ALDORA BRITAIN RECORDS
The Global Independent & Underground Music E-Zine Issue 605, Thursday 6th August 2026
Dave Teichroeb (page 4)
British Columbia, Canada
influences include The Who, Nick Cave, Willie Nelson!
Little Wins
Dave Teichroeb is a rootsy road-running musician and songwriter, a self-proclaimed ‘road poet’ with an earthy and gritty foundation. This certainly comes alive throughout the latest instalment of his current output, entitled Road Poets 2. This collaborative collection features story songs with a worldly disposition, sonic travellers that can talk to listeners on a relatable level from all around the globe. The album also provides a glistening snapshot of Dave’s storytelling leanings, soulful playing, and his rich and evocative vocal. It is an album of Americana rock and roll bliss. And as the buzz and momentum surrounding Road Poets 2 continues to gradually build, Dave once again took a brief respite to reflect with Aldora Britain Records on his life in story and song so far. We discussed formative creative memories from his youth and adolescence, his unique and individual approach to songwriting and songcraft, a selection of his recorded output to date, and much, much more. That exclusive in-depth conversation is published here in full for the very first time.
Keep up to date with Dave Teichroeb HERE. Listen to Dave Teichroeb HERE.
Aldora Britain Records: Hello Dave, how are you? I think it is about time that we welcomed you back to the Aldora Britain Records e-zine. Did you know the last time was in 2024? It has been too long! As always, let’s kick things off with a fun one. You previously mentioned your first live music memory was Nazareth and Rush. Wow! Can you tell me about this show? How would you say it has informed you and your musical output since?
Dave Teichroeb: The show was featuring Nazareth as the headliner and Rush was the local unknown opener. I think Nazareth would’ve been the big influence for me that night. Their approach to just rocking out with up-tempo songs was perfect for a young teenager. It started my love of live music shows.
Aldora Britain Records: Before we move onto your new album, I would like to make a stop off in Canada. I think the musical landscape of your fair country is so underrated. I am curious, what is the arts ‘scene’ like for you in British Columbia? How would you say it has changed and shifted over the years? What are some of the obstacles and challenges that you have faced as an independent and underground artist?
Dave Teichroeb: For me, in British Columbia, the art scene is pretty small. I’ve chosen to live on an island of five thousand people a twenty-minute ferry ride from the local city of Nanaimo. The result is being very inward with my music, free of most outside influences. I’m not really a great barometer of what’s happening in BC. Last night on Gabriola I saw a great BC-Australian band called the Belle Miners that plays folk rock with angelic harmonies. Locally, blues rock is pretty big and so are cover bands, neither of which I find interesting these days. When I do go to enjoy a good evening of live music, I typically pick and choose and travel. The best show I’ve seen recently was Kathleen Edwards on her Billionaire tour in Victoria.
Music locally has changed significantly due to online streaming removing the quantity of music sold by artists at gigs, and COVID removing many venues. The venues that remain are struggling, and we now pay the venue to open the doors for us. Hopefully we recover our costs for the gig. The result is that we find incredible joy, making music and writing songs and recording and mixing them without actually going out and performing them live as much anymore. The audiences for independent new music have also started to disappear as well. We perform about one gig a month on average. “I brought in the songs, but the talent and skill of the band meant that they had a lot of influence on what the final recordings became … I haven’t had a collaborative experience like this since the early 90s … I feel it’s one of the best albums I’ve ever released.”
Aldora Britain Records: You are fresh from releasing a follow-up to your Road Poets record, Number 2, which arrived in May. This is another fantastic insight into your creativity. Thank you so much for the music! Let’s explore it in more depth. What are your memories from writing, recording and releasing it, and how would you say you grew and evolved as an artist and musician throughout this process?
Dave Teichroeb: What makes this album really special is that many of the songs were written and arranged in the same year by myself and my Road Poets bandmates. I brought in the songs, but the talent and skill of the band meant that they had a lot of influence on what the final recordings became. Chris Wood on guitar, Kelly Field on bass, and Warren Fraleigh on drums. I haven’t had a collaborative experience like this since the early 90s when I was with the band Dissemblers in Guelph, Ontario. The other important part was that I did all the recording in our rehearsal studio and the mixing at my home studio. This was a first for me and a huge undertaking. I took many months learning so much about sound and mixing. The satisfaction of gaining these skills was more than worth the long time it took to create the mixes. I feel it’s one of the best albums I’ve ever released.
Aldora Britain Records: I would like to focus on two tracks in particular now. Both have really resonated with me. These are ‘Thinking’ and ‘Memory Lane’. They definitely show two sides of your creativity. For each, what is the story behind the song, and can you remember the moment it came to be? Did anything in particular inspire them and what do they mean to you as the writer and performer of each?
Dave Teichroeb: ‘Thinking’ came to me on the living room couch as Donald Trump was threatening to take over Canada and make us the fifty-first state. It completely galvanised our country against the US. It caused a political shift in our country and changed the results of an election. The Americans have always been our friends and neighbours and now for many Canadians that relationship has become really awkward and resentful. I have friends and family in the US. It confuses me why I don’t hear from them regarding the dire political situation in their own country and how it’s affecting the world. Rather than telling a big story, I tried to distil my feelings down to really small thoughts for this one. Musically, I always love finding a great riff and you can feel that through this whole song which also has a great groove. The ‘ahs’ at the end of the song are meant to be an FU to the government and brolagarchs who are now deeply affecting our world.
