Levi Cuss will share with hometown audiences what people in 12 Europeans countries have heard playing on 70 radio stations — music from his album, Night Thief.
Newer tunes from Cuss’s hot-off-the-press EP Just Below Radio Vol. 1 will also be delivered when he steps onto the outdoor stage from 4-6 p.m. Wednesday, June 14, on Red Deer’s Ross Street Patio with other members of Behind the Grind.
The four singer/songwriters — including Curtis Phagoo, Kimberley Macgregor and John Guliak — will also take turns performing their solo material a few hours later during an evening concert at the International Beer Haus.
Cuss, a Red Deer-based roots/rock musician, is usually a staple of Alberta’s music scene. But he spent nearly six months touring Europe, where an amazing array of radio station — particularly in U.K., Belgium and Germany — have given regular airplay to his music from Night Thief.
“I just came back three weeks ago and I’ll be going back for another European tour in September,” said Cuss. Despite a self-confessed lack of affinity for foreign languages, he’s also been interviewed by international music and guitar magazines.
“It’s nice to know somebody cares,” Cuss wryly observed, since his 2015 album caused barely a ripple in his own country — apart from support from CKUA Radio.
Although he’d hoped for more airplay at home, Cuss welcomes affirmation wherever it comes from. “It’s a beautiful feeling,” he said, to know his music is transcending language and cultural barriers to strike a universal note with listeners across the Atlantic.
Cuss is excited to be recording a new album as two EP installments. Just Below Radio, Vol. 1 is already available at his shows, featuring songs such as One Night Stand, about the trauma of Internet dating, and Hardwood, which questions the staying power of long-distance romance. Volume 2 with another four songs, will be available in August.
After Wednesday’s shows Behind the Grind shows in Red Deer, he will head out on a tour of Saskatchewan and Manitoba with the three other singer/songwriters.
Phagoo is frontman of Red Deer’s The Heartbroke Heroes. He skips genres between in roots, pop and country styles, and is working on his next album.
Macgregor, based out of Edmonton, was awarded Female Artist of the Year at the 2015 and 2016 Edmonton Music Awards. Weaving between blues, folk and rock, she’s recorded two albums.
Guliak’s rich baritone puts him in the company of The Handsome Family’s Brent Sparks and Rufus Wainwright. He’s shared the stage with most Canadian roots acts, and has three recordings under his belt.
For more information about Wednesday evening’s Behind the Grind show, please contact the International Beer Haus.
lmichelin@reddeeradvocate.com