The Duhks: Making Bluegrass green

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 08/01/2009 (6430 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

For almost 15 years, Leonard Podolak has been on tour, returning from tour, or preparing to tour.

And so, the Duhks founder is well acquainted with the standard sedimentary layers of a tour van.

"I remember driving up to a gig, you’d open the door, and there would be avalanches of plastic bottles and other garbage just pouring out," says the banjo player.

Since 2007 though, the avalanches from the Duhks’ van have been reduced to mere dustings. The Winnipeg-based roots band has gone green now. They carry their own water bottles, print their album sleeves on eco-friendly paper with soy ink, and try not to eat anything that comes from a window. They’ve been on this trip, this green touring thing, since 2007. And it goes beyond reducing waste and eating healthy: the tour van, a loaner from a New York friend, runs on biodiesel.

Still, it’s hard to kill your carbon footprint. In a few weeks, the Duhks must fly to Nashville to meet their van. And some venues aren’t much interested in catering an organic meal for their performers.

"At a lot of bars, they give you $15 for dinner, and you deal," Podolak says. "It’s not always these great shows with like-minded people in folk clubs."

But, Podolak says, it’s important to do what you can. "It’s not the perfect solution, but it’s better than what we were doing. This is not us saying ‘Look at us, we’re so green!’ This is us saying, ‘Check out what we’re trying to do to be more green.’"

To spread the word, the Duhks launched a website (greenduhks.com). And the industry took notice: this fall, the manufacturer of organic granola Clif Bars invited the Duhks to join its GreenNotes program to promote eco-friendly touring, which also includes artists like Michael Franti and Ben Kweller.

"They’re starting to hook us up with local organizations in the places we play," Podolak says. "So we can come to town a few days early and get more involved."

Something suggests the locals would like that. There’s no doubt the multi-culti quintet has been steadily making space for itself in North America. Just last month, the Boston Globe named the Duhks’ most recent album, Fast Paced World, the second-best roots CD of 2008. They’re all over the U.S.’s National Public Radio and, closer to home, the CBC.

"Our introduction to the States was very strong, and has been maintained," Podolak says.

And no, that’s not because the Duhks were nominated for a Grammy in 2007. "To a lot of people, it doesn’t seem a big deal that a Canadian band playing acoustic music from Winnipeg would get a nomination against the Dixie Chicks," Podolak explains. "What it does more importantly is just props. People see it and go, ‘Oh, they must be a pretty good band.’ Maybe certain media people interview you who otherwise wouldn’t have."

In other words, going from the Duhks, Winnipeg roots band, to the Duhks, Grammy-nominated roots band, hasn’t gone to their heads.

"It was a fun thing to go too, a good experience," Podolak says. "But when we won our Juno, that meant more to me personally, because that’s our peers saying, ‘You made a great record.’"

Things have changed for the Duhks since that 2006 Juno. For one, the band has a couple of different faces: veteran local music siblings Sarah Dugas (vocals) and Christian Dugas (percussion) joined up in summer 2007 and January 2008, respectively, replacing outgoing members Jessee Havey and Scott Senior. Both were old friends; Podolak and Christian played together in Celtic rockers Scruj MacDuhk. And it was about time they played together again.

"Honestly, it’s a perfect band," Podolak says. "I’d always wanted to play music with them, and I’m thrilled it got to be with the Duhks. They both have this understanding of where traditional and contemporary are related."

This weekend, Podolak, the siblings Dugas, guitarist Jordan McConnell and fiddler Tania Elizabeth are holding a better-late-than-never CD release party for Fast Paced World, which dropped in August. After that, they’re on the road again, heading towards Nashville. After a two-month holiday break here in Winnipeg, Podolak says the Duhks are "all ready to get to warmer pastures."

And greener ones, of course. But don’t worry: though the Duhks wear their eco-consciousness on their sleeve, it’s not like, a thing or anything.

"We don’t stand up on a soap box at our gigs," Podolak says. "You come to see Duhks shows to have a good time and hear some good music. People have been pretty open about it because we haven’t shoved it down anyone’s throat. It’s not about how we are single-handedly changing the world."

 

The Duhks perform this Friday and Saturday at the Park Theatre. Both shows start at 8 p.m. Tickets for the somewhat-delayed CD release party are $20 at Ticketmaster.

melissa.martin@freepress.mb.ca