RAA rocks Rose City in record release recital Wednesday, July 08, 2009

The Rural Alberta Advantage (from left, Amy Cole, Paul Banwatt and Nils Edenloff) perform July 7 at Backspace. The Toronto-based trio drew about 100 to the show, their first visit to Portland.

OK, so maybe "recital" isn't quite the right word, but the show wasn't exactly a "revue" nor a "rendezvous"—any better suggestions?

Anyway, I had the opportunity to interview and photograph the Rural Alberta Advantage (say that three times, quickly) last night at Backspace in Portland. It was really just a normal show for them, but it coincided with the official release of their debut full-length record, Hometowns, so they called it a record release party.

Look for the interview and concert photos on Northwest CanCon in a week or two.

At left is one of the outtakes from the quick portrait session we did. I'm not sure if I like it or not—Paul looks really cool with no fill light, but a lot different from the other two. What do you think?