Collis' group nabs ECMA nod

Appleton's Aaron Collis was the recipient of good news last month when he learned his group, The Dardanelles, had received an East Coast Music Award nomination.

The band, whose self-titled debut CD was released in the fall, were nominated in the Instrumental Recording of the Year.

"I was really excited, because I never expected we'd get nominated," said Mr. Collis, who currently lives in St. John's, where the folk group is based.

The accordion player was a latecomer to the group, which includes singer-guitarist Tom Power, Kate Bevan-Baker on the fiddle, percussionist Rich Klauss, and Andrew Dale on tenor banjo and bouzouki.

He joined the band in April after making an impression on the band's members through his appearances at various sessions - informal jams that commonly take place in a bar.

"The guys got to know me, and when they needed an accordion player, they just called me up," he said.

The band performs traditional Newfoundland folk songs with energy, and Mr. Collis said this has given the group an opportunity to expose the music to a younger audience. On multiple occasions, the band has packed St. John's music venue The Ship with an audience dominated by people in their teens and 20s, he said.

The Dardanelles' 10-song CD was recorded in less than a week with multiple ECMA nominee Duane Andrews, whose brother Curtis is also a nominee in the Instrumental Recording of the Year category.

While his nimble finger work on the squeezebox is Mr. Collis' most obvious contribution to

the recording, he also helped with song selection, contributing a tune he discovered in Boyd's Cove. The Boyd's Cove Singles is a set of tunes he learned from Boyd's Cove resident Brendan Newman. It is the first time, to his knowledge, these songs have been recorded in the province.

"My stepfather has a house down in Boyd's Cove, so I spend some time there," said Mr. Collis. " I went out there and visited and played some tunes with Brendan Newman. We needed a set of singles, so they decided to throw it on the album."

Collecting tunes is a past-time he enjoys, as it helps ensure they live on.

"Brendan (Newman) is close to 90 now, so if nobody learns them, then they get lost."

Mr. Collis, whose love for the accordion started after he heard the music of the late Harry Hibbs, will be making the trip to Sydney, N.S. to partake in the celebration of East Coast music, and it will not be his only music-related trip for the winter.

In February, he will travel to Memphis, Tenn., to perform with The Dardanelles for an official showcase at the International Folk Alliance Conference. The conference will include a large number of music industry professionals.

The event will also mark Mr. Collis' first stateside visit, and he has his passport all ready to go.