{"id":11169,"date":"2016-07-25T05:30:05","date_gmt":"2016-07-25T09:30:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=11169"},"modified":"2016-07-13T09:38:48","modified_gmt":"2016-07-13T13:38:48","slug":"the-sheepdogs-get-back-to-where-they-once-belonged","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2016\/07\/25\/the-sheepdogs-get-back-to-where-they-once-belonged\/","title":{"rendered":"The Sheepdogs Get Back to Where They Once Belonged"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Saskatoon, Saskatchewan-based\u00a0Sheepdogs<\/strong> started out as an indie band, briefly flirted with the majors, and then returned to their indie roots. But they’ve held onto the popularity they gained along the way: one of the most popular rock bands in their native Canada, they’re working hard to build their fan base in the USA and overseas. But not too<\/i> hard, not to the detriment of their craft: \u201cI try to focus on the music and not get bogged down with the business side of things,\u201d says lead vocalist and songwriter Ewan Currie<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The six-piece group \u2013 which also features Ewan’s brother Shamus Currie<\/strong> on keyboards and trombone \u2013 builds their original songs on a foundation of classic rock in the style of Humble Pie<\/strong><\/a>, The Allman Brothers<\/strong><\/a> and their Canadian forbears the Guess Who<\/strong>. After a pair of independently-released albums failed to set the charts ablaze, their third album, 2010’s Learn & Burn<\/i>, reached #14 on the Canadian charts.<\/p>\n

\"sheepdogs\"<\/p>\n

In the wake of that success, the band entered \u2013 and won \u2013 a 2011 Rolling Stone<\/i> competition among unsigned bands. \u201cThe way it worked,\u201d chuckles Ewan Currie, \u201cwas that whoever won that thing got your standard crappy music industry deal with Atlantic Records.\u201d The product of that deal was the band’s 2012 self-titled album, a #1 charting release that went Platinum (20,000 units) in Canada.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe made one album with Atlantic, and then we decided we would do things differently on this next one,\u201d Currie says. That different way was a return to independent releases. The band’s regular touring, coupled with airplay on Canadian radio, propelled their 2015 album, Future Nostalgia<\/i>, to #11 on the Canadian charts.<\/p>\n

Currie is a prolific songwriter. \u201cI’m pretty self-motivating,\u201d he says. \u201cI write songs all the time, and I always have a big backlog of songs.\u201d He recently finished a side-project album with his brother, and the Sheepdogs are already working on their next release. With regard to songwriting, Currie says, \u201cI think I know what works and what doesn’t.\u201d Yet he has few illusions about commercial success. \u201cI think it’s foolish to say that you know what the radio wants,\u201d he says, \u201cbecause I<\/i> don’t understand what the hell they want.\u201d<\/p>\n