Bitter North, Lost at Sea, and Chase Cameron took over Live! On Elgin on Sept. 24 to a modest audience of around 50 people.
Open since June of 2015, Live! On Elgin has been a venue for local artists and bands to showcase their music freely to the public, and describes itself “as a place for artists, run by artists.”
Chase Cameron opened up the show with several of his original songs and a few covers, like “Jolene” by Dolly Parton.
He described his music as “pop sensible, but . . . more folky, with more acoustic,” and said he gets his inspiration from positive and negative events in his life.
“The album is from different parts of my life. Some of it’s pure ballads, where it’s literally like the exact story of what happened. Some of it is inspired by an event. It can be about any story, and it evolves into a song,” Cameron said.
Cameron said he hasn’t performed on a stage in three months, and is now getting back to performing once again.
“I just finished a single, and now I’m looking at the future, and what to do with my EP,” he said. Now living in Kingston, he said he hopes to release his new music to the public soon.
Bitter North, a local Ottawa-born rock band, headlined the show.
“We’re always looking for new fans,” said Colin Campbell, the group’s drummer. “It’s always awesome when we see new faces in the crowd or have someone random come up to you at the end of the show.”
The band consists of five members. Newly discovered, they have transitioned from a cover band to an original group in order to pursue their own music. Recently, they released their first album, and said they hope to expand out of Ottawa.
The group said they hope to create connections in different cities in Canada at different venues and festivals, as well as locally, in the near future.
“We’re only just finishing our first album, so going places before wasn’t really an option. Now that we have a product, it’s time to hit the road,” said Matt Cook, the band’s keyboardist.
Bassist Ben Spero added they’d like to tour “in a smaller community, because you get to know it better”.
The group came together in different ways. Some already knew one another, while others were found via Kijiji.
“It’s not just about how good you are. It’s meeting good people, and being able to connect well with them,” Fraser said. “We’ve met bands that only hang out together just to practice, but we’re all friends outside of the band, and hang out on the weekends together, as well.”
