Under the Rocks: Clearly Canadian

It’s natural, perhaps, to be inspired to form a bluegrass band if you’re from a place where the music is part of the culture, such as Kentucky or North Carolina.

But how does a band in Kelowna, British Columbia,---that’s Canada, folks--come to bluegrass?

For the members of Under the Rocks, it took curiosity, happenstance, a love of traditional Canadian fiddle music, and the discovery of a five-string legend.

“Yeah, we definitely stumbled into it,” says guitarist and vocalist Jordan Klassen. "There's a few people who play in town, but there's not really a scene.”

More than ten years ago Klassen formed a friendship and then a musical partnership with Chris Baxter, who began as a drummer. 

“I was always really into folk music,” Klassen continues. “We were playing music in this sort of bluegrass-adjacent world. We were fans of bands like The Milk Carton Kids and Punch Brothers and people playing Americana music, but not quite bluegrass. And so the influence hadn't come from that world yet.”

Then Baxter got a banjo.

“All of a sudden we were listening to Earl Scruggs, and it all kind of dominoed from there,” says Klassen.

Now Under the Rocks is releasing its third album and has become one of Canada’s popular bluegrass bands. Recent tours have included forays into the United States and showcases at the International Bluegrass Music Association’s World of Bluegrass annual gathering. Their original songs don’t address typical bluegrass preoccupations such as nostalgia for an old way of life or working in a coal mine. Their sensibilities reflect their lives in Canada, and they sing about wanderlust, wide open spaces, and the natural world. 

“We can't help but make music that is the result of sitting down and just writing what comes to mind,” says Baxter. “Those other things aren't our stories.”

Fiddler and vocalist Chloe Davidson also adds unique Canadian elements to the band.

“She's deeply influenced by East Coast Canadian music, like Cape Breton fiddle playing,” Klassen says of his bandmate and spouse. “But if you listen to Canadian fiddle music, British Columbia fiddle music really has its own flavor. And so I think there is a certain sensitivity or sensibility or musicality that sprouts out of the region.

“Our sound is unique because Chloe, Chris, and I all come from such different musical backgrounds, and then we became inspired by bluegrass. But none of us are steeped in it from childhood. We're trying to do something that is authentic to the music we all like, while holding these bluegrass instruments and being inspired by the great tradition.” 

“The three of us do all the writing and arranging,” says Baxter. “We all live in Kelowna, which is nice. We all live 20 minutes from each other, and we can get together on a regular basis and just workshop things. And I think what’s neat is that with all our different backgrounds, we kind of come together in this cohesive way when we work on each other's tunes.”

But there were challenges trying to learn a bluegrass instrument without other pickers around.

“For the first few years, I didn't even really ever use a pick,” Klassen recalls. “My foundation is as a fingerstyle guitarist. But I definitely fell in love with Tony Rice right away, and I still remember discovering ‘Nine Pound Hammer’ on YouTube. So he was a big influence at first. And in those early years I also learned a lot from the online teacher, Banjo Ben, who sort of got me acclimated to the genre.”

Baxter also felt isolated when he picked up the banjo. 

“There weren’t any--- well, I still don't know of any banjo players that really play bluegrass music properly to learn from around here. So there's a lot of awesome online resources that I really dove into. Like Jordan mentioned, Banjo Ben was one I used a lot at the beginning.”

In addition to the new album, the band is looking forward to a busy summer of touring, including a slot at the celebrated RockyGrass festival in Colorado. Still, they realize the financial challenges full-time musicians face.

“You would need to be on the road so much, and it's just not sustainable,” says Klassen. “Chris has three kids, and we all have other aspects of our lives that we are invested in. So we sell merch, and that helps. Sometimes we've got support from our friends and family. We ran a crowdfunding campaign before our last record, and that helped immensely. Just this last year we got a grant for a tour last spring from the Canada Council for the Arts that we're very grateful for. There's important reasons outside of money why we do it and we just try to approach it in a way where it's sustainable and beneficial for all parties.”

Baxter agrees that it's about more than the money for Under the Rocks.

"We’re excited to continue to bring our music to new places. Our hope is to use the music to inspire and to share our hearts and what we like to do. Honestly and genuinely, that's our hope and goal.” 

https://www.undertherocksband.com/