If the rockabilly scene in Halifax could be likened to a growing baby, the three men in The Rockin’ Apostles are the ones to rear it. When veteran player Carey Beck moved to Halifax after years doing rockabilly on the road, he found two like-minded souls in Fabian O’Brien and Craig Hamlin. The three began jamming in between O’Brien and Hamlin’s Whiskey Kisses gigs and Beck’s solo shows, with O’Brien and Beck on guitar and Hamlin on bass, covering Beck’s own compositions along with older standards and lesser-known buried gems.
Back in March, Beck recounted one of the trio’s first gigs at the Seahorse: “People looked at us like we were The Proclaimers or something,” he said. Now that The Rockin’ Apostles have become mainstays at Reflections’ popular monthly Rockabilly Riots, they’ve managed to attract fans with their three-guys, no-drums approach. There are also more gigs on the horizon, including a tribute to the Johnny Burnette Trio later this month.
This article appears in Jun 10-16, 2010.