Steven Hill
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Fans of folk rock and the electro acoustic genres may want to head to the Howe Sound Inn and Brew Pub tonight (April 28) to catch a few sets from scheduled band Lotus.
Comprised of three North Vancouver and one Squamish musician, Lotus merges folk, rock, urban and blues into one uniquely Canadian genre.
"There are lots of harmonies," said Liz Patterson, who plays keyboards and sings with the band. "We are folk, with rock and a bit of blues in there, as well, with piano, flute, guitar and mandolin."
Patterson, who has been living in Squamish for the past three years, said the group met almost accidentally.
"We have been playing together for six or seven years," she said. "We all met at open mic nights at various places in and around Vancouver and we all just kept hanging out and playing together and eventually it just evolved into this band."
The members chose the name Lotus as in "Lotus Land" to represent their home.
"That is kind of meant to represent BC, because you think of the land of milk and honey, and the beauty that surrounds us," she said. "And our first songs were inspired by, and were about the beauty around us."
Lotus has toured local festivals and clubs, and is planning on returning to Seattle to play another festival soon. The band is also almost finished its second indie release.
"We have an album out from four years ago, and we are almost finished our second album," said Patterson. "We are not really proud of our first album, because we didn't really understand the mixing process. It is not really how we want it to sound. We are paying more attention to how we want the second album to sound."
Catch the live sounds of Lotus, April 28 at the Howe Sound Inn. Doors open at 9 p.m. and tickets run $5 at the door.
