KAMSACK — A former Kamsack resident who is well on his way of realizing his dream of becoming a rock star, will be performing in Kamsack on Friday with his band Dead Levee.
Rylan Klapatiuk, son of Tracy and Janet Klapatiuk of Kamsack, said he enjoys playing for a hometown crowd.
“I can recognize nearly all the faces in the crowd,” Klapatiuk said last week. “It’s cool getting feedback and acknowledgement from the people I know, many of whom didn’t even know I had been into music.”
Playing lead guitar and some vocals with Dead Levee, a Regina-based group, Klapatiuk said the band’s music is “high energy rock and roll that includes some music from the 1960s, some from the 70s and some from the 80s, up to modern music.
“We try to encompass all we enjoy into one package,” he said.
Last weekend the band performed on stage at the Roxy Music Hall in Saskatoon, as the opening for the Trews, a major Canadian act that plays rock to pop and is touring the country.
“We’re going to be pretty busy this summer,” he said, adding that after playing in Kamsack the band will be performing in Flin Flon for a couple days, will attend a showcase in June and is booked at festivals in July in Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Alberta. This fall the group plans to get into a van and travel to Montreal to play.
Klapatiuk was pleased to say that the band’s first single from its EP (extended play) recording, titled Rise Up, was played during a Hockey Night in Canada televised game this spring, and last week, on May 25, their music was featured during the televised NHL game between Colorado and St. Louis.
Two tracks from the EP, which are on YouTube, were placed on YouTube’s Top 100 New North American rock songs for 2022.
Nothing Good reached Number 35, and Best Intentions, Number 71, he said, explaining that the band has been streamed on Internet festivals, has been featured on several television news programs and has had success on radio, including on a Regina rock station as well on smaller radio stations.
“We’ve had a few spins on radio in the Toronto area.
“We’re making progress,” he said. “We played as much as possible during the pandemic.
“We’re all in our mid to late 20s so we try to get together as much as possible and make the weekends free for shows.”
He said that cutting the EP in British Columbia, the band worked with Canadian heavyweight producer Garth (GGGarth) Richardson, who is a Grammy-nominated and Juno Award winning producer, who has worked with some of the biggest names, including Rage Against the Machine, Ozzy Osbourne, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Taylor Swift. Richardson has now added Dead Levee’s EP, Rise Up, to the list of his productions.
The band has rubbed shoulders with several bands and became friendly with the lead singers of The Lazies and Monster Trucks.
A 2013 graduate of the Kamsack Comprehensive Institute, Klapatiuk said he did play music while in school, and he and a friend on drums formed a band that played at high school assemblies and once at the annual Veregin shishliki event.
On Dec. 1, 2017, Dead Levee was formed with Klapatiuk; Dane Von Hagen, the lead singer; Tayler Morgan, on bass and vocals; Rylan Dusyk, who plays rhythm and slide guitar, and Preston Laschuk on drums.
Friday’s concert in Kamsack marks the third time Dead Levee will have played in the community. The group was featured at a Canada Day celebration at the Sportsground a couple years ago and then played at the Playhouse in October, 2019.
“It’s a crazy life and I absolutely love it,” he said when asked what it is like living the life of a rock musician. “We work our asses off, but we get so much in return.
“Now it’s time to take it to the next level so we won’t need our day jobs and can spend all the time in music.”
At the OCC Hall in Kamsack, Klapatiuk said the band will be playing a couple of sets and will include about 60 per cent original music and the rest will be covers of popular songs.
As a licensed venue, the concert is restricted to persons of at least 19 years of age.
Tickets are available at the Town Office and from Sas-Kam Sportsman, but they’re also available at the door for the same price, he said. Doors open on Friday, June 3 at 8 p.m. and “we’ll be on stage by 9 p.m., giving the audience time to socialize.
“It’s going to be a good time.”
Dead Levee is a band well-known to Kamsack people, said Stephen Dutcheshen, Kamsack’s recreation director, who added the recreation department decided to book the band as something else for people to do and to have the opportunity to enjoy live music.
Any funds remaining after the band is paid and the expenses looked after, will go to the town’s recreation department, Dutcheshen said.
