Spirit of the West were a Canadian folk rock band from North Vancouver, active from 1983 to 2016. They were popular on the Canadian folk music scene in the 1980s before evolving a blend of hard rock, Britpop, and Celtic folk influences which made them one of Canada's most successful alternative rock acts in the 1990s."The little Celtic band that grew". The Globe and Mail, November 18, 1997.
Early years Geoffrey Kelly and J. Knutson had begun playing music together as a duo when Kelly's then-girlfriend Alison, at the time a theatre student, told them she had a classmate with a really great singing voice."Spirit of the West: An audio guide to their long, concluding journey". The Globe and Mail, April 15, 2016. That classmate, John Mann, joined Kelly and Knutson as a folk trio called Eavesdropper,Michael Barclay, Ian A.D. Jack and Jason Schneider, Have Not Been the Same: The Can-Rock Renaissance 1985-1995. ECW Press. . and scored early gigs as an opening act for rockers such as Art Bergmann and Barney Bentall. Early on their set predominantly comprised covers of artists such as Bruce Cockburn, Eric Bogle, Richard Thompson, and Billy Bragg, with original compositions gradually introduced into their set.
After a gig on Vancouver Island was erroneously billed as "Eavesdroppings","Name change paid off for Spirit of West". Saskatoon StarPhoenix, January 17, 2002. the band opted to change its name to Spirit of the West, and independently released the album Spirit of the West in 1984 before signing to Stony Plain Records, a roots music label based in Edmonton, Alberta.Greg Quill, "Spirit offers hope for future of folk". Toronto Star, February 11, 1987.
Stony Plain released Tripping Up the Stairs in 1986. Following that album Hugh McMillan joined the band and the band toured through 1987 as a quartet with Hugh on bass. In October 1987, Knutson left the band to join the Winnipeg based band Hart-Rouge and pursue a "solo" career.
1988's Labour Day spawned the popular single "Political" and consolidated the band as a significant draw on the folk festival circuit. The album also garnered the band its first Juno Award nomination, for Best Roots & Traditional Album at the Juno Awards of 1989."Juno candidates announced". Vancouver Sun, February 2, 1989.
After that album's tour, McMillan took a temporary hiatus from the band in December of 1988 for personal reasons and to pursue solo interests."Maybe you can hear them coming: Spirit of the West". Ottawa Citizen, April 6, 1990. He was replaced by Daniel Lapp and Linda McRae, but returned before the band's next album was recorded. When McMillan returned, Lapp left the band in June of 1989 due to his wife becoming pregnant, but McRae stayed on. (As a result, Lapp never actually appeared on a Spirit of the West recording. He pursued a solo career, however, releasing a number of albums of experimental jazz/folk/electronic fusion.)
On the strength of "Political", Warner Bros. Records signed the band in 1989,"Their own brand of feverish folk has Spirit moving". Edmonton Journal, March 17, 1990. p. B1. and Stony Plain released a compilation, Old Material 1984–1986, to close out their contract with the label.
In 1990, the band's major label debut, Save This House was released. The album track "Home for a Rest", which was considered a classic party anthem at universities across Canada"Songs to drink away those troubles". Calgary Herald, March 17, 2010. p. D6. was not officially released as a commercial or radio single, but became the band's signature song. (Despite its not being a single, a music video was released for the song.)
Evolution As part of their tour to support Save This House, the band toured England with The Wonder Stuff,"Spirited folk-rockers show they still have lots to learn". Toronto Star, October 13, 1991. and decided to bring in a drummer and experiment with a more rock-oriented sound — a need which became particularly acute after the bands played two shows on the same bill as Jane's Addiction. After recording some song demos with guest drummer Darrell Mayes of the Colin James bandChristopher Jones, "Revisit NOW's cover story on Spirit of the West from 1989". Now, November 21, 2019 (orig. March 16, 1989). and then touring for part of 1990 with various session drummers, the band brought in Vince Ditrich, who appeared for the first time on the band's 1991 album Go Figure."Spirits aim to shake up Canadians". Toronto Star, June 30, 1991.
Although the album retained many of the band's folk influences,"High-Spirited group: B.C. folk-rockers pump up volume". The Province, June 27, 1991. it was more hard rock than any of the band's previous efforts, and this proved controversial among the band's fans. The album included a rock rendition of "Political", and at one show in London, Ontario, the audience presented the band with a petition demanding that they play the original version of that song."That's the Spirit; No 'Home for a Rest' as Spirit of the West releases best-of double disc and hits the road". Toronto Star, July 16, 2008. Despite the controversies, however, it won them many new fans in the alternative rock scene.
The band received a Juno Award nomination for Most Promising Group at the Juno Awards of 1991.
MacRae also appeared on The Wonder Stuff's album Never Loved Elvis, and all of the members of both bands recorded a cover of the country standard "Will the Circle Be Unbroken" as a B-side for the Wonder Stuff's "Welcome to the Cheap Seats" single. Over the winter of 1992-93, the band undertook the Hollow Bodies tour, performing material in their older acoustic style."Creative Batteries Boosted: Spirit of the West bounces back with tour, album". Ottawa Citizen, February 3, 1993.
In 1993, the band released their most successful album, Faithlift, and scored their biggest hit single, "And if Venice is Sinking". 1995's Two Headed, in turn, garnered significant airplay for the single "Tell Me What I Think", and the band garnered a Juno Award nomination for Group of the Year at the Juno Awards of 1995. However, the album was not as successful on the charts, or as critically hailed, as its predecessor.
