Event Info
Legendary Canadian Punk/Rock icon ART BERGMANN Record Release Party.: Art Bergmann, RADCO
Legendary Canadian punk/rock icon ART BERGMANN return after a 15 year self-impos...
7:00pm - 11:00pm Doors at: 7:00pm
$20
Artists
Art Bergmann
from Vancouver BC
Event Description
Legendary Canadian punk/rock icon ART BERGMANN return after a 15 year self-imposed retirement with new songs, a new EP, and his same dangerous live show. With Victoria's RADco opening the show.
Bio.
Art Bergmann (born February 8, 1953 Vancouver, British Columbia) is a Canadian rock singer-songwriter who was one of the key figures in Canadian punk rock in the late 1970s and 1980s.
Bergmann began his musical career with an Abbotsford band called the Mount Lehman Grease Band. After Mount Lehman folded, Art founded his own band, called the Notorious Smorg Brothers, which he stocked with a myriad of different support artists.
Bergmann was later the lead singer and songwriter for Vancouver punk stalwarts Young Canadians (formerly The K-Tels). Although the Young Canadians only recorded two independent EPs and a single before breaking up, their song "Hawaii" (co-written with Ross Carpenter) is one of the classic Canadian punk anthems. Although long out of print, the EPs, along with some unreleased live material, were reissued in 1995 as the album No Escape.
In the 1980s, Bergmann played with Vancouver independent bands Los Popularos and Poisoned before the latter band signed to Duke Street Records in 1988. Due to confusion with the popular American band Poison which had marred the band's most recent tour, however, the label decided to bill the band's releases as solo albums by Bergmann.
He released his debut solo album, the John Cale-produced Crawl With Me, in 1988. 1990's Sexual Roulette, produced by Chris Wardman, became Bergmann's mainstream breakthrough, spawning the rock radio hit "Bound for Vegas" and garnering him a deal with Polygram Records.
He followed up with a self-titled album on Polygram in 1991, again garnering significant radio airplay for the singles "Faithlessly Yours" and "Message From Paul". He moved to Sony Records for 1995's What Fresh Hell Is This?, which won that year's Juno Award for Best Alternative Rock Album. However, his record sales, while solid, were not spectacular, and Sony did not renew his contract.
The 1998 Design Flaw, produced by Peter J. Moore and released independently, was a reworking of tracks from his first three albums, plus a cover of Gram Parsons' "Sin City". The songs featured Bergmann on acoustic guitar, with backing by Chris Spedding on electric. Bergmann then re-released 1984's Vultura Freeway in 2000, with helpful liner notes from Pointed Sticks front man Nick Jones. In 2009 Poisoned bassist Ray Fulber issued the Cd Lost Art Bergmann, which featured early demo versions of most of the songs that appeared on the 1988 John Cale produced album. These demo recordings served as a tonic to many fans as they have a more guitar driven sound than the keyboard heavy Cale produced sessions. The demos were produced by The Payola$’ Paul Hyde and released in 1987 as a limited edition cassette only.
Bergmann covered "Prisoners of Rock and Roll" on the Neil Young tribute Borrowed Tunes, and contributed a song for the soundtrack to Terminal City Ricochet.
He has also appeared in two Bruce McDonald films, Highway 61 as Otto and Hard Core Logo as himself, and as a musician in Conjurer of Monikers. Additionally, he was featured in Bloodied but Unbowed, a film featured at the 2010 Vancouver Documentary Film Festival.
By 1998, Bergmann had grown disillusioned with the music industry and decided to retire - purchasing a farm outside of Calgary, Alberta.
In June 2014, Art Bergmann announced via Exclaim! Magazine that he would release a new 4 song EP on weewerk Records entitled “Songs For The Underclass” in September 2014. Bergman has also announced live dates for Vancouver and Victoria for early September 2014.
Bergman is well known for his intense live shows. After all these years, Art Bergmann’s fans are just as passionate about his music as they’ve ever been. Here’s to hoping that Art Bergmann’s comeback is permanent and he gives the music biz a good kick in the ass!
Venue
#15 Bastion Square
Bar / Nightclub
Capacity280
Open / Operational
In-Person Event
Fri. September 5th 2014 + Add to Calendar
The Upstairs Cabaret
