Trevor Tchir

Canadian folk musician Trevor Tchir (pronounced cheer) unites the sounds and images of rural and urban spaces. His music tells stories of the people who work and love in the pulsing cities and austere hinterlands of Canada. This year he completed a 25 date cross-Canada tour that saw him drive, bus, ferry, and fly to St. John's, Newfoundland and back, sharing his songs and collecting stories for more. His influences include The Band, Bill Bourne, Leonard Cohen, J.J. Cale, Bob Dylan, Townes Van Zandt, Gillian Welch, Neil Young, Ron Sexsmith, early Donovan, and The Rheostatics.
Tchir’s most recent CD and vinyl release, “Wooden Castles Fall,” (2005) crosses a spectrum of folk-country laced with pedal-steel and Rhodes organ, horn-driven shuffles, and bar room ballads. It was recorded with the help of many of Ottawa's finest young musicians, mostly regulars of the popular Nostalgica Café hootenanny, which Tchir hosted from 2001-2004. Characters on this record include Ukrainian-Canadian moonshine brewers circa 1917, Canmore Hotel barflies asking Queen Lizzy on the old twenty bill for romantic advice, Parliament Peace Tower elevator operators, Alberta grain elevator peace operators, Great Lake princesses, and Athabasca valley dreamers. Musicians on the record include Pierre Chrétien, Ray Murray, Steve Patterson, Jesse Cooke, and Phil Lafrenière (all from Soul Jazz Orchestra), Stephen Tchir (from Five O'Clock Charlie and Bramwell and the Leftovers), Craig Simon (from Purple), Peter Webb, John Carroll, Al Bragg, Lindsay Ferguson, Rozalind MacPhail and Neil Gerster (formerly of the Lighthousekeepers), Jason Jaknunas, Allyson Rogers, Erin Barnhardt, and Nathan Morris (from J.W. Jones Band). The current Western Canadian version of the Trevor Tchir Band features his brother, Stephen Tchir, on guitar and organ, Allyson Rogers on drums, Steve Badach on bass, and Mickey Vallee on accordion.
Tchir was born in St. Albert, Alberta, and grew up loving Ukrainian-Canadian food, the open air of the prairies, the imposing Rocky Mountains, and the music at Edmonton Folk Festival and North Country Fair. It was at these festivals that Tchir began to appreciate acoustic roots music, especially that which told a story. It was also here that Tchir first heard folk musicians who had a significant early influence on his own musical ideas, including Bill Bourne. Tchir left Alberta at age 17 to spend a year working in the House of Commons, where he got a behind-the-scenes look at Canadian political theatre. In 1997, he began playing regularly at Sandy Hill's Dunvegan Pub, where he would meet musical friends Bill Barnes, Peter Webb, Pierre Chrétien, Chris Lochner, and poet K.L. McKay, among others. These were years of fruitful creative collaboration, spawning Tchir's first release, The Way I Feel Today, recorded live-to-tape in March 1999 by Webb in his Nelson Street basement studio. Its songs explore the importance of home, the vagaries of young love, and the vastness of the Canadian landscape, and feature Tchir solo, on guitar, harmonica, and vocals.
In June 2001, Tchir released his second full-length album, November, a collection of songs that found shape at Dunvegan shows and that features many of the venue's musical patrons. Here Tchir’s acoustic fingerpicking is complemented by the funky Rhodes and Hammond organ of Pierre Chrétien, the lead guitar of Chris Lochner (formerly of Garrity), and the harmonies of Ottawa singer-songwriters Peter Webb, Mary Kate Haché (of Jacob Two-Two), and Julie Larocque. Tchir’s songs on November center on themes of devotion, ecological responsibility, and the place of spirituality in an increasingly scientific and technologically geared society. Tchir continued to play local Ottawa Valley venues such as Zaphod Beeblebrox, Black Sheep Inn, Cajun Attic, National Library Auditorium, and the Ottawa Tulip Festival, sharing the stage with acts like Drums and Tuba, Garnet Rogers, Jacob Two-Two, Richard Wood, Emm Gryner, Julie Larocque, Peter Webb, and Purple.
In 2001 Tchir began playing at the new poetry and musical open stage at Café Nostalgica, on the University of Ottawa campus. He soon became the evening's music coordinator along side poetry hostess K.L. McKay. Every Thursday night for three years, Trevor hosted the popular event which featured talents from Ottawa and beyond. In September, 2003, on the second anniversary of the open stage, Nostalgica recorded a live collection of music and poetry: Thursday Heroes - Live at Café Nostalgica. During his tenure as host of Nostalgica, Trevor completed his Master's in Political Philosophy, focusing on the cultural theory of the influential Canadian writer, Charles Taylor. He continued to play regularly around Ottawa, backed by Webb and members of the funk-jazz fusion band SoulJazz Orchestra. In 2004, Tchir returned to Edmonton, where he began a PhD at the University of Alberta in Political Philosophy, focusing on Hannah Arendt’s political metaphor of performing arts. Tchir’s third release, Wooden Castles Fall, was released in February, 2005. He continues to perform steadily and has recently shared bills with Danny Michel, AA Sound System, Cam Penner, Mark Davis, Jeff Stuart, Bramwell Park, and Amelia Curran
Reviews:
-Penguin Eggs magazine: "Trevor Tchir is fascinated by the stories of our country and, like Maria Dunn, he effectively translates this interest into multi-dimensional, lyrically rich songs."
-See Magazine, Edmonton: "Even when he strums alone, Tchir is surrounded by people. His lyrics are populated with characters who are both universal and intimate: poets who waitress, not-even-exes wondering why love never got a foothold, and grandparents building a nation and a place in it. In Tchir’s hands place, time and relationships become characters, too, with their own agendas and idiosyncrasies...Like Bob Dylan or James Taylor, Tchir’s velvet-and-smoke voice sounds the same indefinable age throughout all his recordings, which seamlessly weave ’70s Tapestry sounds with bluesy-country touches; his allegiance is to the time-honoured art of evoking emotion through storytelling."
