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By Allegra Chiarella<\/strong><\/p>\n No Matter Where You Go, There You Are <\/span><\/i>is the title of Canadian rock band 1971\u2019s upcoming debut album – as well as a favorite saying of former bassist, Cameron \u201cCran\u201d Cranston, who passed away earlier this year. The band\u2019s three remaining members have decided to pursue separate paths in his absence, but will reunite this December for one final show where they will release the full-length album, as a tribute to their bandmate and friend.<\/span>In February 2017, the group was about to finish their recording for the album when Cranston passed away unexpectedly. Drummer Jory Strachan, lead singer Garrett Iverson and guitarist Tanner Neill returned home to Kenora to be with their families and loved ones, and the three decided to part ways as each member took time to grieve. <\/span><\/p>\n Cranston and Iverson started playing together in the winter of 2011 in an effort to keep cabin fever at bay. Strachan, who had jammed with Cranston periodically, was also brought into the mix, and the three finally gave themselves the label they\u2019d been avoiding up until that point: a band. After writing a handful of songs and playing a couple shows, Strachan decided that it was time to take the new project on the road, and promptly booked a two-month tour. It was a rocky start: \u201cWe spent all our money – I\u2019d never seen Garrett more miserable in my life.\u201d Iverson quit for a brief period following that first tour, but the three weathered the break and 1971 soon picked up where it had left off.<\/span><\/p>\n The band continued to evolve over the years following, adopting childhood friend Tanner Neill on guitar and developing a darker, post-punk sound. Strachan and Iverson moved to Winnipeg while Cranston and Neill stayed in Kenora, forcing the band to adjust to a long-distance relationship. \u201cCran was going to school so he\u2019d drive up every Tuesday and Thursday,\u201d Strachan says, \u201cAnd that was when we\u2019d rehearse. We were a little hesitant at first, because we\u2019d taken such a long break, but it started feeling really good – we just got back into it.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n In late 2016, the band began recording material for a 14-song LP, their most ambitious endeavour to date. The album would feature some of Iverson\u2019s darkest, most honest writing yet, and experiment with a wider range of instruments, from trumpets to pedal steel guitars. <\/span>No Matter Where You Go, There You Are<\/span><\/i> will consist of the songs that were completed before Cranston\u2019s passing.<\/span><\/p>\n The album\u2019s title is one of what the band affectionately call \u201cCran-isms,\u201d and in many ways serves as a perfect summary of Cranston\u2019s approach to life. \u201cI remember, when one of us was feeling bad,\u201d Iverson explains, \u201cHe would always say that. It was like, \u2018you can\u2019t run away from your problems – no matter where you go, there you are.\u2019\u201d This sobering thought also implies the hopeful promise that familiarity and comfort can be found anywhere, particularly in the chosen family with whom you surround yourself. \u201cCran would always say to us, \u2018We\u2019re not friends, we\u2019re brothers,\u2019\u201d according to Strachan. \u201cWe\u2019d fight like brothers, but cared about each other like brothers too.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Strachan and Iverson credit 1971\u2019s steady tour schedule for strengthening this bond, from their initial two-month marathon to their last expedition out east in 2016. \u201cOur formative years were spent together,\u201d says Strachan, \u201cand it\u2019s crazy now, looking back, how important that was – it kind of incubated a family.\u201d \u00a0Both Iverson and Strachan agree that despite Cranston\u2019s introverted nature, he had a remarkable ability to bring disparate people together, through his genuine fascination with life. \u201cHe brought a lot of people together, brought a lot of people closer,\u201d says Strachan, \u201cand I don\u2019t think he even realized that he did that.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n 1971\u2019s final show will take place on December 23rd at the Goodwill, and feature 12 different bass players in Cranston\u2019s place as well as other friends of the band on additional instruments. The band will then return to their hometown of Kenora for a show on the 29th at the Kenora Curling Rink. All proceeds from the shows will go to the North End Women\u2019s Centre in Winnipeg, and the Kenora Sexual Assault Centre.<\/span><\/p>\n No Matter Where You Go, There You Are <\/span><\/em>will be available not only on CD and cassette, but also vinyl, which had apparently been a long-standing dream of Cranston\u2019s. \u201cHe would tell us, \u2018My dream is to have this\u2026\u2019 and they\u2019d always be these totally attainable things – but it was telling of how humble of a person he was.\u201d Pressing vinyl is an expensive pursuit, and an often unreturned investment, but one that the band considers worth it: \u201cWe\u2019re putting it out to have our last thing together documented, out there in the world – to kind of immortalize another piece of Cran.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Allegra Chiarella No Matter Where You Go, There You Are is the title of Canadian rock band 1971\u2019s upcoming debut album – as well as a favorite saying of former bassist, Cameron \u201cCran\u201d Cranston, who passed away earlier this year. The band\u2019s three remaining members have decided to pursue separate paths in his absence, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[1171,1173,1174,563,766,1172,806,1104],"class_list":["post-10916","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-features","tag-1171","tag-feature","tag-kenora","tag-local","tag-punk","tag-rip","tag-rock","tag-winnipeg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10916","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10916"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10916\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10918,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10916\/revisions\/10918"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10916"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10916"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10916"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}