The Faux Paws in Victoria

"10 Best Trad Albums of 2019" - FolkAlley.com

From raging fiddle tunes, to saxophone solos and unrequited love songs, the music of The Faux Paws would be hard to pin down with standard genre descriptions. The quartet's contagious groove, and feel-good melting pot folk music has been honed over twelve years of playing together, and is the sound of four close friends (two of which happen to be brothers), who feel a musical kinship that transcends any stylistic limitations.

Brothers Andrew and Noah VanNorstrand grew up playing contra dance music with their musician mother in the band Great Bear eventually rising to become one of the most popular dance bands of all time. Chris Miller grew up in Florida, and he was enamoured with bluegrass, and studied jazz before going on to play with GRAMMY nominated Cajun-country band The Revelers. Since meeting in 2012, the trio have toured across North America several times, sometimes under the name The Faux Paws, sometimes as part of other larger ensembles. But due to their commitments to other bands and musical projects, the timing was never right to focus on making The Faux Paws a priority. Instead, they took their time learning about different styles of music from one another, and finding where their interests and skills could create unexpected and exciting new sounds. “I love super glossy pop music, and Chris is always pushing more of a jazz influence” says Noah.. “But we all have a strong background in dance music, so almost everything we do has rhythm and groove, and is based around hook and feel”. Longtime friend and collaborator Zoe Guigueno (Fish & Bird, Della Mae, Laura Cortese) added her double-bass expertise to the debut album remotely from her home in Tofino BC, and has recently joined the band’s touring outfit, adding a new dimension and depth to the already powerful sound.

It may have taken The Faux Paws ten years to make their debut album, but those years have clearly not gone to waste. Now, with an experimental but cohesive vision, the quartet brings together seemingly unrelated musical elements into one joyful and distinctive collection, deeply rooted in the raw humanity of folk dance and music traditions.

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