Vancouver violinist Kyla Uyede was notably scarce on the Whistler scene this past winter.
The former Whistler resident was definitely missed. The popular performers Celtic-flavoured duet sets with Whistler legend Guitar Doug are the stuff to write home about.
But its not like the girl hasnt got anything else on the go. Aside from her solo gigs playing art gallery openings and cafés and her Wednesday night residency at VanCitys DV8 Lounge, the classically trained Uyede is a key figure in the Vancouver underground music scene.
Shes the Kytami element of Blackie LeBlanc and the Kytami Revolution - the raw acoustic punk collaboration with her partner Jay LeBlanc, who also rocks with the indelicately-named Cumsock and a new project tentatively titled the West Coast Death Squad. The duo used to host the Acoustic Chaos punk nights at Vancouver rock club The Cobalt before the venue closed down, and were last seen around these parts at the Whistler incarnation of Acoustic Chaos at the Crab Shack in 2004.
Also on Kylas dance card a metal band called Lownote, and the live hip-hop/drum n bass project Third Eye Tribe, which is following up a high-profile Shambhala Music Festival performance last summer with an upcoming headlining gig in the Queen Charlotte Islands.
Oh, and theres also the recent addition to the Kytami/LeBlanc household a baby girl named Cyprus.
Not like Cyprus has cramped her parents style in the least. Kyla says she was playing Shambhala at eight months pregnant and showed up for DV8 the night before she went into labour.
In fact, the serene violinist muses, rather than things going soft, there seems to actually be more gigs since the baby came.
One of those gigs is Blackie LeBlanc and the Kytami Revolutions return to Whistler, opening for Florida punk band Against Me! at Garfinkels this Sunday night. Blackie and Kytami will be accompanied by Vancouver drummer Jimmy The Bitch and will provide LeBlancs signature zine-style commemorative songbooks featuring the set list and lyrics.
Following the Garfs gig, it will be back to Vancouver, back to an eight-month old and a steady stream of gigs and a life less ordinary, a life she wouldnt have any other way.
"I just love music," Kyla says. "I like playing with all these different people from all these different scenes. Everything from Shambhala to dirty east-side bars; from art galleries to tiny little cafés."
"Its just what I do," she adds. "I guess Im not the same as most mothers."