The Bison Brothers are thrilled to announce the release of their debut recording on living vinyl.

The East Kootenay’s premier roots-rock power trio (featuring guitarist-vocalist Tim Ross, bassist-vocalist Ferdy Belland, and drummer-vocalist Colin Righton) have been aggressively active since fall 2012, performing scores of live performances across British Columbia and Alberta, and reinforcing the basic rock-and-roll ethic of combining electric blues, C&W, and R&B into exciting and original modern forms.

Tim Ross’ clever stories of broken hearts, broken dreams, and broken glass (reminiscent of Nick Lowe and Dave Edmunds) rank him as the John Prine of the Blue Canadian Rockies. Rounded out by the prog/fusion-quality instrumental prowess of rhythm-sectioneers Belland and Righton, the Bison Brothers are indeed an exciting and enjoyable musical force to be reckoned with.

The Vampire Sessions’ is the debut release from the Bison Brothers.

Belland describes it as such: “It all evolved out of happy accident. We wrote a big clutch of songs in a short span of time, and two of them just happened to end us as ‘Vampire Boogie’ and ‘Vampire Blues.’ The first song was a hard-rocking anthem about partying with the undead, since we were up all night anyway…everyone has runaways like that, right? The second song is a somber burner about Count Rockula swirling his brandy snifter atop his castle parapet under the full moon at midnight, brooding upon the lost love who did him wrong…a universal theme everyone can relate to.”

And so The Vampire Sessions are released, naturally (or is that “supernaturally?”) on Hallowe’en.

“October 31 happens to be Tim’s birthday,” explained Belland, “and so of course over his 35-year musical career he’s wanted to play live on his birthday…who wouldn’t?”

The Bison Brothers Hallowe’en Howler is the inaugural live performance for the Key City Theatre’s new Live Lobby Lounge. “Galen Olstead has done wonders for the local arts culture since he took over the reins at the theatre,” says Belland. “Not only has he been maximizing usage of the main amphitheatre, but now he’s overseen the renovations of the lobby into quite a sharp and swank secondary venue, where smaller crowds can make great use of the room.

“A sizeable live stage, a dedicated PA system with professional lighting, and jazz-cabaret seating. Just what Cranbrook needs! And of course we’ll bring our A-game to kick off the new space.”

The Hallowe’en Howler (happening Saturday, October 31 at the Key City Theatre, showtime 8 p.m.) is a bonafide costume party. “Of course,” says Belland. “It’s Hallowe’en, is it not? Costumes are a must! And in honour of our first release, there’ll be prizes for best vampire, male or female.

“The Vampire Sessions marks the first time in over 30 years since a local East Kootenay recording act has produced a vinyl release. CDs are dead and vinyl is final,” says Belland. “No one buys CDs anymore. HMV, Tower Records, Sam the Record Man, Virgin Megastores…all bankrupt and closed forever. Meanwhile, independent record stores across the world thrive by the thousands. When was the last time anyone bought 10 brand-new CDs a year? At least a decade ago. Modern computers aren’t even sold with CD/DVD drives anymore. Digital music is all streamed in the Cloud nowadays. If someone wants a solid physical hard-copy musical product, it always runs around to vinyl records. Worldwide vinyl sales have grown 700% since 2012, and CDs have plunged twice that in the same timespan. There’s been a modern resurgence of high-fidelity home audio over the past 10 years, and everyone’s record collection is growing. CDs can’t hold a candle to the artistic coolness of the vinyl presentation. Audio engineers and sonic scientists all know that vinyl sound quality defeats CDs tenfold. And when classic rock gods like Bruce Springsteen release new albums and outsell themselves 10-to-one, vinyl versus CD, then smalltown independent artists like us don’t need any other examples.”

The Bison Brothers Hallowe’en Howler occurs Saturday October 31 at the Key City Theatre in Downtown Cranbrook (admission $10). Tickets onsale at the Key City Theatre box office (250-426-7006) or at Lotus Books (250-426-3415).

www.reverbnation.com/thebisonbrothers

www.facebook.com/timrossandthebisonbrothers

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