The Associates – Dan Legault, Alec McElcheran & Alan Springer: For more than 20 years, The Associates have played in different bands together. The members have played with, recorded with and written with a lot of people on Quebec’s blues scene including: Angel Forrest, Jonas Tomalty, Florence K, Freddie James, Carolyn Fe, Dawn Tyler Watson, Rob Lutes, Jim Zeller, Carl Tremblay, Guy Belanger and Suzie Vinnick to name a few. On any given night, you’ll see one of them playing with all the usual suspects at hotel gigs in Morroco and Asia, festival gigs from Vancouver to Halifax, opening slots for major recording acts, wedding gigs and back porches.
The Associates – Vol 1: Is the first record as a band. Drums, bass & guitar were recorded live off the floor. No overdubs. Raw, basic and chunky. These 7 songs are based on blues changes and blues riffs. The idea of the record was to write the kind of rocked out blues that the band likes to play live and to capture that vibe on the record. The sound recalls elements of early Jeff Beck Group, Cream, Gov’T Mule and The Stones. Blues based forms built on the solid foundation provided by Legault’s Drums and McElcheran’s Bass provide a canvas for Springer’s guitar explorations. Songwriting credits are shared amongst the three members with McElcheran and Springer trading vocal duties.