He hasn’t been gone long, but Colby Ramsay is coming home next week, part of a mini-tour of the Interior he is doing with a fellow musician, who is also planning to visit some old haunts.
The There’s No Place Like Home tour is taking Ramsay — who performs under the name My Boy Rascal — and Folk Thief on a tour through Penticton, Salmon Arm, Vernon and Kamloops to promote their debut albums: The Study of Animal Magicality (My Boy Rascal) and Love, Heartache and Oblivion (Folk Thief).
Originally from Naramata, Ramsay said he moved down to Vancouver a month ago and since then has been playing at venues in and around the city. That’s where he ran across Dave Hadgkiss. The two met while playing on a folk radio show and discovered that they had complementary but unique acoustic folk-pop styles.
Performing as Folk Thief, Dave Hadgkiss has gone from being a completely unknown artist to booking gigs and placing in the top 10 on college radio charts across Canada in a little over a year.
“It’s the name,” laughs Hadgkiss, “I just think it’s more interesting to have an alias, it gives you freedom.”
Hadgkiss discovered that he wasn’t alone in this philosophy when he met Ramsay, who has also been producing music under his stage name, My Boy Rascal, or MBR.
“I grew up in Kamloops and it turns out Colby grew up in Naramata. I was already booking a small five-day solo tour through the Interior and I thought My Boy Rascal would be a perfect addition,” said Hadgkiss. “We’re excited to play for new audiences and connect with people, and it also gives us a chance test our limits a little. How many shows can we do in a row? This is all new to us.”
My Boy Rascal and Folk Thief will play at Opus Cafe on June 15 at 7:30 p.m. and entry is by donation. Penticton-based singer-songwriter Lucas Penner will open the show.