Even with a 14-year history of making music together, the Coast band Brothers in Farms — which this weekend will launch its newest album during Earth Day celebrations in Roberts Creek — keeps skipping into new grooves.
Its sixth album, the eagerly awaited sequel to the 2023 release Picture Perfect, is the group’s first to be professionally recorded in a local studio. Until now, explained drummer Kelly Backs, its recordings were laid down in a glass-walled, unheated rehearsal space hidden deep in a grove of evergreens.
Book VI: Press Play is also their first to be recorded in advance of the Brothers’ annual live concert tour.
“Usually we write new tracks in the spring, get the drums down, then we start gigging,” explained Backs, who has played with the group for half its existence. After performing at regional venues as distant as Denman Island, members traditionally regroup in the autumn to record the new songs.
This year is different. “Normally we follow a seasonal cycle,” said guitarist and vocalist Chris Hergesheimer. “In the past, as we’ve gone out and played them, songs have gotten better. But this time, by the time we went into the studio starting in January, we were like: that’s exactly how we want them to be. That’s the final iteration of that, and we’re really happy.”
The eight tracks on the forthcoming album reflect the party music vibe of artists comfortably at home in a multitude of genres: reggae, Latin, world music. They’ve toned down the overt political commentary that fuelled some tracks in their previous release, rife with references to a rocketeering billionaire and others in his orbit.
In its place, they’ve dialled up the merrymaking quotient. “Part of activism, and being a mobilizer, is learning to celebrate,” said Hergesheimer. “It’s making room for parties. So a lot of the [new] songs are a little bit more straight ahead in terms of trying to bring some positive vibes into otherwise challenging times.”
The band — which also includes Jim Dorey (accordion and percussion), Clarence Deis (bass) and Kevin Stremlaw (keyboards) — has recently grown to include a wunderkind horn player: homegrown multiinstrumentalist Jack Davis. Davis, currently in his first year of music studies at Capilano University, is a fixture of the horn-driven Control Group and grunge rock revivalists Belt. He contributed trumpet and saxophone parts to the forthcoming Brothers in Farms tracks, often playing harmonies concocted entirely in his head while en route to sessions.
Sound engineer Peter Lietz helped shape the recorded album as its producer. “He’s a super fan,” said Backs, “and a regular at our rehearsals. He gives us an outside ear, guiding us in arrangements.”
For Hergesheimer, the evolution of the group’s style and compositions tracks his personal development and political passions. The sixth album occasionally dips into nostalgia but also takes a tongue-in-cheek look at contemporary life in a post-truth era. “As we age and go through things in the day-to-day, you really start to find out what’s important in life,” he observed.
One thing remains constant: the music’s irrepressible optimism. “Chris wears his heart on his sleeve,” said Backs. “He wants to make the world a better place in all that he does.” When Hergesheimer penned a rare work in a minor key (“with a tinge of sadness,” according to Backs), bandmates reacted with surprise. Buoyancy and danceability have become the Brothers’ hallmarks. In a review of the title track from their 2023 album, music blogger and former Coast resident Simon Cameron wrote, “The song just feels so joyous that I think the lyrics fit.”
Book VI: Press Play features cover artwork by Backs himself — a clay portrait of the group’s six musicians. The band will perform all eight new tracks and past favourites during Earth Day celebrations at the Roberts Creek pier on Sunday, April 27. Exhibitors, musicians, and food vendors will contribute to the beachfront festival atmosphere from noon to 5 p.m.
