Rock ‘n Roll’s Great White (North) Hope: The Sheepdogs Graze North America

[Jeffrey Alan Payne]

On Saturday, July 14th, The Sheepdogs” played at radio station102.1 The Edge’s venerable concert series “Edgefest” in Toronto.  The Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, rock and blues foursome were unveiling new material before a raucous crowd of Jägermeister and beer imbibing sun-fried 18-34 year olds.  Most of the audience had only just recently become acquainted with the band’s harmony-rich and guitar bluesy (Lynyrd Skynyrd/CCR/Allman Brothers) tinged guitar and (CSN/TheBand/Guess Who) style harmonies.   Still, theirs was the most anticipated performance of the afternoon.  

Much has changed since August, 2011, when this hard-working ensemble was sleeping in vans and scrimping on necessities to produce albums.  That’s when Rolling Stone Magazine announced that The Sheepdogs had won their “Choose the Cover” contest, and thus a recording contract with Atlantic Records. September, 2012, The Sheepdogs have a new album, produced by The Black Keys’ Patrick Carney, along with a headline tour across the United States and Canada. 

After their Edgefest performance, bassist and vocal harmonist Ryan Gullen, tells his story about one garage band’s meteoric rise to prominence in the pursuit of rock stardom.

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