YELLOWKNIFE - Friends and fans of the band Transience can expect a CD release party in the near future.

The four musicians left town Wednesday night for Edmonton, where they will be recording the band's first album at Sound Extractor Studio.

Jen Walden, guitarist and lead singer for the group, said the NWT Arts Council approved them for a $5,000 grant in the spring to help fund the project. Walden said she has 15 original tracks prepared for the album.

"A lot of people have told me that it's ambitious for a first CD, so we'll see how it goes in the studio," she said.

Sean Best, the band's drummer, said they are hoping to get at least 10 songs down during their time in Edmonton. Best has experience in recording under his belt, having recorded with Northern Skies and Leslie Bader in the past. He said he feels the band is ready.

"We've been basically doing two to three practices a week for the past two and a half months," he said.

Two members of the band, Travis Mercredi (guitar) and Dave Whittaker (bass), joined up with Best and Walden about three months ago, forming the present lineup. Best said the band is "pretty tight" now.

"We're all pretty pumped - we just can't wait to get down there and get into a professional studio," he said.

Also joining the band to record on one song is Jeremy Doody, a guitarist who recently performed in Yellowknife as part of the backing band for Sandy Pringle and Cynthia Russell's double CD release.

Walden said the band will be recording outside Yellowknife for practical reasons. She said Spiritwalker Productions will be cutting back its hours, meaning if the band decided to record here, it would take longer.

"I wasn't interested in taking 12 months to get it done... I wanted to do it somewhere where I could spend full days in the studio."

Walden, who will be co-producing the album with the studio, said there will probably be some long-distance mixing happening after they return to Yellowknife.

She said the CD is a personal project to her, as the songs she wrote for it were about her experiences and the people around her.

"Once it's completed I'll be really excited about having a big CD launch," she said.