-St. Albert Gazette: "Wooden Castles Fall is a singular body of work that is a testament to Tchir's personal integrity...It's a fairly sophisticated vision that reworks the stuff of everyday experiences...He's created many prairie images and tales with poetic lyrics that are at times humoured, tender and insightful.  And the instumentation is spare but evocative...There's a strong core of philosophical truth and artistic integrity at the heart of this album, the kind that could be around for generations when other popular mainstream pieces have faded into obscurity."
-Ottawa Xpress (review of "November"): "When Trevor Tchir put out his first album, The Way I Feel Today (1999), he had a kind of freewheelin’ approach – a style clearly inspired by the likes of Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen.  At heart, this Edmonton-raised Ottawan is still a singer-songwriter with an acoustic guitar, but he has taken his brand of folk music a step further.  The result, on impressive songs such as Elevate Achilles and Soul Sister is something even Dylan would enjoy, and Bob might just envy this singer’s young vocal chords."
Memorable Past Shows:
-Nov. 15, 2006: Sidetrack Cafe, Edmonton with Jeff Stuart and Rozalind MacPhail -Nov. 10, 2006: Nostalgica Cafe, Ottawa, with Purple and John Carroll -Nov. 7, 2006: Nostalgica Cafe, Ottawa, with People Project -Nov. 1, 2006: Nightingale Pub, East Village, New York City -Oct. 13, 2006: Dinwoodie Lounge, Edmonton, with Dave Simpson -Sept. 24, 2006: St. Albert Grain Elevator 100th Anniversary -Sept. 20, 2006: Cafe Koi, Calgary, with poetry by Paul Marshall, K.L. McKay, Xstine Cook, Laurie Fuhr -July 28-30, 2006: Sasquatch Festival, Easyford, AB -June 23, 2006: Karma Local Arts House, Calgary, with Pete Webb -June 21, 2006: The Vat, Red Deer, AB, with Pete Webb -June 17, 2006: Blackdog Freehouse, Edmonton, with Pete Webb -June 7, 2006: Ship Pub, St. John’s, NL -May 28, 2006: Ginger's Tavern, Halifax, with Amelia Curran -May 23, 2006: Nelligan’s Pub, Québec City -May 22, 2006: Le Dépanneur Café, Montréal -May 21, 2006: Casa Del Popolo, Words and Music event, Montreal -May 20, 2006: Jimmy Jazz, Guelph -May 19, 2006: Boar’s Head at Queen’s Inn, Stratford, ON, with Pete Webb -May 14, 2006: Tranzac, Toronto, with Pete Webb, James Turner, Christian Ingelevics -May 13, 2006: Zaphod Beeblebrox, Ottawa, with Pete Webb -May 12, 2006: Nostalgica Café, Ottawa -May 4, 2006: Loplop’s, Sault Ste. Marie, ON -May 2, 2006: Apollo, Thunder Bay, ON -April 30, 2006: Academy Bar & Eatery, Winnipeg, with Marcel Desilets -April 28, 2006: Café Vivant, Saskatoon, SK -April 25, 2006: Canadian tour kickoff show - Sidetrack Café new location, Edmonton -Dec. 10, 2005: Blackdog Freehouse, Edmonton, with Craig Schram (Five O’Clock Charlie) -Nov. 29, 2005: Convocation Hall, Edmonton, Tribute to Moses Asch and Smithsonian Folkways -Oct. 6, 2005: Sidetrack Cafe, Edmonton, with Cam Penner and Jeff Stuart -Sept. 9, 2005: Powerplant, Edmonton, with Danny Michel and AA Sound System -June 15, 2005: Sidetrack Café, with Yael Wand and Cam Penner -June 4, 2005: The Tchir Brothers, (Trevor and Stephen Tchir) Black Dog Freehouse, Edmonton, AB -May 22, 2005: Manx Pub, Ottawa, with Yael Wand -May 21, 2005: Wooden Castles Fall CD release, Zaphod Beeblebrox, Ottawa, with John Carroll -April 9, 2005: WCF CD release, Sidetrack Café, Edmonton, with Five O’Clock Charlie and Mark Davis -Feb. 27, 2005: Powerplant, Edmonton, with Captain Tractor -Dec. 21, 2004: Sidetrack Café, Edmonton, with Jeff Stuart and Ayla Brook -April 15, 2004: Barrymore's Music Hall, Ottawa, with Moonlight Graham. -Dec. 11, 2003: Songs for Winter’s Night, National Arts Centre Fourth Stage -Nov. 8, 2003: Opened for Priya Thomas, Zaphod Beeblebrox, Ottawa -Sept. 27, 2003: Co-Produced live recording of “Thursday Heroes: Live at Café Nostalgica”, Ottawa -May, 2003: Canadian Tulip Festival, Ottawa -Nov., 2002: Café May, Toronto, with Lighthousekeepers -March, 2002: Opened for Garnet Rogers, National Library Auditorium -Oct. 13, 2001:  Eastern CD Release of November, Zaphod Beeblebrox -Sept. 12, 2001: Opened for Drums and Tuba, Zaphod Beeblebrox -Feb. 2, 2001: Barrymore’s, Ottawa: Songwriters Fundraiser for Children’s Make-A-Wish Foundation -Nov., 2000:  Opened for Emm Gryner, Zaphod Beeblebrox -Sept., 2000:  Opened for Julie Larocque, Carleton Alumni Auditorium -Nov. 1999: Opened for Richard Wood, Zaphod’s 2