Silver Screen Scoundrels
In this episode, we’re making another musical journey back in time. Back to the early 20th century when silent movies were often accompanied by live music, were a popular choice of entertainment. This was also the time when swing music grew its roots and blues become popular.
This episode features Brandon Isaak and Keith Picot. They are “The Silver Screen Scoundrels” from the Vancouver area in British Columbia.
Although the duo formed in 2012, Brandon and Keith are old friends who played for many years in the swing blues band “The Twisters”. The duo’s founding concept for “The Silver Screen Scoundrels” was to revive the classical art form of silent films and live music. They entertain audiences with original old style silent era films paired with live tunes, and a hefty dose of comedy. On stage, this duo sports late 19th century fashions, a generous helping of mustache wax and lays down a wicked mix of old timey acoustic blues, gospel, ragtime and swing.
Brandon who divides his time between Vancouver and Whitehorse, Yukon, won the 2014 Maple Blues Award for being the Best Acoustic Blues Performer in Canada. (The Maple Blues Awards are the top honour that a Canadian Blues performer can achieve) He was previously nominated for the same award in 2013. He plays multiple instruments including guitar, harmonica, kazoo, banjo and foot percussion.
Stand-up bassist Keith Picot won the Maple Blues Award as Canada’s Best Bass Player in 2011 and was nominated again in 2014. Developing a passion for silent films, Keith has created 30 of them with more in the works.
Unfortunately, since this is radio we can’t show you Keith’s hilariously funny silent films but we hope you’ll enjoy their music as much as we did. For those of you who would love to watch the films, we posted a link to the video’s on our web site junctionjam.ca.
The Silver Screen Scoundrels performed at the St. Elias Convention Centre in Haines Junction, Yukon, on February 18th, 2016.