Port Cities features 3 friends with great vocal blend

It all started at summer camp, but a summer camp with a difference.

This was a camp for a very exclusive group of young adults, a hand-picked few of the East Coast's best new songwriters.

It happens every year in Cape Breton, called the Gordie Sampson Song Camp, with the famous writer and producer from the area in charge.

Five years ago, three of the invited writers were Breagh MacKinnon, Carleton Stone, and Dylan Guthro, already solo stars in the making.

They enjoyed meeting each other and playing together so much, they started hanging out after the camp.

"Writing songs together, playing in each other's bands, and on each other's records on our solo projects for about five years, so we've been kicking around playing music together for awhile," said MacKinnon, speaking to CBC Mainstreet's Angela Walker.

But then, a casual remark all of a sudden led to a whole new career plan.

"Around a year and a half ago, we found ourselves after a gig together late one night playing tunes and jokingly going, 'Oh we should just start one band,' recalled MacKinnon.

Band now main project

That idea has turned intothe main focus for the three friends.

MacKinnon, Guthro, and Stone are now Port Cities, one of the country's new buzz bands, in concert Wednesday night in Summerside.

MacKinnon said the sound of the band developed naturally, as they focused on the vocal blend they had achieved backing each other up.

They started writing songs that featured a lot of duets, or three-part harmonies, using each others' strengths.

"It wasn't really a struggle because it did come together so naturally," she said. "It wasn't like we made the decision and then had to work to make it happen, it was kind of already happening."

The next step was to record, and the group members decided to make an album before searching for a record deal, so they'd have a strong product to pitch.

Sign with Warner

They ended up with a major label deal, something very rare these days, especially for a new East Coast group.

"We finished the album on our own, with Gordie Sampson as our producer, so we made it independently," explained MacKinnon. "Warner, we had a bit of a relationship with already, and when they heard it they really liked it, so basically their team is going to help us roll it out through Canada in February."

No need to wait until then though.Port Cities will roll out the songs in Summerside on Wednesday night, as MacKinnon, Guthro and Stone perform at Harbourfront Theatre.

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