A rock ‘n roll band from Winnipeg, The Webster Project brings you an up-beat good time with a little slice of slower intimacy. Telling stories of their past set to music from the heart, you’ll have as much fun listening to them as they’ll have playing for you!

 

Mike Webster has been on the Canadian music scene for over twenty years. In the early 90’s he stayed on the West Coast playing with the band Snake Oil. After a few years, he was sent back to Winnipeg after friends became concerned that the hard rock lifestyle was taking its toll. Once back in Winnipeg he joined the group Bliss (later Gin Taxi) and toured extensively with them for their 1998 album, “Morning, Noon and Night”. A video for the song “Ride On” from that album was featured on Much Music.

 

In early 2000, after Gin Taxi, he began to free himself of his past demons and that, along with performing and collaborating with the likes of Motel 75, Twilight Hotel, Cat Jahnke and Ann Walton, gave him the clarity to pursue his own songwriting in earnest. Mike used all of his past experiences as an influence to tell his stories, and his newfound sobriety as a means to express them with honesty and introspection. In late 2003, he joined Venus Murphy and they had success on the local and festival scenes. He continued to work with the other groups and artists at this time, all the while writing and recording demos for his own music.

 

2010 saw the end of Venus Murphy, with the exception of a few reunion shows. During this time, Mike took a step away from music to concentrate on his family and career. It was three years later, in 2013, when he decided that a return to music was in order. With all of his own original material sitting unused for nearly a decade, at the insistence of friends and fellow musicians he was urged to finally make something of all those songs he had written.

 

He formed a band with friend and co-worker Dean Rigaux, and through Dean he met drummer Scott McNabb. After some time he was rejoined by former Murphy player and relative Kyles Chartier. They began bringing the old demos to life and soon started working on new material together. The Webster Project draws on the two decades of the Canadian music scene its founder has been a part of, along with the stories and events that shaped his life. Every song has a story, every line a meaning, and Mike & co. tell these stories in a way that is at once honest, vulnerable, powerful and bold.