Thirty-three years ago, Calgary musician Kirby Sewell introduced himself to the Calgary music scene with his debut album.
For fans who have come to know Sewell as a powerhouse blues and R&B, the record is perhaps not what they would expect. In 1993. he released the cassette-only album Blow Thru Your Heart & Shake You Up while part of a Christian-rap duo called A.C.T.S. of God. It was produced by Jerry Proppe, who continues to collaborate with Sewell to this day as a producer and member of the Kirby Sewell Trio.
“We put it out on cassette so it might be in some kind of bargain bin somewhere,” says Sewell. “We were in (Contemporary Christian Magazine) in Nashville with that one. We played a lot of youth-group stuff and did a little mini-tour with other bands.”
Sewell, who was born in Regina, came to Calgary at the age of 21 in 1989. He studied opera at what is now Mount Royal University before realizing he was drawn to more modern strains of music. At the same time he was rapping for Jesus he was also briefly a contributor to the Calgary Herald’s arts section. At the time, the paper not only dedicated a good deal of space to album reviews but also gave Sewell a column that concentrated solely on Christian music. He was introduced to readers as a “Calgary Christian rocker, rapper and freelance writer.”
“When I look back at it, it was really just what I was taught as a kid,” says Sewell. “I grew up very gospel with church. I wish I had grown up in Aretha Franklin’s church. Musicality wise, it resonated with me. I think that’s why gospel is still in the trio. There’s a lot of gospel elements. I do think it’s the roots of North American music.”
Sewell doesn’t believe in strict dogma or organized religion these days, but it could be argued that his future plans have a quasi-spiritual element to them. At the end of September, he will leave his home of three decades for a three-month musical and personal journey that he hopes will eventually lead him to a new life in Mexico or perhaps even beyond. As it turns out, it will include a stop at the New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit, where Aretha Franklin grew up and sang gospel. Stops in Chicago, Nashville, Muscle Shoals, Memphis, the Mississippi Delta and New Orleans are also planned, allowing Sewell to soak up the history of the music that shaped him. Before hitting the U.S., he will tour across Canada and explore his family roots. He plans to take the ashes of his father to Pokemouche, a rural New Brunswick community in Gloucester Canada where Sewell’s great-great-great grandfather once served as the British Magistrate.
While there are personal, musical, economic and professional reasons for his departure, the bottom line is that he doesn’t plan to return. For now, he will end his 33-year tenure in Calgary’s music scene leading the Kirby Sewell Trio with shows on Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Attic in Inglewood. If all goes to plan, he will be in Mexico by Jan. 1 and later visit Panama “not really as the end of the trip, but as the beginning of whatever comes next.”
“An artist needs the room to breathe,” he says . “You need to know you can take risks. This financial environment that has happened since COVID as well as the fact as there is no monetary value to our music, it makes it very difficult for the artist’s brain to do something.”
One of the reasons is to reduce costs, as Sewell says the cost of living in Calgary makes it difficult for an artist. He also hopes to rejuvenate his creativity by visiting other places, everywhere from the thriving music scene in the steel town of Hamilton, Ont. to rainforests in Panama that are home to hundreds of species of singing birds.
“I’m just curious about other places and how they are treating artists and how they view arts and culture,” he says.
Sewell says he is leaving the city with plenty of gratitude to those who have supported him over the years as he fronted various outfits. He is perhaps best know for the Kirby Sewell Band, which recorded three albums. They found an enthusiastic supporter in Pat MacIntyre, owner of The Ironwood Stage and Grill who booked the band regularly from 2012 to 2018.
Sewell recorded at total of seven albums in Calgary, but hasn’t released an album since 2014’s Girl With a New Tattoo. In 2016, The Kirby Sewell Band achieved national attention when it beat out Cecile Doo-Kingue, Jenie Thai, The Samantha Martin Delta Sugar and Sugar Brown to take home the New Artist of the Year Award at the Maple Blues Award in Toronto. Sewell was also nominated for Male Vocalist of the Year in 2016.
Before he leaves, Sewell plans to release a new single. It’s a killer version of B.B. King’s The Thrill is Gone, which was produced by Jerry Proppe just like his 1993 cassette-only debut.
As part of his lengthy goodbye, Sewell has been posting his thoughts on his Facebook page about Calgary and its future as a city that supports and develops artists. He says requires the city to rethink its approach to music education, which he says has been diminished in schools and post-secondary institutions. He says it requires more than governments investing in the infrastructure of major arts institutions in the city’s core.
“Music is the only thing that made me see the light,” he says. “There are so many kids like that who have no music teacher now.”
The Kirby Sewell Trio will play The Attic on Friday, Aug. 21 and Saturday, Aug. 22 (sold out) at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Aug. 23 at 7 p.m. The trio will also play Music in the Park, a free concert at Prestwick Commons Park in McKenzie Towne on Sept 18. The event begins at 5 p.m.
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