Lineup / Headwater
Headwater
Vancouver, BC
www.headwater.ca
Hearing Headwater is like listenening to the West Coast of Canada in song. Freewheeling, fierce, sentimental and sexy, the Vancouver, B.C., quartet has earned its reputation as one of the finest acoustic roots groups around the old-fashioned way.
They work their asses off.
Since forming in 2001, the group has logged in thousands of kilometres criss-crossing Western Canada and playing to anyone and everyone willing to give it some love. With hooks, driving rhythms, adventurous steel guitar and mandolin solos, and beautiful three-part vocal harmonies all featured in tight, concise under four-minute songs, they found fans fast. Or they roped them in at first, street busking before gigs rather than hanging out waiting for crowds to come to them.
This is a band of musicians who do what they do because nothing else would be right. No rock star wannabees allowed.
Jonas Shandel (guitar, banjo, vocals) and Matt Bryant (mandolin, vocals) started writing songs together in grade school in North Vancouver. They had an electric power trio where Shandel drummed and Bryant did six-string duty and all that really came out of that experience was frustration over volume and never finding a vocalist that fit.
"We couldn't find a reliable singer, so we said 'screw this,' we'll do it," says Shandel.
Unplugging and getting their strum on proved the best thing the two young musicians ever did. Turns out that both were exceptionally gifted singers whose songwriting really differed yet held true to the pair’s collective love of Peter Gabriel, Neil Young and John Hiatt. When instict said it was the right time, they conscripted steel guitarist Tim Tweedale and Patrick Metzger on upright bass to record 2006’s My Old Friend. The debut garnered stellar reviews and gave the guys a document to leave for fans hungry for more. Two of these early tunes that still get folks singing along in concert, the loping “Lonely Train” and full-on boogie down “Out To The Country.” The hired guns enjoyed gigging so much they never left.
After hundreds of dates road-testing tunes to find only the best, it was time to record album two. Enter producer and frequent guest drummer Marc L'Esperance, (Po'Girl, Ray Condo, Linda McRae) to craft the lush soundscapes of 2008’s Lay You Down.
Tackling themes of death, loss, and of course, love, this CD solidifies Headwater as one of Canada's strongest young folk and country acts.
"We're happy with both CDs, but the new one raises the bar in every way," says Shandel. "Particularly in the vocals, which we're pretty obsessive about."
"It’s 11 examples of what we can do well, and we hope it's cool for people," says Bryant.
- Stuart Derdeyn
2009 Schedule • Tickets?
