“I knew Brent, from Grizzlyhawk and of course, he’s a Humboldt kid, and he was familiar with Spy 66, (and) grew up a fan,” Lonsberry added.
The band had a show booked in Saskatoon at the Black Cat Tavern and Giesbrecht had something come up and couldn’t perform a few days before.
They called Stadnick the night before and asked if he was interested in playing the show at the Black Cat.
“I went over to their rehearsal space and, and just jammed some songs with them and thought, ‘hey we can make this work,’” Lonsberry remembered. “Corri wasn’t even there yet, though, so the next day was the show, and the first time that the three of us had ever played together was about half an hour before we were down to the venue.”
Despite the short time playing together the show went well and Stadnick continues to play with the band today.
“We’ve been playing and writing,” Lonsberry said.
The band did a swing through Alberta earlier this spring playing in Alberta with stops in Calgary, Lloydminster and Edmonton, which was also a chance to see Alberta friends.
“We had a really good time on that tour. I figure we should try to get out in Saskatchewan a little bit and get some different communities and keep growing,” he explained.
Barnes is doing double duty Saturday evening playing drums in Tadoma and Lonsberry credits him as a tireless worker.
“He’s a tireless promoter of music and the punk scene in Humboldt especially, but everywhere,” Lonsberry said. “I mean, he wears every hat that needs to be worn. He can be the promoter of the show, he can be the sound engineer doing all the mixing. He can be in one or two or three of the bands playing that night … and of course has a day job and a side job on top of that as well too.
“He doesn’t slow down very often and he’s just a phenomenal musician and a great guy as well too, so I’m super stoked to be playing with him again.”
Frey echoes Lonsberry’s sentiments.
“Corri is always willing to help where ever he can, that is taking roles as the drummer, bassist, sound tech/engineer. He also does the driving, but I think he prefers it that way,” he said.
According to Lonsberry 66 Aces is also going to be doing some recording at Barnes’ Earthquake Records studio to begin work on an EP which could become a long player.
“We can’t wait to get to get to work on that,” he said.
Despite being in several bands, Lonsberry believes this to be his first time playing in Prince Albert. Both bands also worked with (Threadbare Productions) Clay Cottingham at the Punk Rock Prairie Harm Reduction fundraiser in Saskatoon on July 8.
“We’ve played with them a few times,” Lonsberry said. “We played with them at the Roxy once as well too, so yeah, it’s a good fit. They’re a great band and a lot of fun to play with. It just makes a lot of sense for us to do shows together.”
On the double bill, 66 Aces will open and Tadoma will be playing second.
“I’m super happy to be able to bring some Spy tunes to people again and kind of revive that a little bit and give that a little bit of life,” Lonsberry said. “We’re playing songs from my Alberta band Aces as well to that. I’m super stoked that we have a chance to get out and play some of those songs.”
The two bands are also part of a four-band bill at the Humboldt Gathering Place on Friday, July 28 with Montreal’s Ripcordz and Bats Out.
The show is at Spice Trail beginning at 8 p.m. for a cost of $15.
michael.oleksyn@paherald.sk.ca
