Photo submitted by Vince Ditrich
Winnipeg-based folk band, House of Doc, played in Kipling on April 11.

By Lizz Bottrell
Citizen Staff

House of Doc isn’t your regular folk band. In fact, there is nothing conventional about this folk/bluegrass/Celtic inspired foursome. Even the band members themselves aren’t what a person would typically picture a folk band to be.

When someone talks about ‘folk music,’ people generally think of a long haired-granola eating-second hand clothes wearing hippie who plays his or her acoustic guitar around a campfire. House of Doc really doesn’t fit this stereotype.

Now that’s not to say they don’t live up to some of the folk ideals - they do tour almost solely in a van. “Life as a Canadian musician is really different,” said band member Matthew Harder over a phone interview from Ontario. “There’s really very little music, it’s a lot of traveling in a van.”

They’ll be doing a lot of traveling in their van over the next month. House of Doc is embarking on the bands longest touring to date, making a stop in Kipling on April 11. “This is our longest touring schedule yet,” said Harder. “Since we’re a younger band, it’s fairly hard to book.”

Although the band may be new to longer touring stints, they are no amateurs to playing live gigs. They’ve played the Winnipeg Folk Festival as well as numerous other summer festivals across Canada. This summer they’re hitting up two in British Columbia, one in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia and the Ontario Folk Fest. They’re in for a busy summer.

House of Doc, however, is still a fairly small-time band. Usually, they drive their own van around while touring, but since Harder’s father recently retired, he’s been hired on as the band’s full-time driver and road manager.

Harder’s dad isn’t the only family member involved in the band. House of Doc actually formed when Harder realized the musical potential of his new wife and her family. Harder’s wife, Rebecca, and her brother Dan Wiebe were involved in music since childhood. Once Harder saw how fluently they could all play together, the band was just a natural progression. Recently, they added Jesse Krause after Rebecca and Dan’s brother, David, left the band.

Many people may think that working and traveling with your wife and brother-in-law could become a little, let’s say, frustrating. But that’s not really the case. “Eventually a band behaves like a family,” said Harder. “For us, it was just already there.” However, that’s not to say there aren’t tiresome times. “When you spend that much time in a van, you eventually get under their skin,” said Harder.

With no lead singer (the band shares the vocal responsibility) and a wide array of instruments, House of Doc is sure to impress. “We all sing, we don’t have a lead vocalist,” said Harder. “We sing in four part harmonies on every song. We want our vocals to be real strong. We do things opposite when we write music - we do the vocals first and then arrange the music to support them.”

If anyone is wondering what to expect from House of Doc, be prepared for something out of the ordinary. “We’re high energy with a fairly personal atmosphere going on,” said Harder. “We tell lots of stories so you’re not just sitting there like you’re listening to a record.”

House of Doc hits the stage in Kipling on Friday, April 11 at 7:30 at the Kipling Community Centre. TICKETS……