Josh Machan has always been moved by the music, but it was a move to Nova Scotia that really ignited the Orillia man’s passion.
Machan, 23, was among the last graduating class of Orillia’s Park Street Collegiate Institute. He then headed to St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, N.S., to study marketing. While there, he was taken by the lively music scene.
During the first two years in university, “I was playing every open mic I could,” Machan said.
The late nights spent playing cover songs took a toll.
“I was focusing more on the music than my studies,” he said.
He took a year off school and returned home to Orillia, where he reconnected with friends and put most of his musical effort into creating original work.
“I was able to go home and express that original side of me and focus on some original music instead of just doing covers,” Machan explained.
Throughout the years, he and friend Ryan Whitworth, 23, kept in touch despite the distance and poked away at their music.
“We were constantly sending each other voice memos of potential songs,” Machan said. “It could be anything from a drunk rambling of lyrics to a whole song.”
The two had played dozens of shows together, but hadn’t created their own album.
Times have changed, and Machan and Whitworth are ready to release their first EP with their band, Dennis Ross.
An EP-release party will take place Saturday night at the Brownstone.
“It really feels like home,” Machan said of the Brownstone, where he worked as a bartender during his year off from university. “It’s one of the main places for up-and-coming artists.”
Machan describes the music of Dennis Ross as having a “folk-rock-gospel” sound. The emphasis, though, is on folk, and that can be a tough musical nut to crack for two twenty-somethings.
“The hardest age group to appeal to is my own,” Machan said. “Though Orillia has Mariposa (Folk Festival) and there are so many artists in Orillia, there aren’t a lot of artists in our area doing what we’re doing. We’re trying to bring folk back.”
Machan grew up listening to the likes of Gordon Lightfoot, Bob Dylan and Great Big Sea. In his teens, he turned toward punk and metal.
“Now it’s like I’m returning home,” he said. “It was kind of what I grew up on, but it wasn’t always there.”
The new EP will feature songs including Shiloh, which took the bandmates three years to write, and My Keep, which was written in the past month.
The EP was recorded in Machan’s mother’s basement.
“It was raw,” he said with a laugh, “but that’s what folk music is.”
While Dennis Ross is a two-piece band — Machan on guitar and lead vocals, and Whitworth on guitar and harmonies — getting to this point was not a two-man effort. Machan thanked Geoff Taylor, who recorded the album, caught performances on camera and has helped in various ways.
“I cannot thank him enough for his involvement and his positive creativity that he’s put into what we’ve done,” Machan said.
Check out the final product for yourself during the Aug. 4 album launch.
Keep up with Dennis Ross on Facebook and Instagram, or visit the band’s website.