Bad Strangers, Good Music
Nick Murray
Bad Strangers is a folksy acoustic duo from Vancouver made up of one-again-off-again lovers, Cassidy Waring and Cory Owens. They actually met at one of Cassidy's pre-Bad Strangers gigs.
"I was playing a solo show in Vancouver, Cory was in the audience. We started dating, but decided to just be friends" Cassidy said.
Most guys only fantasize about dating the cute girl on stage, Cory made it a reality.
Their meeting was enough to pull Cassidy away from her previous band and entice her into combining skills with Cory, who turned out to be pretty talented himself.
"We met up to jam with the hope that he would join my existing band, but after one jam we decided it needed to be a duo and we started booking shows as Bad Strangers right away."
Interestingly enough, they started dating again after that.
Bad Strangers will be coming through Moose Jaw for the first time, on Monday May 14th, where they will be performing at Chrysalis Coffee Roasters.
"Neither of us have ever been, but many of our friends who have played there have nothing but great things to say about the vibe in Moose Jaw" she said.
The friendly city is just one more stop on an otherwise lengthy tour for Bad Strangers. By Monday they will really only be a quarter of the way through a near 40 show tour that started in Chilliwack, BC, goes all the way to New Glasgow, Nova Scotia and back to Vancouver again.
"I think we are still riding the high from starting the journey but we have noticed ourselves getting more tired" Cassidy admitted. "The adrenaline rush always seems to pull through before the performance, and the kindness and generosity of people we are have met along the way is like red bull for the soul!"
As for the duo; the tour hasn't soured their attitudes one bit.
"I think we are getting along better than we ever have. We are both pretty chill people, and really love rolling with the punches, neither one of us is easily annoyed so living in close quarters isn’t a problem. We both love road trips and long drives so it’s hard to get us down when we get to play music everyday on top of that."
The trips between cities can be rather productive for them both as a band and as people.
"We write songs and learn covers" she said. "I play (ukulele) in the passenger seat, and I read out loud. Right now I’m reading a super inspiring self-help book about living your best life. What can I say, it works."
Cassidy looks forward to a few shows on the tour more than others.
"I have family in Moncton NB, and two of my uncles from different cities are flying out so it’s a bit of a family reunion! We are really excited to play Living Roots Festival in Fredericton, as we have some friends from the west coast playing as well. We get to cross paths with our friends in the band The Long War when in Thunder Bay, that will be a hoot."
Check out The Long War's "Breathe in, Breathe Out"
Bad Strangers are touring in support of their self-titled new album. So far, it's been received well by their community in Vancouver, they hope the tour brings it the same reception around the country.
The work never ends for Cassidy. Once this tour is over she wants to plan another one, this time a summer tour on Vancouver Island.
"We’d love to record our second album this coming winter. We hope some of the connections we make on the road will spark new adventures we can’t yet predict."
Bad Strangers, Chrysalis Coffee Roasters, Monday May 14th, 7:00pm