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Winnipeg Free Press (Winnipeg, MB) - March 9, 2006
Roots group goes on with the show after name change
das macht Show! is dead. Long live the Dust Poets.
After being mistaken for everything from an oom-pah band to a world music collective, das macht Show! - which, loosely translated, means "that makes show" in German - has changed its name to the Dust Poets.
"It was just a little too unfathomable for the typical audience member. People couldn't say it, people wouldn't remember it and MCs would butcher it, so we had to get rid of that albatross around our neck," says Corey Ticknor, who plays mandolin and horns for the quintet.
With that hindrance gone, the acoustic-roots group is re-introducing itself to Canadians with its new album, Lovesick Town.
The name change hasn't meant a stylistic overhaul. Lovesick Town features 11 offbeat tales of hillbilly love, suburban sprawl and the evils of elevator music wrapped in a mix of roots, folk, bluegrass and western swing.
The sound evolved in a surprisingly short period of time. The group formed in Brandon in 2001 to play some country covers at a community club. After a few more shows, the members recorded their debut album, One Night in Berlin, live off the floor in seven hours.
When it was nominated for a Prairie Music Award they realized they had something good, Ticknor recalls with a laugh.
They toured steadily before everyone graduated from university and got jobs across the country, with main songwriter Murray Evans moving to Onanole, three members going to Toronto and Ticknor living in Sackville, N.B.
With regular practices impossible, the group relies on regular touring to stay tight. With the members hailing from rural backgrounds, the band plays cities and towns large and small in places like Paynton, Sask., and Carberry that most groups don't even think of visiting.
"We do great in small towns. Since concerts don't come through all that often, when word gets out everyone makes an effort to come out. And our songs have that small-town feeling," Ticknor says.
The Dust Poets make their debut in the big city of Winnipeg with their new name tomorrow when they play two sets at the West End Cultural Centre. Admission is $15.