James Craft sometimes feels a bit out of place in the States. But the frontman for Brooklyn six-piece La Strada was right at home playing his accordion in Montreal.
This is because La Strada's music is the kind usually molded by cold winters and small communities. It's an indie-rock fuelled by group harmonies, violin and cello.And while the band has forged its own sound for almost three years, they're also big fans of Canadian groups like Arcade Fire, Great Lake Swimmers and Thee Silver Mt. Zion. La Strada finally made it to Canada earlier this fall, opening up for Cuff the Duke.
On the way back from their tour Craft emailed Newfoundland's Hey Rosetta, "and told them how enamoured the band was with Canada, and how we wanted to get back here as soon as we could," he says. Within 24 hours, Hey Rosetta offered them an opening slot.
It's turned out to be a perfect fit for La Strada, and a delicious surprise to Hey Rosetta fans.
"Our instrumentation is almost identical, which is very unique," says Craft. "They have a violist and a cellist, and we have a violinist and a cellist. We have six and they have six. There's a lot of common musicality there."
Although La Strada is pushing its eponymous EP, released last winter, expect to hear a helping of tracks from its soon-to-be-released debut long-player, New Home. Canada could be this new home, but Brooklyn remains both home and inspiration.
"We're very much in Brooklyn, writing in studios and living in Brooklyn apartments. We work day jobs," says Craft. "There's no little cabin outside New York where we get together, burn a fire and write some pretty folk music. We're in New York, and it's this giant city, but it's a city of all these different ethnicities and all these different places to draw from."
