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By MIKE YOUDS
Daily News Staff Reporter
Their music is a soothing, rhythmic blend of reggae and country: Melodic vocal harmonies, a little pedal steel, a bit of soul rooted in a rock sensibility, and a slight Aussie accent, courtesy of Xavier Rudd.
Country Porno Electric Fireplace is the latest recording from Nine Mile, the Ontario-based duo-turned-quartet founded by D’Ari Pouyat. They play The Blue Grotto Wednesday as part of a cross-country kickoff.
But what’s with the name, D’Ari?
As it turns out the fireplace is a curiosity that sits in the front room of the old house D’Ari and partner, singer/songwriter Melissa Larkin, settled into as a great escape from their hectic Toronto life a couple years ago.
The neat thing about this fireplace is that it plays music.
“We stumbled across it at an antique store, but it’s not an antique,” the singer and guitarist said before heading out West. “It has a secret trap door. It has a record player, an eight-track inside, and one fireplace. And the turntable has a speaker built into it.”
No, it doesn’t play pornography. That just added a bit of a suitably strange hook to the name.
“There is a deeper meaning,” he explained. “The whole thing about the electric fireplace is weird. It’s a great example of us trying to make something new and convenient that’s already perfect,” that being fire, of course.
Fake logs just don’t cut it with Nine Mile.
“In the back of my mind I have the same approach to making records. I kind of like pure, organic stuff. I wanted the record recorded live off the floor.”
D’Ari, as he’s known, is a first-generation Jamaican Canadian, which fully explains his reggae roots (Nine Mile is named after the Jamaican town where Bob Marley was born).
“My earliest memory of music was when my parents moved to Canada in 1969. They listened to tons of Joplin, Guthrie, Hendrix and Dylan, all the stuff that was happening in music when they moved here.”
That instilled in their son an eclectic appreciation for music, but he sees that as a natural direction to take: “I don’t know of any music fan or listener who only listens to (for example) metal.”
He cofounded the original Nine Mile in 2001 as a quintet. They recorded one album, did a cross-Canada tour then dissolved two years later, but the D’Ari carried on as a duo with Dave Tolley, a session percussionist on the first album.
When Tolley returned from Boston’s Berklee School of Music, Nine Mile was back on the road, touring North America and Down Under. That’s when they met with Rudd, known for his didgeridoo wizardry, on the festival circuit. They did an East Coast tour and the trio clicked, while Tolley backed Rudd as a separate duo as well. The collaboration evolved into a pan-Pacific recording project at one point.
Nine Mile, as D’Ari sees it, isn’t confined to any one form or format.
“I find it keeps it interesting for us. The songs are the same but we give them new life every time we get together with a new group of people.
“When we set out to make a record, to me it’s about honesty and just passing that sound onto people. Whatever makes a sweet record, that’s the way we go.”
Country and reggae might seem like an odd pairing, but not from a Caribbean perspective.
“In Jamaica, reggae music is clearly popular but right behind it is country. If you actually listen to it, there’s not that much difference between shuffle and ska. For us it was trying to find that great blend that doesn’t come off as cheesy.”
On Nine Mile’s last swing through town, they performed with Kira Haug and Earthbound, striking up a lasting friendship. Their musical styles are somewhat alike. Kira will join the group on stage Wednesday.
“I’ve got to say, Kira is such a great person,” D’Ari said. “She goes out of her way, every time we’re in the neighbourhood, to throw a show together.”
With or without the sound of his odd little electric fireplace, D’Ari is digging his new country life.
“I think it’s been a great move for me, being on a farm has been awesome for creativity. I think you can hear the country in our music.”
IN CONCERT
WHO: Nine Mile with Kira of Earthbound
WHEN: Wednesday, Oct. 7, 8 p.m.
WHERE: The Blue Grotto, 319 Victoria St.
TICKETS: $7, available at the door
