Dave Lang & the Twin Otters

Dave Lang & the Twin Otters subscribe to an ethic that seems to have disappeared from today’s music scene. Proponents of journalist Malcolm Gladwell’s "10,000 hours" assertion that competency requires massive amounts of hard work, Lang and his musical compatriots (clarinet player Jeff Poynter and upright bassist Alex Rempel) have achieved success simply by playing as much as they can. They’ve done this by not only performing their mix of ‘30s jazz and western swing music in small pubs, large festivals, theatres or busking in outdoor venues, but also by holding down a residency at The Superior in their home town of Victoria. Putting "time on the instrument" ahead of incessant social media networking might seem old-fashioned, but it’s panned out for them; last year the trio logged nearly 200 paid performances, and they’re on track to play more in 2013. The band may be lovers of classic jazz, swing, country, Louis Armstrong, and the Great American songbook, but don’t mistake Lang & the Twin Otters for po-faced archivists obsessed with musical purity. Lang is a witty and subversive performer, often updating lyrics to older songs, keeping little more than the chorus... more...