The New Pornographers

Just think of Kathryn Calder as the newest New Pornographer.

The band’s de facto replacement for belter Neko Case, Calder was recruited two summers ago by her uncle (and head Pornographer) A.C. Newman. Now, she does double duty as a member of New Pornos — one of the most beloved buzz bands ever to send college-radio programmers into a tizzy — and her own band, the decidedly smaller-scale indie-trio Immaculate Machine.

“The New Pornographers travel by bus and they have things like trailers and hotel rooms,” Calder says of the disparity between the two. “Immaculate Machine still crashes on people’s couches.”

Calder — who says she loves having the best of both worlds — joined the New Porno roster after that band’s bassist saw her playing in Vancouver. He mentioned her to Newman, her “long-lost” uncle (in a nutshell: Calder’s mother was adopted and nine years ago went searching for her biological mother, who turned out to be Newman’s mom).

The rest, as they say, is history: Calder was asked to supply keyboards and backup vocals to the Porno’s last carnival-rock masterpiece — 2005’s Twin Cinema — and when Case’s successful solo career prevented her from touring with the band, Calder was asked to step in.

For many, that would be daunting, given that Case’s distinctive vocal airhorn is one of the Pornographers’ defining attributes. But Calder says she’s tried not to be too intimidated.

"It was never a question of whether I could sing the parts — I knew I could," says Calder, who acquitted herself nicely when the band last played Winnipeg in February. “It was always more whether people would care, or notice, or hate me ... Some people tell me I sound like her, but I really think the melodies are what makes me sound like her.”

But life in her other band has its advantages, too.

“You get to see the weird things on tour,” she says. “This year we went on the African Lion Safari outside Toronto for my birthday ... That would never have happened with The New Pornographers, because we would never have had reason to be on those backroads.”

The Pornos hope to have a new album by next spring, she says. “They already have everything worked out by the time I show up ... whereas with Immaculate Machine, we all go into our little practice space and hash out the songs for a really long time.”

Obviously, Calder hopes Immaculate Machine will one day achieve the same success as The New Pornographers, even if she’d then have to join a third band to maintain her indie cred.

“Yeah, maybe I could be a drummer in an all-drum band,” she laughs.

Tickets to the Pornographers show are $23 at Ticketmaster (www.ticketmaster.ca or 780-3333).