Promotional image of band Shred Kelly.--Submitted Photo, credit Lyle Bell
asmith@medicinehatnews.com
Alternative folk-rock band Shred Kelly is thrilled to make Medicine Hat one of the stops along a cross-Canada tour, and will be taking the stage at Casa Amigos on April 26.
“We’re really excited to be coming,” said Sage McBride, vocalist and keyboard player for the band. “Two of our favourite people that come out to our shows, they always travel to see us play in other places, and they’re from Medicine Hat. So we’re pretty excited to check it out and grateful that we get to come and play a show for them in their city.”
Shred Kelly started in 2009, said McBride, and they have inspirations from across several genres. She added that they tend to focus on a high-energy “good vibe” that aims to have their listeners dancing, singing along and leaving the venue in high spirits.
“We’ve put out our sixth album recently. And so we’re touring it, right now, across the country and Medicine Hat is our second last stop on the tour,” said McBride.
The album in question, Blurry Vision, was largely written over the course of the early COVID-19 pandemic, said McBride, and because of that, some of the songs may have taken on a bit of a darker lyrical theming than their usual work.
“Everything was seeming a bit uncertain at the time, and we were spending a lot of time just with our family unit, which was in its own way, beautiful. So some of the songs are sort of a reflection of that,” said McBride. “And then they’re also challenging when you lose your outside connection to the outer world or any supports.”
McBride added that she and her partner, one of the songwriters for the band, were also new parents at the time, adding to the heightened emotions that went into the work for the album, which maintains the thread of hope and energy that Shred Kelly holds so close to their hearts.
While the circumstances were unfortunate, there was some silver lining in the time it afforded to create art, which McBride hopes will resonate with those who attend their show as they perform for Medicine Hat for the first time.
Artist Megan Nash will be joining them for this stop on the tour, something McBride is also thrilled about.
“She’s been a friend of ours for a long time. I think we first toured with her in Europe in 2017. She came along with us in our tour van then. And then now we get to do another run of shows with her, which we’re really excited about,” said McBride.
Tickets for the concert are still available shredkelly.com/tour.
