When I reach Marshall Burns, he informs me that he’s
currently in a 16-person van, barrelling down a highway somewhere in
northern Ontario. It’s indicative of the exciting new changes for the
Regina guitarist and his band, Rah Rah, who are in the midst of its
very first coast-to-coast tour in support of a very good debut album,
Going Steady. It also renders phone conversation virtually nil,
as our connection keeps getting dropped somewhere in the oubliette
between Kenora and Thunder Bay. Somewhere in the static I learn that
Burns likes watching Star Trek to kill the road
doldrums—“Next Generation is the best,” he says—and that the
group is looking forward to returning to St. John’s. “We had the best
shows of our last tour there,” he says. “People there are the best.”
Clearly these prairie kids enjoyed the scenery as well—their blog
features a video of the six musicians prowling through a dark cave
tunnel at Cape Spear, howling and harmonizing in the echoing darkness
like wee hipster ghosts. Expect this kind of whimsy along with the
high-energy, generous performances Rah Rah’s become known for, on
Thanksgiving in the beer-soaked catacombs of Gus’ Pub.
This article appears in Oct 8-14, 2009.
