DAZZLING DUO Infinity Solstice (left) and Lightning Lix are bringing their timeless show to Strands on June 24th. Photo submitted
Timeless and relevant. Thats the best way Infinity Solstice, known as the Bright Wizard of Destiny, can describe the music that he and Ray Monroe, known as Lightning Lix, will be performing at the Strands Old House Restaurant on Friday, June 24th.
The duo has been working together for a little over a year, according to Mr. Solstice, and have developed a fair bit of chemistry in their performances. Mr. Solstice speaks high praises of Mr. Monroes work.
Nobody can play guitar like that guy, hes absolutely astounding, he said. Hes just so creative and its just such a pleasure to play with him and he forces me to play so much better. Hell blow your mind.
Mr. Monroe said that, as a blues player, he enjoys improvising when performing.
Its working out pretty good and I think thats what people like about it because its spontaneous what we do, he said.
In Mr. Solstices spare time, he drives Rockwaters Blue Bird party bus that brings visitors staying at hotels on the highway into Golden for a night out on the town. He said that he remarkably sold 500 records on that bus last year.
No kidding, its hard to believe because CDs are just getting to be kind of out of style a bit because people are just plugging into their MP3 players, Mr. Solstice said.
The duo will be performing mostly cover songs familiar to those in attendance, but will also be performing a number of songs that Mr. Solstice created himself. He wrote his biggest hit, Fully Functioning Forest, on the inspiration of trying to find a better way to practice logging. As someone who worked in logging in the past, Mr. Solstice said he even occasionally yells Fully Functioning Forest, when passing by loggers to remind people to defend the forest.
It means that Im just suggesting a way of looking at the forest, he said. I look at art as a way of striving to wake up people and thats what we do, right?
He said that he writes his songs from a Canadian perspective, trying to remind listeners of what it means to be Canadians, about issues like war and the legalization of marijuana.
Every once in a while, I phone Trudeaus office and read him one of my songs as a poem just as a reminder that some of us dont think killing people in other countries a million miles away is any fun, he said.
The performance is set to begin next Friday at 7 p.m. and is open to the public to enjoy at Strands Old House Restaurant in Invermere.