In the summer of 1995, the band toured with The Tragically Hip as part of the Another Roadside Attraction festival.
Beginning in 1995, the band also performed a number of shows with symphony orchestras across Canada,"Going symphonic no strain for Spirit of the West; Former folkies' concert with ESO to premiere acoustic material for upcoming album". Edmonton Journal, May 6, 1995. premiering songs written for a planned symphony album with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. After recording two shows with the VSO on May 12 and May 13, 1995, they released the album Open Heart Symphony that year;"Smells like clean Spirit Despite many musical leaps, Spirit Of The West's aim remains true". Toronto Star, June 8, 1996. the concert also aired on Bravo concurrently with the album's release.
At the end of 1996, McRae left the band amicably to pursue a solo career, performing her last show on New Year's Eve of that year. She released a solo country album in 1997, and then formed the alternative country band Cheerful Lonesome."From punk to roots music; Ex-Spirit of the West player says it's not such a surprising evolution". Victoria Times-Colonist, May 2, 2012.
The remaining members recorded 1997's Weights and Measures as a four-piece at Martin Barre's studio in Devon, England, working with Barre and members of The Wonder Stuff, Capercaillie and Fairport Convention to round out the studio effort,"Spirit of the West; Return to folkier roots means familiar pleasures for band's longtime fans". Edmonton Journal, November 25, 1997. and added Tobin Frank for their concert tour."Band Celtic before Celtic was cool". Saskatoon StarPhoenix, November 20, 1997. In the same year, a studio version of the song "Kiss & Tell", which had previously been released only in its live form on Open Heart Symphony, appeared on the soundtrack to the film The Hanging Garden."Album captures spirit of award-winning film". Halifax Daily News, November 14, 1997.
However, with the music industry's emphasis having shifted by this time away from alternative rock and back toward more mainstream pop-oriented performers, Warner Bros. put little effort into promoting the album, and dropped the band from their roster after the tour.
Hiatus and revival After Weights & Measures the band took a hiatus from recording and broad-scale national touring, although they continued to perform selected live dates on the summer folk festival circuit and in major concert markets such as Vancouver and Toronto. During the hiatus, Mann, Ditrich and Kelly all released solo albums, Mann pursued acting roles, McMillan worked as a session musician and producer for The Town Pants, and Kelly and Frank recorded with The Paperboys.
The band's first new album in seven years, Star Trails, was released on July 6, 2004, on MapleMusic Recordings."Spirit just goes on and on". Regina Leader-Post, August 12, 2004.
In 2008, the band released a 25th anniversary compilation, Spirituality 1983-2008: The Consummate Compendium, on Rhino Records. The two-CD set includes 32 remastered tracks from throughout the band's career, including two new songs, "Winter's Now the Enemy" and "Another Happy New Year". Their official 25th anniversary concert, held at Vancouver's Commodore Ballroom on March 14, 2008, was recorded and broadcast by CBC Radio 2. Concurrently with the release of Spirituality, Rhino also released remastered editions of Faithlift and Open Heart Symphony.
In 2009, Spirit of the West opened for Great Big Sea on the "Fortune's Favour" tour, finishing in Victoria, British Columbia on March 26."Celtic music rocks on; The faddish frenzy of the '90s is over, but Great Big Sea can still sell out a hockey arena". Victoria Times-Colonist, March 26, 2009. On this tour, the final encore performances typically involved both bands performing together on various songs, including Spirit of the West's "Political" and Great Big Sea's "The Old Black Rum"."A great Great Big farewell; Ottawa favourites, fans in high spirits at final show before band breaks for a while". Ottawa Citizen, March 23, 2009.
In 2010, Kelly, Ditrich and Frank joined Ashley MacIsaac and folk musician Matthew Harder in recording a charity single, "Dreams", to benefit Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong, a skier from Ghana who was the first Ghanaian athlete ever to compete in the Winter Olympics."Ghana's Snow Leopard records Olympic dream song with Canadian fiddler MacIsaac". Canadian Press, February 19, 2010. Nkrumah-Acheampong himself participated in the recording, playing traditional Ghanaian percussion. The single, credited to The Parallel Band, was released to iTunes on February 19, 2010. Concurrently, Mann was in Edmonton, starring in a stage production of Bruce Ruddell's rock musical Beyond Eden."Rock musical 'Beyond Eden' mesmerizes". canoe.ca, February 20, 2010. In 2011, the full Spirit of the West lineup recorded and released another charity single, "Bulembu", to benefit the Bulembu orphanage and sustainable economic development project in Swaziland; the song also includes a vocal choir of children from Bulembu."Spirit of the West Release 'Bulembu': Rockers Record Charity Song for Swaziland". spinner.ca, November 29, 2011.
Kelly underwent surgery in early 2012 and was unable to perform for several weeks; Harder and Kendel Carson of The Paperboys substituted for him in several live shows during this period, including the band's traditional annual St. Patrick's Day show at the Commodore Ballroom."Spirit Of The West Perform In Vancouver Without Geoff Kelly" . Rockstar Weekly, March 17, 2012. At the band's 2014 St. Patrick's Day show, they were inducted into the British Columbia Entertainment Hall of Fame."No Spirit of the West, no St. Paddy's; Tradition Continues". The Province, March 11, 2014.
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