Jemma Hicken & Robbie Banks tour: Coming Back To Cortes

Roy L Hales/Cortes Currents - The audio version of this opens with a short clip of Jemma Hicken singiing ‘Skim Milk.’ I was hoping it would be a new version, with her and Robbie Bankes singing together, but it looks like the only place to hear that will be in Mansons Hall at 7:00 on Tuesday July 2, 2024. Jemma and Robbie are just finishing a month long tour of Alberta and BC. They were about to play at Campbell River’s Spirit Square when Cortes Currents reached them yesterday. They will be on Read Island today.

 Cortes Currents: How long have you been playing together? 

Jemma Hicken: “We had one show together last November. Then we've just had our tour, so mostly since May 30th.”

Robbie Banks: “We started in Alberta, at Dinosaur Provincial Park, and then we worked our way back through southern Alberta and then through southern BC. Played in Calgary, Nanton and the small town of Parson.  Then we went down to the Kootenays to the Nelson area for a few days and then back up to the Okanagan.”

Jemma Hicken: “We played at a tree planting camp in Midway.” 

Cortes Currents: How many tree planters did you have in the audience?  

Jemma Hicken: “42.”  

Robbie Banks: “We thought it would be the biggest party show of our tour, but they were all very tired  (laughter) and slept on the floor.” 

Jemma Hicken: “It was really fun.” 

Cortes Currents: Other highlights of the tour?  

Jemma Hicken: “I think one of my highlights was the first show that we played because we were in the Badlands and I'd never seen them before.  It was really picturesque and it was exciting to go there for the first time.”  

Robbie Bankes: “We had some really great turnouts at a few of the house shows, which was really fun. We weren't expecting to play for that many people, but  there were some house shows with 50 or 60 people, which was really nice.” 

“The whole thing was a highlight. We had really planned our driving days well. I was worried about long drives and stress, but it was very relaxing for the most part, which was a big surprise.” 

Jemma Hicken: “It was a big surprise, it felt almost like a vacation.”  

Robbie Bankes: “We got to see a whole bunch of different things and meet a whole bunch of different people and …”

Jemma Hicken: “We got along.”

Robbie Bankes: “Yeah, and we got along, which was also a surprise.” (laughter)

Cortes Currents: So are you playing in Campbell River?  

Jemma Hicken: “Yeah, we're playing in Campbell River in an hour and a half.  Then we are going to Read Island tomorrow, to play a show. Our last show of  the tour is on Cortes next Tuesday. It's going to be at Manson's Hall with our friend Sam Tudor, who’s amazing. I feel just totally excited about this show because  Robby and Sam are two of my favourite local songwriters.  I feel honoured to be sharing a show with them on Cortes.” 

Robbie Bankes: “Sam’s a real up and comer. He's maybe one of the next big things in Canadian music, I would say. So it's really exciting that he wanted to come to Cortes. It'll be really fun, hopefully a good turnout,  Sam puts on a great show every time I've seen him, so it'll be really fun to see that show.”

Jemma Hicken: “There’s going to be lots of storytelling.”