Spirit Of The West

Bridging the gap between folk and alt, Vancouver's Spirit Of the West was one of the unmissable live acts on the '90s touring circuit, supported by a fervent and loyal fanbase that appreciated the roots and moshed out to the rock. We begin our overview of the band's career with breakthrough single "Political" from 1988's Labour Day — their third album — and frosh week anthem "Home for a Rest," from major label debut Save This House (1990). Stripped down or fleshed out, S.O.T.W. keeps passions boiling through Next Steps.

Back in 1983, Spirit Of the West went by the name Evesdropper, and was grounded in the sort of instrumental folk influences that can be heard on "An Honest Gamble" from second album Tripping Up the Stairs (1986). The band's early phase also brought an excellent clap-along cover of Richard Thompson's "Time to Ring Some Changes," while "Goodbye Grace" — a big favourite from the band's live repertoire — appeared on 1991's Go Figure, the album that marked the arrival of sticksman Vince Ditrich.

The great and legendary (live) band Spirit Of the West wear their folk-rock tag proudly, in the sense that they started out in Celtic folk during the mid-'80s, then moved towards rock as the '90s dawned, touring with the Wonder Stuff on the back of Save This House and recruiting a drummer to beef up their sound. From then on, there was no looking back, as the outfit milked the success of 1993's Faithlift to cement its position as one of our biggest alt-rock draws during the '90s and pull off a couple of memorable 1995 shows with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra — let's all sing along heartily to "That's Amore."