After nearly five years as The Carleton’s Saturday night house band, Tevon Tynes and the other members of his trio, Michael Arbou and Peter Bull, will perform their final show at the Halifax venue on August 10.
The staff and the regulars became like family. It’s going to be hard not seeing those familiar faces every week. – Tevon Tynes
Tynes’ time at The Carleton began in early 2020 after being recommended to the venue’s programming director, Mike Campbell. “Mary [Patterson] gave me the heads-up about Tevon as a band to take notice of,” says Campbell. “I trust her taste, so when she runs across something, I pay attention.”
Agreeing to meet with Tynes, Campbell was struck by the young musician’s confidence. “He really wanted the gig and was confident he could fill the place,” recalls Campbell. “In the end, I couldn’t say no and told him not to fuck it up.”
Checking in on the band on their first night, Campbell realized Tynes was true to his word by selling out the venue. “I went to see the show without any expectations, and after watching and listening for a while, I thought it was way better than I thought it was going to be,” says Campbell. “I had no clue it was going to last five year because there were definitely ups and downs. But they got better and better the more they played.”
It would be the summer of 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, that Tynes secured the regular gig. “We started our residency in July 2020,” says Tynes. “It was a bit of a whirlwind getting to that point. The first two shows we sold out, and then they asked us to come back every week.”
As a product of the pandemic, Tynes says social distancing requirements were challenging initially. “I would almost say our first year and a half of that gig would be what I would call a cabaret, with a room full of people sitting and watching,” he says.
Once the pandemic restrictions began to ease partway through their residency, they were able to play as they had intended. “Now we could get them up dancing, which is always what we wanted to do,” says Tynes.
With over 150 performances under their belt, Tynes will miss the social aspect of performing regularly at The Carleton. “The staff and the regulars became like family,” he says. “It’s going to be hard not seeing those familiar faces every week.”
Looking back on his time at the music venue, he is also grateful to have had an opportunity to build a connection with audiences. “Being in the same room every week, you can really start to understand how the crowd’s going to feel and what the atmosphere is going to be like,” he says. “Especially in the early days as we were allowed to be a lot more experimental with what kind of format we wanted to present.”
One of Tynes’ standout memories was releasing his own music during the pandemic. “That August was particularly special for me,” he says. “We held a single release party, and it felt incredible to see so many people come out and support my original music.”
In contrast, he recalls a Halloween performance that didn’t go as planned. “We went all out with decorations and costumes, but hardly anyone showed up,” he says. “We ended up with a lot of leftover candy.”
With the weekly Saturday gig ending, Tynes is not stepping away from music entirely but is shifting his focus. “I’m not moving on to something new so much as just taking a step back,” he says. “The pace of performing weekly has been intense, and I’m looking forward to focusing more on my original music and taking it slower.”
For his Carleton final show, Tynes promises a memorable evening. “We’re bringing back Ashton Wisener our old keyboard player, for the night, which I’m really excited for,” he says. “He was in the band until last summer when he moved down to L.A. to go on tour with another friend of his, Roland Grant. So it’s nice that he’s coming back for this last performance.”
Tynes also plans to start the evening with a solo set of some of his favourite songs and then will let things happen organically. “We’re going to feel things out on stage and see what the energy in the room feels like. It’s very, very exciting.”
With Tynes’ departure, The Carleton is in no rush to replace the band. “If it were up to me, I would try to find some young band that is really good and draft them into it,” says Campbell. “But Karen [owner Karen Spaulding] wants to leave it open-ended at the moment, which will allow us to book touring acts on Saturday nights. We’re pretty much booked until the end of the year so we’re in no real rush.”
The Tevon Tynes Trio plays a free show as their final regular performance on August 10 at The Carleton (1685 Argyle St. Halifax). Visit thecarleton.ca for tickets and information.