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Music

Joe Pernice

JOE PERNICE at the Dakota (249 Ossington), Friday (May 6), 9 pm. $20. RT, SS. See listing.


Joe Pernice might not be a household name, but everyone at his neighbourhood coffee shop greets him with fond familiarity.

Pernice, a Massachusetts native who moved to Toronto after marrying former Jale bassist Laura Stein, isn’t just a local character with a caffeine addiction. He’s also a poet, novelist and primary figure in the Pernice Brothers, a band that shed the alt-country skin of his previous Scud Mountain Boys to make some of the smartest pop music around.

When we meet, the new homeowner has renovations on his mind. His laptop is covered in dust, and he gets a call from his contractor mid-interview. Despite the distractions, he recently found time to head into the studio to record an album that’ll be out later this year.

“I can’t imagine that I would ever stop writing songs or wanting to record,” he muses. “But I’m not making a record every six months, although here I am making a record this year having made one last year. So who knows?”

Pernice might feel like he’s slowing down, but he’s been very busy. Last year’s Goodbye, Killer (Ashmont) was preceded in 2009 by his second novel, It Feels So Good When I Stop. To accompany the book, he recorded a wide-ranging covers album that included Todd Rundgren’s Hello It’s Me and Plush’s Found A Little Baby.

“Music can drop into your lap in three minutes,” he says of the difference between writing songs and novels. “It’s much easier to become a personality or convey a very simple thing. With a book, if you’re creating a character over 50,000 words, you have to be really consistent.”

Currently working on an idea for a television show as well as the script for a film adaptation of his novel, Pernice is squeezing in a couple of solo shows here and in Hamilton, and anticipates a Pernice Brothers tour once the record comes out.

“I haven’t played in a while,” he says, about his decision to perform. “We finished our last sessions in March, and I really enjoyed being with the band and playing music.”

music@nowtoronto.com

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