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Gogo to join Solid Earth for New Year’s show

Who: Solid Earth Band Where: The Boot Pub When: Dec. 31 Douglas Kerr writes Solid Earth songs from as far away as the beaches in Thailand.

Who:

Solid Earth Band

Where:

The Boot Pub

When:

Dec. 31

Douglas Kerr writes Solid Earth songs from as far away as the beaches in Thailand.

"I wrote The Island Song, which is all about coconuts and waves, on my honeymoon with my wife in Thailand and my two-year old son, although most of my writing is done at home (in Whistler)," says Kerr.

As part of an independent music production, Kerr wears several hats. Once songs are completed, he presses demos, labels them and fires off 10 to 20 to individual managers, all while working full time at an alternate job. Keen to share, Kerr happily chatted from a cell phone while grocery shopping.

The Solid Earth Band rings in the New Year with songs from their first CD, Mountain Sites , recorded at Beattie Lane Studios. Kerr says a second album is in development. You can tell he eats, sleeps, and breathes the music from his attention to small detail.

"Sometimes a song needs adjusting at the bridge or the breakdown, and we’ll perform songs live to see the audience response, then rewrite," says Kerr, who works on originals like This Old Town on his Sound Forge software at home.

Just taking a look at the Solid Earth Band Web site is relaxing, as falling stars twinkle while you scroll through song titles and their list of covers. The words are augmented by colourful shots of the band jamming in tie-dyed T-shirts on stage in Whistler.

Solid Earth was working steadily this past year, playing every Friday from Aug. 31 at the Shack, as well as one-offs at Moe Joe’s and the Arts Club Backstage Lounge in Vancouver.

For the New Year’s Eve show at the Boot Solid Earth band members Jordan White and Geoff Hicks will be absent, playing with She Stole My Beer in Vancouver, so Kerr has changed the band lineup slightly. Steve Nelson will be on drums and Nanaimo’s David Gogo will join the local boys on guitar. Greg Duccomb is on keys, with Darren Paris on bass. Billy Hume plays percussion with the band. Like most bands that play a cross section of covers, various guests join in on percussion.

Playing live is a large focus for the Solid Earth Band, who dropped the "Jam" from their name recently to avoid some confusion with the live improv jams happening around town.

Kerr says the New Year’s show will feature two songs from the upcoming album and "a variety of instruments including banjos, and some violin."

The outlook continues to look positive for the veteran musicians.

"There’s nothing better than when someone comes up to you after the show and they want to know who (the band is)," says Kerr.