It was an arduous process for Mav Karlo to be able to play shows in the Atlantic bubble, but he stuck to his guns — as well as official health protocols — in order to play in every East Coast province this month.
The Toronto-based artist also known as Menno Versteeg from the acclaimed and sadly disbanded Canadian indie band Hollerado comes east on the heels of his new album Strangers Like Us. He also brings with him one of the longest tour names on record, with a stop at Halifax’s new Derby Showbar in the Marquee Ballroom building on Thursday night.
Named after the popular tavern which formally occupied the Marquee building, the Derby Showbar features reserved, socially distanced seating in order to abide by COVID-19 health safety protocols. The same will be true of Friday night's appearance by Canadian rock legend Myles Goodwyn from April Wine, performing his Just Between You and Me show with April Wine co-founder Jim Henman and veteran Nova Scotia bassist Bruce Dixon. Tickets for these and future shows are available at www.thederbyshowbar.ca.
The “I Drove Here and Slept in My Car and Also I Only Peed on the Side of the Road and I Quarantined for 2 (Long) Weeks, Oh! And!!! The Shows ‘R’ All Socially D...I...S...T...A...N...C...E...D” Tour also has stops at Charlottetown’s Trailside Hall on Wednesday and a three-night run with Adam Baldwin at Bannerman’s in St. John’s Nov. 13 to 14.
The trip wraps up with a Nov. 19 show at Charlotte Arts Centre in Fredericton, where the singer spent his early childhood, before he bursts the bubble and heads home.
After recording his debut solo EP Reno Tapes in a casino hotel room last Christmas, Versteeg goes bigger but stays intimate with Strangers Like Us, produced by Chris Coady (Amen Dunes, Beach House) in studios in L.A. and Tornillo, Texas. The pop invention of Hollerado is present, but pared back to serve a new narrative of self-examination and self-acceptance that arose following a period of personal hardships.
“The goal with the album was to take a good hard look at myself and my behavior and really get to the heart of the matter,” says Versteeg. “What I kept coming back to was the idea that what makes you human is your flaws.
“So many of us walk around hiding our flaws all the time, but when you see someone’s flaws and accept them, that’s when you really know each other.”
Besides his time in Hollarado, Versteeg is a cofounder of Royal Mountain Records — home to bands like TUNS, Alvvays and PUP — and a member of the indie rock supergroup Anyway Gang with Sloan’s Chris Murphy, Dave Monks from Tokyo Police Club and Sam Roberts. He also had a viral hit with his collaboration with his wife, actor Annie Murphy, on the song A Little Bit Alexis on Schitt’s Creek.
For more on the music and mystery of Mav Karlo, visit his web portal at www.mavkarlo.com.