IN CONCERT
The Wooden Sky (with Wildlife & Hawk and Steel)
When: Monday, 8 p.m.
Where: Club 9ONE9
Tickets: $16 at Lyle's Place, Ditch, The Strathcona Hotel, ticketweb.ca
Toronto band The Wooden Sky was playing the last song of its set - a quiet ballad, at a key moment - when the Philadelphia bartender let out a celebratory whoop.
The Americana band was on stage as the U.S. presidential election results rolled in, once again.
While election years force nations into states of reflection, this one had a similar effect on frontman Gavin Gardiner.
When Obama was elected president four years ago, The Wooden Sky - whose current members also include Andrew Wyatt, Simon Walker, Andrew Kekewich and Edwin Huizinga - was performing in Charlottetown, P.E.I.
It was a milestone year for the United States as well as the band, which was embarking on its first tour.
"So now I'm really forced to reflect," Gardiner said on the phone from Washington, D.C. the day after Obama's re-election. "What have I done with my life in the last four years?"
Pushed on the question, he made a partial joke.
"Rock 'n' roll." In reality, the band has grown its audience, embarked on international tours and released three albums since its 2007 debut, When Lost at Sea. Beyond exploring new cities, The Wooden Sky has explored new spaces - never more intimately than through the aptly-named Bedrooms and Backrooms tour of 2009. And it's become a full-time job for Gardiner, who gave up his latest side gig as a teaching assistant in communications at Ryerson University for this tour.
But that doesn't tell the whole story.
"To actually sit back and look back, you can kind of amalgamate the triumphs without having to remember all the struggles to get there," Gardiner said.
"There's a lot of sacrifice, actually, doing what we're doing. And not just for us, but for our loved ones and families at home."
While the creative aspect is consistently satisfying, touring is a double-edged sword. In addition to lost time with loved ones, each day is easily eaten up with a cycle: Drive all day, do a show, drink a beer and repeat.
"I find that can be destructive," he said.
In a recent interview with Exclaim, he called the constant partying problematic - an escape from real life and a scary part of being on the road.
"But it doesn't have to be and we're all working together to make it not that way. I think the fact that we're all excited to get back to Toronto and make another record helps keep the momentum going."
Gardiner has become a bit existential - reflecting on his own life, as well as the band's. He reached some milestones of his own this year - turning 30, buying a house, settling down with a girlfriend and starting to build a home studio.
Socrates is starting to make real sense - he enjoys the idea that wisdom lies in knowing that you know nothing, and is mistrustful of people who pretend otherwise.
And he talks fondly of a recent visit from his dad, who flew out to Halifax, where the band was playing. On a night off, they talked about what's important in life.
Needless to say, there's a lot of change and contemplation happening, and it's reflected in the music, Gardiner said.
Lyrical content aside, The Wooden Sky continues to explore the bounds of Americana sound - more through unconventional spaces than the traditional influence of geographical place. "It's interesting for us to see how people react to different venues. And also, it forces us to play a different show," he said.
"When you can play, like, a loud bar rock show or a theatre show or a small church show, it just makes things more exciting."
At their last show in Victoria, they moved into the middle of Yates Street in front of Lucky Bar (which VicPD politely asked them via megaphone to leave).
They did the same in Toronto, shutting down Bloor Street temporarily, with 300 people dancing in the streets amid honking horns.
But they're equally comfortable in more intimate spaces - filling an Ottawa church with only their voices from between the pews.
They also shot a five-part video series in the cavernous nave of Toronto's Grace Church on-the-Hill, during a storm, released ahead of their latest album, Every Child a Daughter, Every Moon a Sun.
"For me, that aspect of the band is about breaking down the barrier between audience and musician," Gardiner said.
If it works, perhaps audiences will become a bit reflective themselves.
"I feel like in my work, there's a sense of searching," he said.
"I'm searching for a new way of looking at things - and if I can provide someone else with a different way of looking at something ... then that's pretty exciting. And I think that's one of the biggest jobs that an artist, or art, has." [email protected]
