KATE MAKI/RUTH MINNIKIN
Sat, Jan 17
The Black Dog (Hair of the Dog)

It’s Sunday night in Saskatoon, a jam band is playing the pub below them, but Kate Maki and Ruth Minnikin are just hanging out in their rooms, watching a little television. The two singer/songwriters have the night off before heading to Edmonton for a couple of shows. "Four shows in and we’re having a good time," Minnikin enthuses over the communal cell phone. "Last night was definitely the best," she continues. "We sold lots of merch, got key support from the college radio station…a nice show, and lots of nice folks."

Hopefully nice folks in other cities will also get the message. Both Minnikin and Maki are better known for the bands they’ve played with (Minnikin with the Guthries, Maki with the John Henrys) than for their solo careers. With this tour, both hope to showcase their solo albums and cut the costs normally incurred from dragging a band around with them. Smart thinking, not to mention pretty fast considering that they’ve known each other for just under six months. "I met Ruth at a [East Coast musician] Nathan Riley show through her boyfriend," supplies Maki as she takes her turn on the phone. "I was, uh, drunk, and at a party afterwards we danced to Stevie Wonder tunes."

You can’t have not bonded after that.

"Exactly! That was back in September, and we put together the idea to tour almost the next day."

And so they did, booking the 15-show tour across Canada that delivers them to the Black Dog this Saturday afternoon. They put the tour together, phoned and emailed press and record stores, and they’re driving themselves. It’s part of the DIY ethic that Minnikin insists will allow them to survive as artists while those beholden to major labels fall further into debt.

"I’ve been doing the indie artist thing now for a decade, and I’ve dealt with indie labels and distribution companies, and major labels," asserts Minnikin. "My first band, Booming Airplanes was signed to EMI, so I’ve seen what the corporate end is," she says. "Me and Kate, one of our mandates for this trip is to set up distribution routes for North America. Like, we’re dealing with all independent agents, record stores– just trying to set up those relationships ourselves. So when the album comes out, we have people we can call ourselves. ‘How many albums do you need? Oh, you’re out, well we’ll send you some tomorrow.’ It makes a lot of sense, ‘cause then you’re not losing, like, 12 dollars-a-CD like when you’re with a label or distribution company."