It’s only been a year and a half since The Matinée decided to solidify their eclectic taste and pull together as a new band.

Yet in many ways playing with the group should feel like old hat for the six friends.

Log onto their MySpace page (http://www.myspace.com/thematinee) and you’re soon lost in catchy roots-rock lyrics rolling off the tongue of lead vocalist Matthew Layzell as he sings a line that could easily describe their own formation:

“This old road, this dirty road, is all I’ve known, but I keep going anyway,” he croons.

All six musicians call Vancouver home and five have actually played together since high school.

More than a decade later they’ve picked up additional family members—brothers Mike and Dave Young both play in the group—and are inches from ditching the day jobs to earn a living off The Matinée’s success.

It’s been a long and winding road for the musicians who have all played in other groups along the way.

Describing themselves as the “blue collar” hardworking heart and soul of the music scene, their show should offer an energetic mix of roots, country, rock and even heavy metal sound when they play The Grateful Fed this Saturday.

The band members all have post-secondary education in music and members have played in Jet Black Stare, which charted well in the States, and Beyond the Fall.

The Youngs play in a very heavy metal band and the six provide the band backup for Fera, a pair of country music singing twins with whom the group played the Merrit Mountain Music Festival.

Saturday’s Kelowna show is one of the first stops on a three-week Western Canadian tour organized to float half a dozen new songs before they head back into the studio to track compliments for an album release this fall.

The band has one CD out, has seen plenty of play on college radio and is now looking for representation to start breaking into the main stream as they’ve yet to play on commercial stations.

The Matinée will play at 8 p.m. Saturday June 27 at The Grateful Fed on Bernard.

jsmith@kelownacapnews.com