By: Hillary Robert
Local band Open Sky launches its latest CD with a release concert in late March.
The CD release party is scheduled for March 22 at the Algonquin College theatre in the Student Commons building. Tickets went on sale Feb. 5 and will continue to be on sale for $10 at the theatre box office until the event. The show, headlined by Open Sky, will also include performances by local bands Go Long and Finding Chuck
Open Sky, an Ottawa local band, consists of brothers Mike, Nathan and Jared Boucher along with their life-long friend Jon Felske, though they consider him to be more like a fourth brother rather than friend. The boys live together and create together without getting under one another’s skin too much.
“Having the family-type bond with everybody, it changes the dynamic a lot,” said Nathan. “At the end of the day, even if we disagree on something, we still love each other like family and nothing’s going to change that.”
The band has been working hard on new material for their up-coming album. The plan is to adapt a more radio-friendly sound to their music. Open Sky‘s style varies between songs and albums ranging from rock to 90s style pop-rock, sometimes with a touch of country twang.
“Think if Darius Rucker made Hootie and the Blowfish slightly country,” said Jon. “It’s like 90s influenced pop-rock with a bit of a twang.”
From the time they were young, the group has been making music. They learned to play instruments around the same time and have since developed their skills and passion. Before learning guitar and drums the band members’ music careers began with learning instruments like the piano and banging pots with spoons in the kitchen.
“Does the recorder count?” said Mike, with a laugh. “We learned to play together.”
Open Sky‘s up-coming CD will be sold at local stores including CD Warehouse after the concert. This album follows their previous full length CD and two EPs. The first single off the new album will be titled Mona Lisa and will be available for fans toward the end of February though a release date hasn’t officially been confirmed.
Playing together for about 10 years has done wonders for Open Sky. Their individual personalities and differences influence the music they listen to, but the similarities between them drive their music careers forward. From youngsters to grown men, Open Sky has always loved to create music together.
“I think we all wanted to be in a band,” said Mike. “We used to listen to the Top 40 all the time, like Casey Kasem, we’d be like ‘I wanna be in a band!’”