Vancouver-based band Kitty and the Rooster is next up in the Home Routes concert series with shows slated for Rimbey and Ponoka.
Their Rimbey stop is on April 11, followed by the Ponoka show on April 12 at the Ponoka United Church.
For tickets and more information, head https://homeroutes.ca/artists/kitty-and-the-rooster/
Tickets for the Ponoka show are also available at the church office by calling 403-783-4087.
Kitty and the Rooster is described as a lively, surf rock n’ roll duo featuring Jodie Ponto on the stand-up cocktail drumkit and Noah Walker on electric guitar.
They are known for their “big sound, laugh-out-loud lyrics, and ridiculously fun shows”.
Ultimately, the imaginative approach knows no bounds — the duo even don intricately-created masks to round out the unique ‘look’ of the show.
Ponto and Walker have toured across Canada and released two albums to date — 2018’s One Gig Hard Drive and Ain’t Pussyfootin’ Around last year.
“We started as a couple — I was a guitar player and Jodie was a photographer and a band manager,” said Walker.
“She’d been managing an all-girl band for four or five years. She had done all of the hardest part of touring, but had never actually played a show herself.
“After we had been together for a couple of years, we thought wouldn’t it be awesome if she got to play a show herself? So we formed a band specifically with the idea we would do one show for our friends.”
This was back in April of 2016. Both realized pretty fast they were onto something.
“It was quite a response that we got for our first go at it,” said Walker.
As to their singular journeys into music, Ponto said that she was always really ‘into’ music. But she didn’t start to play the drums until, as mentioned, the band joined forces.
“I had been doing the managing of bands, the booking, the photography — but I think I had always wanted to play,” she said.
“So I kind of hit the ground running when we booked that first gig. I had started playing drums a couple of months before that, so I jumped in the deep end.
“It’s been great! Over the past few years, I’ve also been playing with more and more people, too.
“I’m just having so much fun doing it. I was also surprised I didn’t have a problem getting onstage — it felt like I had found my ‘thing’. It felt right.”
Walker brought plenty of experience to the venture, having at the time been playing with bands over the space of about 15 years.
“I think I was more or less raised to be a musician, as both of my parents are musicians,” he said.
“It’s been a part of life for as long as I can remember.”
He also earned a degree in jazz music.
“When I grew up playing music, it was all by ear, and I also kind of learned by osmosis through my parents.”
Meanwhile, the duo also performs as the Reviberators — a feisty instrumental surf-rock trio.
“It started during that time we were all stuck at home for two years,” recalled Walker.
“We had a guitar player and a drummer in the house, so were like, come on, Gillian (their roommate), you are going to learn how to play the bass! So I taught her to play bass, and we started jamming for fun.
“And what better way to learn how to play than to learn all of the classic surf instrumentals from the early 1960s, which is our favourite genre as well.”
The Reviberators started gigging post-pandemic, and again, the response was electric.
“How great it felt to play these songs onstage for people because they are songs you may have heard, but it’s rare that you hear them in a ‘live’ setting,” explained Walker.
“It was a powerful feeling to be playing all of this classic music, and to be doing it well.”
Ponto agreed.
“It’s so fun to play it, and surf music is also a big influence on Kitty and the Rooster, too. I love the surf drumbeat, and I love watching (the audience) because people can’t help but move and dance in a certain way. I see it happen over and over again.”
Looking ahead, JD Edwards will be wrapping up the Home Routes series with a Ponoka stop on May 16 and a Rimbey show on May 17.