by Sheldon Birnie
I’ve been a big fan of Memphis, Tennessee’s Lucero for years now. So when it was announced late in 2012 that the band would be finally playing in Winnipeg, I nearly lost it. I immediately contacted their management to arrange for an interview. After some back and forth in January, I finally completed a nice little chat with Lucero guitarist Brian Venable last week.
We’ll be posting a long feature on the band online here in late March, leading up to the band’s March 29 performance at the Park Theatre. But here on the Hillbilly Highway, I just wanted to take the time to give you a heads up to this show. It’s gonna be a gooder. It’s not every day (or every year) that we get great, hardworking southern rockers up to the Heart of the Continent. Drive-By Truckers have only played here once, and this will make Lucero’s first time in our great city. So don’t miss out.
Here’s a preview of what Brian had to say when I spoke with him last Monday, after I awoke from a late night at the Times Change(d) Sunday blues jam and connected with him from his home in Memphis.
Stylus: What is it that you think about when you come to Canada?
Brian Venable: It’s always that initial border crossing. That’s the thing. Like, they can drive to Buffalo, can’t they? Which is always a terrible thing to say. It used to be pretty easy, we didn’t have a trailer full of merch, we could just pop over the border in the morning and drive back south after the show. Now we’ve been doing more and more shows over there. Now that we’re more legitimate as a band, we’ve got all the paper work and a trailer full of merch. It’s always, straighten up, have your passport ready, and be prepared for two and a half hours of sitting. The shows are always great, once you get across. That’s the thing. There’s a lot of “Thank you for coming” and the crowds get wild. It’s the first time I think that we cross all the way across Canada. So that should be interesting. We’ve played forever and people drive over and always say, “Please come over!” We do the usual Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver. But they’re always like “You should come to these other places! We’re starving for it!” We’re like, “We’ll get there, we’ll get there.” We’ve bugged the management and booking agent enough that we’re finally getting there. It’ll be a good time.
If you haven’t done so already, get your tickets soon! Lucero are playing the Park Theatre, with up and comers Shovels & Rope, on Friday March 29. See you there?