By Vanessa Broadbent
Oliver Chronicle
It turns out Medici’s Gelateria & Coffee House’s European influence extends further than their gelato and cappuccinos.
The Folk Road Show is gearing up for their third performance at the Oliver coffee shop and musician Dominique Fricot finds it similar to performing in Europe, where the group is based.
“We really like playing music in Germany and the Netherlands and Medici’s is very much that experience,” Fricot said.
“Both times we’ve been there, the audience has been warm and responsive and it’s very much a dialogue. They’ll ask questions or joke around and laugh with you. You play for a crowd of people that are there to listen and enjoy the music, as opposed to a lot of the bar scenes.”
Although the Folk Road Show has been based out of the Netherlands lately, its members are originally from different continents.
Benjamin James Caldwell is from New Zealand, Fricot and Nicholas Petrowich are from Vancouver, and Olaf Caarls is from the Netherlands.
The group of songwriters got together in 2014 and the original plan was to support each musician’s solo act, ending the show with a group performance.
“We toured Europe and by the time we finished the tour we played all of our songs together and were acting more like a band than solo artists,” Fricot said.
The group tried out their act in Canada and has since released two albums. They’ll be showcasing the newest, Gold, on this tour.
Although Fricot said having a group consisting of all songwriters can be “too many cooks in the kitchen,” there’s an advantage to having four people invested in each song and thinking about lyrics and melodies.
“We all focus on different things. One person may think about hooks and the other person may think really hard about the lyrics and the verses, and the other person may think about the transitions,” he said.
“We try and play to our strengths and let people focus more on that element and let them take charge of it.”
It also means the group doesn’t have one lead vocalist, but instead focuses on vocal harmonies. They’ve been compared to Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.
For their Oliver performance, the Folk Road Show will have an extra member: veteran Oliver performer Naomi Shore of Twin Peaks. She’ll open for the group and join them for a few songs as well.
The Folk Road Show takes the stage at Medici’s Gelateria & Coffee House on Fairview Road on Saturday, October 27 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $30 and on sale now.
