Startlefish and bigsuit at the Downbeat this weekend

This weekend at the Downbeat Lounge, local rock bands Startlefish and bigsuit are joining together to put on a show intended to promote and celebrate the recent surge in original music in Sault Ste. Marie.

Startlefish is a trio made up of guitarist / singer/songwriter Craig West, drummer Ed Young and bassist Christopher Walls. The band mix acoustic and electric elements together in well-crafted songs, and fuel those songs with a healthy dose of powerful and unique musicianship.

bigsuit were once known locally as Crankshaft, and are made up of guitarist/singer Jay Case, bassist George Ravlich, guitarist Brian Oja and drummer Ed Young. bigsuit have a hard rock sound with a soulful touch, and allegedly Jay Case’s smooth vocals made a few fans "melt" last weekend when he played at Loplops.

"There’s a lot of really great original music happening in this city right now. Artists like bigsuit, Catherine Taddo, Chris Belsito and Startlefish are all putting out CDs this year," says Startlefish bandleader Craig West. "I wanted to start playing more shows with other artists to try and call attention to all this talent in the community."

The idea of bands teaming up is not new of course, but it is not something regularly seen on the bar circuit. West has stated that he hopes more and more media attention will be drawn to local original music artists. "We want to tell people that there is music being written, recorded and performed in this city that is every bit as good as what you find outside the Sault," says West. "Sometimes people aren’t used to noticing what is happening in their own back yards, and we want to do what we can to change that."

Both Startlefish and bigsuit have CDs due this spring, and Startlefish have been busy over the last year promoting their website which currently has nine of the band's songs free for download in MP3 format. "The idea with the MP3's is to let people really check out what Startlefish is all about," says West. "We have a few songs from our forthcoming CD, a few live tracks and a few songs from past CDs. In the year that our website has been online, we have had over two thousand separate song downloads, which means that we are getting our music out there."

The Downbeat Lounge is located at 740 Queen Street East (across from PUC). For more information on the Downbeat Lounge, click here. There is a $2.00 cover and the music will start around 10:30 PM.