Calgary based riff rock band Woodhawk are excited to make their debut at the Slice, Sept. 8 with local rock duo Cope and alternative rock trio The Supervoid.
“We’ve never been to the Slice, so we’re very excited,” said guitarist vocalist Turner Midzain. Bassist Mike Badmington and drummer Kevin Nelson complete the riff rock/ science fiction movie inspired trio.They released their first CD in 2014 and just released the latest “Beyond The Sun” earlier this year.
“We love ’70s rock like Black Sabbath, but we also like modern bands like Sword and Monster Truck,” said Midzain who formed the band in 2014.
“We like playing huge riffs,” he continued.
“ And we just want to have fun.”
The band’s lyrics are inspired by science fiction and fantasy themes.
“We’ve named the tour ‘Woodhawk Strikes back,’ because one of the songs on the CD is called ‘A New Hope,’ which is a Star wars reference,” he said,adding it is also one of the most popular tracks on the CD.
“We want to let people find their own vision. Our music is a nice escape,” he continued, noting he doesn’t read a lot of science fiction.
“I’m more influenced by old science fiction movies,” he continued, noting their next CD will move away from science fiction and fantasy themes. But that won’t be for a while.
“We’re almost sold out of ‘Beyond the Sun, so we‘re re-pressing them. We have 50 left to take with us on this tour,” he observed, adding the tour begins in their home town of Calgary, comes to Lethbridge, Sept. 8, then goes out to Regina, then Golden, Vancouver and Kelowna before ending in Edmonton on Oct. 7.
“ The new CD is one quarter or a third done, so there is a lot of work to do,” he said, adding they will take some time in the winter to play, write and record.
They have a couple of other tours to look forward to.
“ We’re working on a a tour of the UK and Europe and we are going to tour with our friends Dead Ranch, which will be lots of fun,” he continued.
Woodhawk will be joined by Cope and the Supervoid, Sept. 8 at the Slice.