Richard LaViolette and The Oil Spills Vinyl Release with Jessy Bell Smith, Cactus Flower

Richard Laviolette spent SappyFest weekend sleeping in a tree. "The last two times I was there, I slept up in a tree fort that overlooks that CBC international radio tower," writes the singer-songwriter, who's from Guelph, Ontario. Being his first time playing with a band at Sappy (he'd played there once before), Laviolette says he was nervous---"I had a few sips of Loud-Mouth-Soup to settle me down"---but the show went well. This weekend Laviolette's taking himself and The Oil Spills to the Khyber for the band's first vinyl release. "We released All Your Raw Materials independently on CD in September, 2009," writes Laviolette. "Releasing an album on vinyl has been an aspiration of mine since I listened to Goodnight Nobody on my friend Kit's record player in their bedroom. Those are the best recorded drums I've ever heard; it sounds so warm and more present." Laviolette adds that he thinks his country album translates well to vinyl, as it was recorded in an open-style house with wooden floorboards and beams. "It was done mostly live-off-floor and sounds like a kitchen party." Get your Sunday night kicks at the show, with fellow Guelph artist Jessy Bell Smith and local lovelies Jess Lewis and V Park as Cactus Flower. –Holly Gordon