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According to Mark Feduk, there is no master plan when it comes to his band The Uncas.
“We probably could have used a manager 20 or 25 years ago in our heyday when we were touring the country,” the guitarist-vocalist says with a bit of a chuckle, speaking in advance of his band’s upcoming 25th anniversary show this Friday at 9910.
Representation and long-range planning never seemed to be in the cards for the Edmonton-based country rock unit, but they still built a very loyal following over the years before taking an extended break in roughly 2008. They didn’t break up, instead dissolving as members chased other priorities, started new bands, looked outside of the tight unit they’d built through their late teens. The friendship remained, however, and the gang couldn’t stay apart for long.
Now, when they get together as they will be on Friday, some people will call it a reunion, but the fact is that they’ve been reuniting on a fairly regular basis for over a decade now.
“Up until last year, believe it or not, it had been six years since we had played,” says Feduk, who, along with pals Sean Brewer, Louis Bouchier, Kham Serk Yawnghwe, Adam Rachinsky, and (occasionally) Khiron Jhass have kept the band a going concern through the years. “We did a show in late 2019, and we were actually planning to do a 20th anniversary of the band in 2020 and record two new songs.”
Feduk isn’t forthcoming on what halted the band in early 2020 (we can only guess), but the setback was temporary. The Uncas began casually jamming for fun again when things settled down and set their sights on the next big anniversary. Last year, they stepped it up and booked a number of shows to knock off the rust and to pay for the recording.
The result? Bridge Song and River Song, two numbers that Feduk thinks capture the band’s extensive sonic range. They’ll be spotlighted at the release party this Friday at 9910, with The Bing Bang Boys and Nadine Kellman providing support. The two songs will drop as a new EP, Horseshoe Theory – Simple Uncanomics, which will be available Friday on all streaming and digital platforms.
“You can hear the essence of the Uncas sound between the two,” he says. “Bridge Song is kind of more fiery, like rage and lap steel, a little more serious, a little darker. River Song is a lot more goofy and wild and all over the place. We picked those two just because we thought they kind of captured what the Uncas is about, or was about. What’s nice about it is we get to have music out there that’s not from when we were kids, because I think there’s regret that we didn’t record more. You know, musicians get better over time. You play more and go through different experiences. So, we feel our musicianship is at a much higher level than it was when we recorded our other stuff.”
Feduk notes that the friendship is also at a higher level. They’ve all found other projects to work on, but the call of The Uncas is strong. It’s also fun, with no expectations beyond that.
This time around, they’re coming with a little bit more intention. Along with the new song, there’ll be video for Bridge Song as well, culled from camcorder footage taken over the years. Not just live music, but actual comedic skits in between the playing.
“We stumbled on this bag of old VHS tapes that we took on one of our first tours, so we’ve got all this old vintage footage,” he explains. “There wasn’t any social media back then so we didn’t really have any use for it at the time, but we were filming all these skits and stuff, kind of fashioning ourselves as a combination of a band and something like The Kids in the Hall. Some of it isn’t quite as funny as we thought they were, but some of it is actually quite funny, and we actually planned stuff out and put in different camera angles. I’ve had a lot of fun putting this video together.”
They’re not exactly chasing dreams of stardom, but there are no plans to put The Uncas to rest in the near future. Feduk says that there’ll be a few festivals in the summer, and possibly more recording. Whatever else, The Uncas promise not to reel anyone in with promises of a last show with an expected reunion a decade down the road.
“I think we’ll keep doing this until we can’t anymore,” Feduk laughs. “I mean, we’re probably going to skip the 30th and 40th anniversary, and maybe just aim for the 50 Year; that will definitely be pretty a sight to behold.”
The Uncas w/ The Bing Bang Boys and Nadine Kellman
When: Friday at 7:30 p.m.
Where: 9910b-109 St NW
Tickets: $19.99 before taxes, available at the door or in advance from Eventbrite.
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