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Magical musical memories are only a song away at Mad Trappers, all this week as Billy Mitchell’s Train Wreck rolls into town for its monthly Calgary visit.
Anybody who believes that the best rock tunes are timeless has to catch this act sooner or later (and it should be sooner), because nobody captures the energy or sentimentality of early rock songs as well as this Vancouver-based quartet.
Adding to the band’s pull is the fact that two major recording artists form the core of the Train Wreck: Billy Cowsill (who was a major international sensation with The Cowsills in the ‘60s) and Lindsay Mitchell (a Canadian teen idol while playing lead guitar with Prism).
And neither gentleman has sounded better.
Cowsill has an unbelievably supple voice which ranged Tuesday night from raw power during I’ve Got A Woman to tear-stained sweetness during the schmaltzy Only You. His rendition of Bob Dylan’s I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight was flawless.
Meanwhile, during his amplified days with Prism Mitchell’s guitar virtuosity never stood out as sharply as it now does with Train Wreck. When the rockabilly numbers surfaced, he lent them an ecstatic edge. And when the going got sentimental, he was there with some truly tasty licks.
The quartet delivered them as early rock should be, with plenty of energy and a strong sense of fun.
The band is seen as being an enjoyable “break” by its two main members. They bumped into each other in a bar after just having split from their previous groups (Prism for Mitchell and Blue Northern for Cowsill).
The duo became a trio when Elmar Spanier showed up with his stand-up bass in his car one day an then became a quartet when drummer Christ Nordquist joined.
Cowsill was more than modest about the band’s goals.
“We got this together as a vehicle to create income to support your basic domestic tranquility,” said Cowsill.
“I just try and do the songs with my heart in the right place . . . and my tongue in my cheek. All I’m hoping to do is present the essence of these songs.”
Mitchell said he too is enjoying getting back to the basics, to rock’s roots.
“I take pleasure in the anti-hero stance we take.
“The thing that bothers me the most about rock is the pompousness the pretentiousness The Wreck just sort of slides in there.
“We’re pretty slack in our approach, but at the same time we’re true to the esthetics of the songs.
“People like us. They don’t go ga-ga over the band. They just fall in like with us.”
Mitchell, too, was overly modest. Fans of early rock (or just good music for that matter) don’t just like the Train Wreck, they like them a lot!
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