Feel the love

Local label Real Love Winnipeg releases its second “Beach Station Blues” compilation

Daniel Crump

Gil Carroll, Adam Soloway and Josh Winestock are the names behind the up-and-coming record label Real Love Winnipeg.

Winestock says the local imprint started in 2012 for simple reasons.

“We wanted to bring a bunch of bands together, have a fun time at the cottage and put together a record.

“It began as an idea in the summer to get a bunch of bands together and make an album at Gil’s cottage in Winnipeg Beach,” Soloway adds. “We decided that the album was going to be called Beach Station Blues.”

Recorded in the summer of 2012, Beach Station Blues was released with a party at the Royal George Hotel in December.

The album features over 25 Manitoba musicians, including The Hoots, Spirit Children and Poorboy.

Now, Real Love Winnipeg is ready to release Beach Station Blues II , which was recorded over a weekend in June – the studio again being Caroll’s family cabin.

Soloway says there were close to 70 artists that came through the cabin that weekend.

What’s incredible about the Real Love Winnipeg project is, appropriately, the amount of love going into it.

While some of the musicians were inside recording Beach Station Blues IIan impromptu jam session outside the cabin resulted in another separate album, dubbed The Deck Sessions 2013.

“Musicians were jamming outside because they love doing it and they started recording it. We ended up releasing 11 tracks from The Deck Sessions 2013.”

While the first Beach Station Blues was well-received, the Real Love gang believes the second has more promise.

“As a whole, we think that the second album is way better. A thousand times better,” Soloway says.

“All the bands that played again were a year better,” Caroll says, adding the record’s enormous guest list including Yes We Mystic, Animal Teeth, and Naysa.

In addition to showcasing a diverse mix of Manitoba music, Caroll says another important aspect of Real Love Winnipeg is the sense of community it’s helping foster.

“Now, all these musicians know each other,” he says. “They’re on the same album, they get to play the same shows together and they’re able to support each other. I don’t want to label us as a collective, but everyone feels a sense of community.”

Published in Volume 68, Number 3 of The Uniter (September 18, 2013)

Related Reads