North Caledon is not far from Toronto, and when we traveled there we just put in the name of the place in our phone and decided to follow it to see where it would lead us. What would Google Maps consider the important place to identify as being “North Caledon”? It turned out to be a cul de sac near the town cemetary. A rather interesting spot, to say the least. Because it’s easy to wander in a graveyard and imagine dozens of stories behind each stone and symbol and epitaph and even sometimes just the proximity of the stones… read more.
Album Release — “In City & Country” is finally here!!!
Our new album, “In City & Country”, is finally here! You can BUY IT NOW on all the different services/places you might think to purchase an album in this day and age: We have been steadily releasing singles, but we’re really excited that the folks can finally listen to the whole album, because we’re old school enough to care about crafting an album that has a cohesive structure and theme to it. We hope you enjoy it. It’s already been getting some love from radio, which we hugely appreciate, including cracking the Top 10 on the National Earshot Folk/Roots/Blues chart… read more.
the story behind: “come round again”
I started out writing a totally different song. It happens sometimes — you have an idea, it feels like it’s going somewhere, then you get lost in the middle of the second verse and you’re not sure what you’re talking about anymore. As Leonard Cohen says, the thing is that the bad lines take as much effort as the good ones. So what do you do if you wind up in a song full of bad lines? Well, you cannibalize the good ones and write a different song entirely. I had read this “Bonnie & Clyde”-style story about a couple… read more.
the story behind: “two of a kind”
As you drive into Goderich, Ontario there is a sign, as is true for many towns and cities, that tells you not only the name of the town but also what it’s known for. Goderich’s distinction is to be “Canada’s Prettiest Small Town”. A bold claim, but it could be true. It was given that distinction by the Queen(!), although searching historical records I couldn’t find any sign that the Queen had actually been to Goderich. A Dutch princess may have visited. I’d say that’s still pretty damn good. In 2011 Goderich weathered a tornado — a pretty rare weather… read more.
PopMatters Premieres “Back To The Hard Times” Official Video
Our first ever official video for our latest single “Back To The Hard Times” premiered on PopMatters this week, and they said some pretty wonderful things about it! “Reminiscent of Canadian heavyweights such as k.d. lang, Cowboy Junkies, the Sadies and, in a way, Bruce Cockburn, the Young Novelists are informed with a cool authenticity that many of their U.S. counterparts can only dream of…” – PopMatters A huge thanks to our friends at Brought To You By who took our crazy idea and ran with it to create this gorgeous video. And ‘Back to the Hard Times’ is available to stream or download HERE,… read more.
the story behind: “back to the hard times”
Crystal Beach, on Abino Bay, used to be home to a 37-acre resort/amusement park. It started as a religious campground in 1888, by the 1940s you could see the Glen Miller Orchestra play in the Crystal Ballroom. There were multiple roller coasters (The Cyclone! The Comet!) on the site. It closed in 1989 and demolition erased all traces of its existence, except for a break wall and pier. This sort of thing happens in lots of small towns – an industry is built up and torn down. I lived in the nearby town of Ridgeway briefly, as part of a… read more.
the story behind: “city & country”
I have a cousin who, every time I see him, says, “I don’t know how you can live in Toronto.” And I remember when I went to the University of Waterloo, meeting people from Toronto who would sometimes say, “There’s nothing to do here!” And I would wonder what the hell they were talking about, since I found Waterloo to be exceptionally vibrant. The fact of the matter is, both of those types of folks are missing out. I love every big city I’ve been to, and Toronto is no exception. I also love just about every small town I’ve… read more.
Exclaim! premieres our lyric video for “City & Country”
Our latest single is also the near-title track of our upcoming album: “City & Country” for the album In City & Country. I don’t know why we made it hard on ourselves. But we did make a lyric video for the single featuring images from all the small towns around Ontario that were the inspiration for the songs on the album. Since this song is the lynch-pin that ties the theme together, it seemed to make sense to include all these images here. The fine folks at Exclaim! were kind enough to premiere the video yesterday — thanks, Exclaim! You… read more.
new single “come round again” available everywhere immediately! that means right now!
Our new album is set for release in May but we wanted to share the first single, a dance-able number about a small-town heist that happened in Halton Hills, Ontario. It’s called “Come Round Again” and you can download it, stream it, share it, and dance to it! You can also stream it right here, right now, if you’re so inclined: The good folks at Atwood Magazine premiered the single, with a lyric video, and wrote some very kind words about us. You can watch the lyric video below!
finishing the new album, listening to some old albums
We traveled back to Montreal recently to complete the final mix session for our new album — “in city & country”. We’ve been working at the Hotel2Tango studio with producer Howard Bilerman and it has been an exciting process although, like every construction project in history, it has taken longer than we thought. Hopefully the extra effort has been worth it! We’re looking forward to releasing the album this coming spring and playing shows around the countryside, some of which will be full-band shows! Plans are in the works. Songs for this new album were almost all written about specific… read more.