Homegrown folk-jazz-blues musician plays St. Andrew’s Oct. 24

Indie jazz, folk and blues musician Faye Blais has been globe-trotting for the past four years, but will return to her hometown for a concert at St. Andrew’s Place, Oct. 24, at 8 p.m. She will be accompanied by Scott Cook, a guitar and banjo folk roots player from Edmonton.

Blais arranged the performance details herself.

“I decided on this venue because I have heard there are quite a few acoustic acts playing there. I think it has positive vibes,” she said from her home in Toronto.

The former Minnow Lake resident has finished two CDs, First Tooth (2005) and Two Pieces, which she completed in October 2008. Blais is working on her third CD. Her influences include Sarah Slean, Jewel, Regina Spektor and Feist — artists who tend to push the envelope, she said.

Blais left the city in 2002 to further her education at the University of Guelph. Her first CD was completed in her last year of university. It is more of a folk style, along with jazz and blues, she said.

After graduating from marketing, she began to travel in southeast Asia. Though she originally went to teach an English As A Second Language (ESL) program, she found there was a great music scene in Taiwan.

“He (Scott Cook) invited me on a folk tour — the Freemosan Outlaws Tour,” she said.

“I was the only woman out of seven musicians. We toured for a month and a half and visited six cities.”

Blais has visited Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, and Australia.

“I found the music scene in Melbourne (Australia) phenomenal,” she said. “Every night there is music being played. It is so easy to be inspired there. People are creative there.” Venues can be packed even on nights early in the week, she said.

Her travels are reflected on her second CD.

“My style has changed from my first CD. It is deeper, moodier, more melancholic and more electric.”

The name, Two Pieces, reflects the fact that the disc is full of contrasts, being produced in two locations — Taiwan and Australia — involving two different groups of musicians with two musical themes.

Blais has family in Greater Sudbury and returns often to visit. She was here in September and commented on what she sees as the changing arts and cultural scene in the city.

“I have seen a lot of changes here. I am speaking as an outsider, but I have seen huge changes on Elgin Street with the Laughing Buddha Restaurant, and the Towne House Tavern. I have seen a lot of live music in Sudbury.”

Arts and culture in general is booming downtown, said Blais.

“There are cafés, such as Books and Beans and the Old Rock Café. It is nice to see a new generation of creative types coming out,” she said. She noted the growth in the number of painters, artists and photographers and their exhibitions (across the city). She said she was pleased Theatre Cambrian was getting city funding to help develop its own theatrical venue.

“It is nice to see the support for the arts growing. There is everything there for the creative type (of person).”

She said there could be more venues for touring musicians, but is pleased more are springing up, like the Laughing Buddha’s development of a 90-seat venue as part of the eatery.

“I hear the Fromagerie (across from Market Square) is a great space.”

Above all, Blais noted the rise of female musicians in the city, including Kate Maki, Sarah Craig and Angie Nussey.
“It is exciting to see so much talent. I was playing a show with some Edmonton artists, (and) they said they had a lot of respect for the Sudbury music scene.”

Tickets for the St. Andrew’s Place concert are $10, and are available at Records on Wheels, Black Cat and Jett Landry. Blais’ first two CDs and a live DVD will be available for purchase at the concert. She will also play the Towne House Tavern on Elgin Street Nov. 13.

For more information, visit www.fayeblais.com. and www.scottcook.net.