Jack Garton and his band will be the first group to hit the stage this fall at the Acoustic Emporium.
Garton, a singer/songwriter and accordion player, performs on Friday, Sept. 22.
Steeped in the solitude of the mountains and islands of the Pacific Northwest, raised in the boisterous and irreverent East Vancouver arts community, Garton’s music is a dance party for the vulnerable at heart.
In the lineage of weird and wonderful Canadian songwriters Leonard Cohen, k.d.Lang, Corb Lund and Geoff Berner, Garton’s songs alchemize brokenness and pride, and celebrate the sheer “absurd difficulty of being alive” (Geoff Berner) with wit and grace.
Over the last 10 years while touring Canada, the U.S. and Europe, Garton has developed a distinctive voice on the accordion, mixing Cajun, European and country styles with ease into an exciting roots music feast.
Whether backed by his powerful band the Demon Squadron or solo, armed with an accordion and trumpet, his shows are theatrical, fluid, confessional, and fun. They reflect a lifetime of devotion to the art of live music as well as an impressive breadth of life experience including his roles as a father and husband, local gravedigger, theatre artist and music teacher.
Garton’s 2016 release Move the Mess Around is a manual for living with commitment, set to a roots roller-coaster soundtrack courtesy of Demon Squadron.
Jack Garton and his band perform Friday, Sept. 22 at the Acoustic Emporium (45892 Wellington Ave.). Doors open at 7 p.m. Tickets $15 at the door, or can be purchased online at acousticemporium.com.