It's about to be a very busy time for The Breakmen, an Americana group headed to Harrison in just one week.
Their West Coast Canada tour will take them from hamlet to Village to small cities, at almost a daily rate.
"We have one stretch that is 12 days straight," says Archie Pateman, hitting communities as diverse as Cumberland, Salmon Arm and Banff.
But with four band members living in cities across the country, they've learned to make the best of their time together.
"When we go on tour, we definitely concentrate the shows," he says. "The nature of our band is that we're spread across the country."
Two live in Ontario, one lives in Vancouver and Pateman lives on Vancouver Island.
Despite the distance between them, the foursome (Pateman, brothers Lee and Matt Watson and Ben Rogalsky) have been able to put out three albums in the six years they've been together.
Pateman says he'd like to do even more.
"I wish we could put out one a year, to tell you the truth," he says. But life sometimes gets in the way.
"The thing with our band has been balancing life as well. Three of us are fathers and family is really important to us. So we're constantly balancing that. Besides, we also just have busy lives in general."
Busy with The Breakmen, but also busy on their own projects.
Lee Watson put out his own bluegrass CD a few years ago, Pateman is involved in a bluegrass act focusing on brother harmonies.
While the side projects tend to focus on bluegrass, The Breakmen's music does not.
It's purebred Americana.
So, does being Canadian affect how they play such a genre? Pateman thinks not.
"It's a genre, and it's where the music came from," he says. "I'm not afraid to admit, and I'm not afraid to jump on the bandwagon."
The Breakmen have enjoyed plenty of success in their six years, after meeting as treeplanters in central B.C.
Having already won the Vox Pop Award for Americana Album of the Year at the Independent Music Awards, and having earned two Canadian Folk Music Award nominations for their previous album, When You Leave Town, the band is now embarking on Round Three of its tour to support its latest release, Heartwood.
That tour hits Harrison Memorial Hall January 28. Tickets are $22.00 and can be purchased by phone at 604-796-3664, online at www.harrisonfestival.com or in person at the Ranger Station Art Gallery in Harrison, or Agassiz Shoppers Drug Mart.