2024 has been kind to Wreckless Harbour

The folk and bluegrass quartet have released two singles in advance of their debut album Step Lightly, coming out this month. They will play The Mule Spinner on Dec. 7.

The folk and bluegrass quartet of Trevor Roach (banjo), Lawren Helder (guitar), Jon “J.J.” Harley (violin), and “Big” Mark Korczynski (bass) have become a fixture of street festivals and music nights at venues throughout Hamilton. As noted by this magazine last year, Wreckless Harbour has been a band to watch, having booked performances around town and abroad, notably Toronto’s venerable Dakota Tavern and a recent tour in Nova Scotia.  

With the release of their first official single “Gold,” in advance of their upcoming EP release Step Lightly, Wreckless Harbour begins a new and exciting chapter in their ongoing story of musical and creative success. 

“Gold,” written by Roach, was actually the first song that the ensemble played together. 

“It’s remarkable that it's our first single coming out now and the first one that played at the start. Now it feels like new again, even though we've had it for a while.” 

Appropriately, Wreckless Harbour began on the water.

Roach wrote the song for the 2021 Music Raft Open Mic at Bayfront Park organized by Fort Elgin, the Hamilton community meetup group run by Matthew Thompson and Jeanette Eby. 

“I write things for things,” says Roach, “and I wrote it for the open mic because I had to have something to play. I had just moved back to Hamilton, I was in a new space after some life changes, and I was looking for opportunities and a little bit of shine.”  

Though Roach had intended to perform solo, Harley, a classically trained violinist, was also on the beach that day. “I remember that Trevor was the only person there with the banjo and he had that big chorus of ‘Gold.’ I could see he was a very talented musician.” 

Harley later joined Roach for an impromptu jam session, which drew the attention of Helder. 

“It was a great night and everyone had good music,” says Helder. “There had been 40 or 50 people there, both performing and listening. I just loved Trevor’s song. Afterwards, I was chatting with some friends and a little ways down the beach, I heard a banjo and fiddle band going on, and I felt I needed to get in on that, so I stopped putting my guitar away and I ran over. I think they were playing a little Johnny Cash, so we jammed. We learned that we had a lot of interests in common. We did some Arcade Fire, some Neil Young.”  

It was in the parking lot that the then-trio decided to form a band. Still, someone was missing, and it wasn’t until a few weeks later when Harley was in the midst of a deep YouTube dive that he found him: Korczynski, host of the Big Mark Podcast and the co-host of open mic Thursdays at Shawn & Ed Brewing Company in Dundas. 

“Mark was talking about when he was in a band and missing that experience,” says Harley. “I went back to Lawr and Trevor and said, ‘Guys, I know a guy who plays bass.’”

Reflecting on those times as the band begins to promote “Gold” ahead of the release of their full EP Step Lightly later this year, Korczynski is very aware of the permanence that having an album brings to their music. 

“For most other art forms,” he says, “whether you’re performing it on camera, putting pen to paper, paintbrush to canvas, you're creating something that lasts. With live music, we perform a song and then it’s gone. Yes, it exists in the notebook, but until you forge it in the studio, you don't have a permanent work. This album is something that we can hold in our hand. It feels like we've brought something into the world.”

"Everything feels new again,” adds Roach. “It feels like we're just becoming a band even though we've been a band for a bit.” 

Harley concurs. “Everything feels refreshed. I'm so glad that I have bandmates that have that approach. Pretty infamously, when artists start laying down tracks, the song is old and the connection to it is lost. I feel great that all of us have a shared connection with the music. I love that it takes a different form at the studio.”

“We've been living with these songs for a long time,” says Helder, “and having them officially in the world, it's like we're tying the knot as a band. We’re starting a whole new chapter.”

Wreckless Harbour will be returning to The Mule Spinner on Saturday, Dec. 7 (tickets available here). You can listen to the debut single "Gold" on Spotify and many other streaming platforms. The next single, “Lonesome Wind,” came out in late October, followed by the Step Lightly EP this month.