Date: Oct. 18, 2007
Venue: The Supermarket

It’s been a week since Nathan Lawr’s CD release party for A Sea of Tiny Lights (reviewed here) at the Supermarket, but in the spirit of heralding great Canadian independent music it’s an event that’s easily still worth a few words.

In high contrast to the cocky and aggressive Spiral Beach show at the Hart House earlier that same evening (reviewed here), the release party for the latest from Nathan Lawr and the Minotaurs was clearly more of a family affair.

A humble outing from start to finish, the evening began with Andy Swan (singer of The Michael Parks) belting out tunes from his forthcoming hometown inspired disc, Ottawa. Due out Nov. 13, it’s an endearing collection of pop-country tunes driven by Swan’s amicable crooning—something that was out in full force as the friendly tunesmith warmed up the small crowd.

Continuing in a similar vain was Sudbury native Kate Maki. Schoolteacher by day, Maki charismatically entertained the audience with both her music and colourful banter, which consisted of spontaneous name changes for her more than capable backing band (trading scholarly monikers such as The Notebooks and The Detention Room) and poking fun at the pronunciation of boyfriend Nathan Lawr’s name. Comfortable and welcoming on stage, Maki promises a new album in 2008—recorded while on March break no-less.

The friendly atmosphere was at its zenith when it came time for the man of the hour. I’ve seen Nathan Lawr in concert numerous times prior and I swear you can see his confidence grow with each outing. Gracious and bashful, but charismatic and undeniably capable, Lawr maneuvered through his admirable catalogue, smattering the set with standouts from all three of his highly-recommendable full-lengths.

At times solo, but mostly backed by the incredibly talented Minotaurs, Lawr was also occasionally joined by a horn section (who went through as many name changes as Maki’s band) and an expert cellist (who I’m told is a fan-turned collaborator). By the end of the set, around the time of the prototypical show highlight, “We Go Down,” there were nearly too many people to fit on the small Supermarket stage, and Lawr’s beer was comedically passed around to quench thirsty mouths in an evening that never lost its humour.

In fact, the only downside to a rousing and warm night of excellent homegrown music was that there weren’t more people there.

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Here are some pictures I took at the show:

While you’re at it, check out a few tunes (right-click, “Save Link As” to download):

Kate Maki - First Impression

Nathan Lawr - We Go Down

Albums from all three acts can be bought digitally through Zunior.com, including a free EP from Andy Swan that you can get here.