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There was a line-up outside the Malcolm Lowry Room the last Saturday, February 25th. That's rare because not a lot of people know about the place. It was a freezing night but the thirty or so hopefuls outside were there to see local artist Veda Hille (Vey-da Hill-ie) and her band.
Normally one goes to the Lowry not knowing what to expect. It's located fronting Hastings Street at roughly Gilmour and is part of the North Burnaby Inn. It's worth mentioning this because the lounge is one of the district's best kept secrets. It's open 'til two, charges no cover and provides a venue for bands who play a lot of their own music. Sometimes, the entertainment is brilliant. The originality of the sounds is extremely refreshing, because apart from pub night here on the hill, you don't get a lot of that in North Burnaby.
But one thing you never expect to see there is a line-up. The first night the Lowry Room opened ( about two years ago) with CUB the place was packed, but there wasn't a line-up.
In the brief moments when the doors opened, there we saw, from our beggar-like position outside, a room filled with mesmerized patrons. Bob Snyder, Veda Hille's back-up, was on with his guitar and practicing his art. That's what is so refreshing about the Lowry. You get bands loaded with equipment or just a guy with a guitar. Anything goes.
We never got to see Synder perform, however. We were willing the people inside to leave and make some room, but NO ONE was leaving. Curiosity kept me standing there in the sub- degree weather fro nearly a half-hour. Who was on? A tribe from Edmonton even arrived. "Edmonton" was the password on the door. "Aw, come on. We've come all the way from Edmonton," they whined. The door staff looked visibly flabbergasted.
When we finally got in, it was like walking into a blast furnace. Bodies lined the walls and filled the room. Young ladies sat cross-legged around the stage. The only room I could see was behind the piano. The view of the stage was completely obstructed, but at least there was table to lean on. The sound was great, though. Veda has a following, and no wonder. The performance was astounding.
It's a bluesy, folk/jazz sound but really defies labels. Some of her poetic styles reminded me of Dylan and so too does her ability to get to the heart of the matter with her craft. Veda Hille owns that type of quality voice that all born singers have. She has an identity all her own, and she is obviously harboring masses of talent. She chats to her audience as if it were an old friend. As a poet, she speaks a truth that cuts through gender with astonishing ease. "This is so refreshing, to have this here," said a man beside me to someone.
Hille's instruments are her voice, the piano and the accordion, the latter played only occasionally during her act. Her band consists of members of the former Vancouver band Red Herring: Stephen Nikleva, guitar and mandolin, Steve Lazin, drums and percussion and Martin Walton, bass guitar and "lap steel on three."
The 26-year-old Hille is very much a local, living in East Vancouver, where she gets a lot of her material for her lyrics. She began piano lessons at age 6 and at an early age listened to a lot of Glenn Gould, the classic pianist. Later, she studied jazz and VCC. Her father was "always in bands" and the home front did not discourage her from pursuing a career in music. She tried her talent as a cocktail lounge entertainer at 17. Discouraged, "I never got back asked back," she joined up at Emily Carr and took film, dropping out two years into the four year program, disillusioned by what she was discovering about the politics of the film industry.
She recommitted to her music and her high spot came at last year's Vancouver Folk Festival when The Province called her "one of the city's brightest new singer-writers."
The last lone of the last song was I'm alone and I am safe. Hille wanted everyone in the audience to hear it. This is a powerful artist who breathes life into her audience. What a treat!
She released the debut CD Path of the Body independently last year and it has received positive reviews.
Veda Hille and her band will be playing the Railway Club, April 18th and 19th.