In The Press

The Victoria Star, October 8, 2003

By Bob LaFrance

Perth-Andover — An up-and-coming Fredericton musical group, two of whose members are local products, will be performing this weekend at Kelly’s Pub. First Cool Hive, the five-person band whose name was derived from a Moby song, will perform Saturday evening, Oct. 11 at the popular Perth-Andover pub.

“I guess you could call us a diverse group,” commented the group’s spokesman Peter Lockhart on Sunday afternoon from his Fredericton home. “Our main thrust is Rhythm and Blues, and we do jazz, rock and just about any kind of music we like.” Peter is the son of Richard and Beatrice Lockhart of Perth-Andover and bass player Tony Scott hails from Four Falls, the son of Edna Scott and the late Carl Scott.

The other three members of the group are singer Kim Richard, drummer Charles Wilby, and sax player Helen Kahlke. They perform the music of many well-known artists including Ray Charles, Bonnie Raitt, Sarah Mclaughlin, Natalie Merchant, and even that of the old-time blues legends like T-Bone Walker. Among the original songs that First Cool Hive may be performing on Oct. 11 at Kelley’s will be ‘Alone at Midnight’, ‘Hands are Weak’, and ‘Out of Control’.

First Cool Hive was formed about three years ago and since then has been steadily increasing its drawing power as the group appears in larger venues. Their gigs includ the Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival, the Canada Games, the Sussex Balloon Festival, and the Canada Day Block Party at Officer’s Square in Fredericton.

“We’ve played in bars and outdoor events and we’re really looking forward to playing in Perth-Andover again,” Peter Lockhart commented. “It’ll be nice to see some old friends again.”

NORTHSIDE NEWS, August 16, 2002

LOCAL GROUP STRIVES FOR SUCCESS

By: Gary Boole

Left to Right: Charles Wilby (drums) Kim Richard (vocals), Tony Scott (bass), Peter Lochart (guitar and backup vocals), Helen Kahlke (tenor and baritone sax)

Fredericton has quite a vibrant local music scene and one band that has been making a name for themselves lately is the five-member group called First Cool Hive. The band was started just over a year ago by three local music veterans, Kim Richard on vocals, guitarist Peter Lockhart and bassist Tony Scott.

After adding drummer Charles Wilby, whom the three met through a mutual friend, the group members figured the lineup was complete. However, they felt there was still something missing from their sound. While Kim and Peter were performing at a jam session for the NB Film Makers Co-op, talented saxophone player Helen Kahlke got up to perform a few numbers with the musicians.

“We realized it was almost a revelation how nice it was to add the sax with the type of music we were doing,” said Lockhart during a recent band rehersal. “We landed a show at the Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival last year and because we had a mixture of blues material, we wanted to add a horn and Helen was the perfect person to ask.”

All the band members have a vast amount of musical experience and it shows in their playing, including the ability to perform various styles of music including pop, blues, jazz, and rock. They add a fresh perspective when doing songs from such artists as Bonnie Raitt, Sheryl Crow, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin and others. The group also takes great care in what songs get added to their repertoire.

“We listen to a song and think, can we do it well and can we do it justice,” says Lockhart.

“We’ll take everything from old blues, like Slim Harpo or T-Bone Walker and interpret it with our own little twist. We try to cover a broad spectrum of things that we feel our audience will enjoy.”

Their unique name has also grabbed some attention. “Everybody asks about the name,” laughs Lockhart. “There is not a lot of significance behind it. Originally, it was a Moby song and we liked the ring of it. We felt it had a kind of fun, communicative feel to it. When you think of a hive you think of a party and when we play we want people to feel when they go away, that they have left a good party.”

While the band enjoys playing the clubs, they also get a kick out of performing outdoor shows in the summer time. They put on a great performance at Officer’s Square for Fredericton’s Canada Day Block Party and recently on the northside at the Nashwaaksis Commons.

“We’ve been playing quite a bit over the last year, but most of it has been in bars, pubs, and at private functions,” says Kahlke, who is originally from British Columbia and moved to Fredericton six years ago.

“In the bars it’s all adults but when we played the Commons, it was open to everybody. We had a lot of parents come out with ther kids, so it was nice to see a different type of crowd.” For the near future the band hopes to keep on playing and will soon be busy working on a demo CD and promo pack that they use for getting work and are looking at doing more professional recording in the next few months and getting a couple of originals nailed down.