Wanna see Maria In The Shower? Make a night of it at JD’s Lounge at the Best Western Country Inn on Thursday May 26, 2011.
Maria In The Shower is a four-man band hailing from East Van, with an insatiably eclectic sound of cabaret, folk, gypsy-minstrel, old-time, rockabilly, and swing (to name just a few).
“I find it really hard to talk about styles or genres... I’m a big fan of Duke Ellington, who said, ‘There are only two kinds of music: good and bad music.’ And I like both in the right amounts. I think they both have their place,’ says guitarist Martin Reisle.
The quartet will be celebrating the release of their latest album, The Hidden Sayings of Maria In The Shower with a 25-stop tour starting from Vancouver, B.C. up Yellowknife in the North West Territories, all the way across to Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Chilliwack will be the second stop of their tour.
And as if their musical range wasn’t enough to keep audiences captivated, the band members aren’t afraid to step things up with vaudeville-inspired themes, creating an enticingly visual performance with a variety of costumes, including mime outfits and early 1900s period clothing.
“We read a lot about [the vaudeville] era of performance and sort of try to live almost in a manner that feels like we’re still there. The manner of dress and costumes that we present is also generally fairly inspired by that era as well,” Reisle says.
“They’re very theatrical in nature,” he says of their performances.
Last year, restaurant manager Sarah Kardashinski discovered the band while visiting the Granville Island Public Market and invited the boys to come play at JD’s Lounge last November. She’s very excited to have them perform again.
“[They’re] just different than any of the other bands we’ve had before,” Kardashinski says.
“They dress up and they act on stage. It’s not just them playing music, it’s a full show,” she says.
Riesle’s favourite part about being in the band is being able to share their music with so many people.
“Having this as a job, to bring music and theatrical expression to large audiences... and to connect with [them] in such a strangely intimate way, is really magical,” he says.
Maria In The Shower takes the stage at JD’s Lounge at 8 p.m. with no cover charge for this 19+ event.