Canada has become home to a talented husband and wife duo from the United Kingdom following overwhelming support from a growing fan base. Multi-award winning Red Dirt Skinners’ Sarah and Rob Skinner are living it up in Ontario as they perform at sold-out shows, something that wouldn’t have been possible at home overseas. “The attitude towards professional musicians is very different there,” Sarah said of the UK. “If we told people in England we are professional musicians they would say, ‘What do you do for a living?’ Here it just seems much more relaxed and normal.” The Red Dirt Skinners are returning to Alberta with a performance at the Red Deer Lake United Church Oct. 19 at 7:30 p.m. to kick off the On the Edge Concert Series season. They’ve been permanent Canadian residents for just over a year. Sarah said it was their Canadian fans who played a large part in their decision to become permanent residents. “When we first came here in June 2015 the response from the audience was so receptive,” she said. “The first show we ever played was just outside Toronto and when we announced the song we were going to play first, someone in the front row said, ‘I love this one.’ It was one of our original songs in a continent we’ve never played before. It set the whole thing up for us.” Sarah describes their concerts as eclectic and unpredictable. “You’re never going to know what’s going to happen next,” she said. “One moment we’re going to make you laugh and the other moment we’re going to make you cry.” Sarah said it’s difficult to pin their music down to one genre. “People have tried to pigeon hole us in the past, but it just doesn’t work,” she said. “We’ve been compared to Pink Floyd and Supertramp and Simon & Garfunkel for the harmonies. A review from Roots Music Canada called us the Pink Floyd of folk music. That sums us up really.” The clarinet was Sarah’s instrument of choice as a youngster, but after progressing through the classical grades she moved on to the saxophone. “It’s just cooler,” she said. Sarah, who had played in various bands in the UK, said she met Rob after placing an online advertisement in 2009 looking for a bass guitarist to get a rock band together. When Rob responded the band had already found a guitarist, but when it didn’t work out Rob was quick to move in. The two became fast friends and went from a six-piece band to a four-piece band before deciding to perform as a duet – Sarah supplying her vocals and saxophone and Rob his vocals, guitar and talent with the foot-operated percussions. “We were the only full-time musicians in the band,” she said. “We wanted to travel a lot more than everybody else in the band.” In 2012 the couple married and continued their passion for music. “When we first started out we had a lot of connections on the British blues scene,” she said. “Our first album was very bluesy and bluegrass. We got married and were happy so that didn’t fit that anymore.” The couple allowed their numerous influences to develop their new sound. When collaborating, Sarah contributes the lyrics while Rob offers his instrumental expertise. “I will wake up in the middle of the night with an idea and write it down,” she said. “I’ll have a vague idea of how it’s going to go and he will embellish the cords and say which cords he doesn’t like, which works for us.” Last month, they released the album Under Utopian Skies, a nine-track CD that tells stories of their life experiences. Their fans seem to approve. “We’re starting to get a fan base in Ontario,” Sarah said. “The shows are starting to sell out and are doing really well here. We’re close to selling out our shows in Calgary and Edmonton. The radios are playing our songs a lot as well.” Tickets to see the Red Dirt Skinners perform this weekend cost $25 for adults and $10 for teens. Those ages 12 and under are free. Purchase tickets at 403-256-3181 ext. 5 or at redeerlakeuc.com