‘Memory Lane’ is actually an older song. Something from my past that had never been recorded. It really showcases our guitar player Chris, who has developed such a tasteful playing style with great tone. It’s a story song that’s fairly self-explanatory about meeting up with somebody you once were close to and catching up.
Aldora Britain Records: You know, when I listen to your recorded output, I always get the distinct impression that you would put on an unforgettable live show. A hard-hitting and captivating display of musicianship, for sure! Is this something that you do? If so, what do you aim to bring to the stage as an artist, and what can a fan expect from their very first Dave Teichroeb live experience? I would love to witness this in person someday!
Dave Teichroeb: Oh yes, we love to play live. I’ve been playing live with my band Road Poets for the last few months to celebrate the release of the album. It feels like a new band we’re sounding so good! I’m tired, sitting here drinking a coffee after playing for two hours last night at a local music venue called the Queen’s Hotel in “Once we get moving, we really jell as a band and take a bit of liberty with some of the songs and have a lot of fun. There is great energy and our performances have really risen and evened out.”
Nanaimo, BC. It was one of our better shows ever. Once we get moving, we really jell as a band and take a bit of liberty with some of the songs and have a lot of fun. There is great energy and our performances have really risen and evened out. A few weeks ago, we played in a town called Duncan. And they did a three-camera shoot and recorded it. In another lifetime, there’d be enough money to come over and do a tour of England. How great would that be?
Aldora Britain Records: I have been doing some crate-digging over on Bandcamp, which has led me to an older record of yours. In 2021, you released a set called TON. I would love to explore it in more depth, its making and creation process. How do you reflect on this outing as a whole now, and is there anything that you would edit or change when looking back with the benefit of hindsight?
Dave Teichroeb: TON stands for Teichroeb, Ostler, Norris. We all sang, Mike Ostler played bass and Craig Norris played this fantastic grand piano that they had in the club. We played every Thursday night in the early 2000s at this pizza and jazz bar in Guelph called Manhattans. It was really special being a three-piece acoustic outfit and we often featured some of Ontario’s best acoustic performers as our guests. I’m glad we took the time to record the songs we had worked up. It’s a special album for me because it really shows off the songs and individuals. There’s a simplicity to the arrangements as well as the friendship and music bond we had. In some ways, it’s a ‘Best Of’ live album of my songwriting from the late 90s into the 2000s. I wouldn’t change a thing. I would love to get together with the boys and do it all over again, just for the sheer joy of performing together.
Aldora Britain Records: I always love to delve deeper into an artist’s roots. For me, it is absolutely one of the most enjoyable parts of any interview. You previously namechecked Quadrophenia as an all-time favourite. Can you remember the first time you heard the record? How would you say it has informed you and your musical output since? More broadly, who are some of your biggest influences and inspirations as an artist currently?
Dave Teichroeb: Well, I waited in line on the day that record came out and bought one from our local record store. 1974. There’s no more important album than that one to me. The storytelling is fantastic and it just rocks out in epic style. I went to see The Who for the first time in 2019 and they didn’t disappoint. Pete Townsend was still a force at that point to be reckoned with. It’s all about the storytelling. Coming up with new metaphors and clever turns of phrase that catch the listener off guard and sink in. If I was forced to pick one artist at this point, of which there’s many that influence me, I would have to say Nick Cave.
Aldora Britain Records: A broad question to finish. The last five to ten years have seen the world undergo so much change, both politically and culturally, with wars becoming increasing commonplace and environmental change. And then there’s the music industry, with streaming and AI. How would you say these years have impacted you, both personally and artistically?
Dave Teichroeb: Other than writing about the changing world, which shows up in many of my lyrics, I process my own personal situation and the world situation through my music. My newest lyric from a brand-new song that we’re rehearsing right now has the line, ‘Standing all alone in a burned-out house, wondering why the old men fight? The lights gone out from everyone I knew, why do the old men fight?’
“The recording of the new album … was intentionally done as far from technology and AI as possible. The band played together in our rehearsal room just as we practice all the time and all the tracks had leakage … There’s a vibe and feel that we wanted to capture.”The recording of the new album, Road Poets 2, was intentionally done as far from technology and AI as possible. The band played together in our rehearsal room just as we practice all the time and all the tracks had leakage. We picked the best versions, redid the lead vocals, and mixed the tracks with only a few overdubs. There’s a vibe and feel that we wanted to capture that you can’t recreate when you build an album track by track to a click, or God forbid introduce AI into the recording process.
Quickfire Round
AB Records: Favourite artist or band? Dave: Wow, so, so many. Willie Nelson.
AB Records: Favourite album? Dave: Live at Liberty Lunch, Joe Ely.
AB Records: First album you bought with your own money? Dave: Grand Funk Railroad, Live.
AB Records: Last album you listened to from start to finish? Dave: Kathleen Edwards, Billionaire.
AB Records: First gig as an audience member? Dave: Wart Hog, Grade 8.
AB Records: Loudest gig as an audience member? Dave: Blue Oyster Cult, Godzilla tour.
AB Records: Which artist or band have you seen most in concert? Dave: Rheostatics. AB
Records: Style icon? Dave: Gord Downey.
AB Records: Favourite film? Dave: Lost Horizon, Capra.
AB Records: Favourite TV show? Dave: Constantly changing as I binge shows. Currently, 30 Rock.
AB Records: Favourite up and coming artist or band? Dave: No favourites, just immersing myself in a constant flow of new music often found by listening to Radio Paradise.
Keep up to date with Dave Teichroeb HERE. Listen to Dave Teichroeb HERE.