Last night after a beer at Chez Lucien, I headed to the Château Lafayette (better known to its patrons as the Laff) to meet with John Carroll. The Kemptville musician has had a residency at the Laff for the past seven years. I was there on my own when a spring chicken of about 70 named Roy accosted me. “Is it your first time here?,” he said. When I replied no, he announced “I’ve come here every Wednesday for some years now to hear John and I’ve never seen you before!” Well, that’s speaks volumes to John Carroll’s dedicated fans, old and young, and it also put me to shame for not having yet caught one of Ottawa’s most authentic musicians on his favourite stage of the city.

I was at the Laff to catch Carroll’s set and to discuss his new album Everyone Smokes in Hell, but I also wanted to talk about his Ottawa roots. Carroll grew up in the city but has lived in Kemptville for the last little while. Carroll’s gig at the Laff started when, after a few of the bartenders and regulars of the Laff had seen him busking around the Market, one of the staff offered him a Tuesday night slot to compliment Lucky Ron. It was at a time where business for bars like the Laff, who where still feeling the effects of the smoking ban, was really slow, so Carroll said what the hell. Overtime, the gig became a Wednesday night residency and a few years on the crowds of people, young and old, still keep coming.

Carroll performs as a guitarist and singer and plays a mix of his songs and covers, doing whatever feels right at the time. “It leaves me lots of time to reinterpret things on the fly and tap into the mood of the crowd.” He’s well-known throughout the city and beyond but doesn’t feel like he’s outgrown the Laff. “Maybe when there’s a line-up outside every week, but that’s not the case right now!” He jokes. The place is just like a second home to him and he says that it makes it an interesting challenge to play the same room every week. It gets you to strengthen your performance skills.

Carroll had a big grin when telling the crowd that his CD release was almost sold out at the Blacksheep Inn (although he was quick to say they can always fit a few more in). His new album is a full band recording done as a group effort with his stage band – The Epic Proportions. Working with other musicians took the music in a slightly different direction for Carroll, whose two previous albums were solo efforts. “While there’s always a lot of deliberation, it’s nice to let people that devout to their skills do what they do well. We really tapped into the group energy.” he says. The album’s a combination of country blues, folk roots and rock n’ roll. You can listen to it in full here. When I suggest that some of the songs appear much lighter than the first cut on the album, also entitled Everyone Smokes in Hell, he grins and says: “If all the smokers end up in hell, they won’t be alone! You have to always look at the positive side of a story.”

Carroll’s has seen the music scene change quite a bit since his teens (he’s now 42). He says there’s more support now for original music than in his youth and names folks like Souljazz Orchestra, Meredith Luce and André Bluteau as people that are making a name for themselves in Ottawa and beyond.

While he’s thinking about a short tour outside of Ottawa for the spring, he and the Epic Proportions are focusing on the CD release. He’s looking forward to playing for a packed show at the Blacksheep and hopes to blow the roof off the building and party hard.

Birdie Whyte will be opening for John. And Roy, as always, will be there with his dancing shoes on.

You can catch Birdie, John and the Epic Proportions this Saturday, 8pm at the Blacksheep Inn. And you can listen to John every Wednesday at the Laff 9pm for free.

Apt613.ca -- Sweet music for the winter blues