The Sheepdogs are a bunch of dudes who love rock ‘n’ roll.
There’s nothing pretentious about them. They just like making music that makes people feel good.
That’s how Ryan Gullen would describe his band of bearded compatriots.
Gullen is the Sheepdog’s bass player. He met the band’s frontman, Ewan Currie, when they were kids playing in a jazz band—both wielding their clarinets.
As adults, they’ve played together in the Sheepdogs for 11 years, along with Sam Corbett. In that time, they’ve released four albums and made it on the front page of Rolling Stone magazine, after winning the publication’s “Choose the Cover” competition.
They’ve also added Rusty Matyas and Ewan’s brother Shamus Currie to the band, and in their soon-to-be released album Future Nostalgia, they’ve welcomed the clarinet back into the fold, with a cameo appearance in the song “Help Us All.”
Currie brought along the clarinet, among other instruments, when the band moved up to Stony Lake, two hours northeast of Toronto, to record the album.
Gullen described the experience as being like a “hippy commune,” with the band living, eating and playing together in a barn for three weeks.
“I think that’s what makes this record different,” he said. “Being in the barn afforded us the opportunity to try new things.”
Rather than watching the clock in a recording studio, the band experimented with different sounds, playing all day and night, when they felt like it, until they had something they loved.
Gullen said some days they’d wake up and listen to what they recorded and just double over in laughter, but other times they’d come up with “something really cool”.
That was the case with “Help Us All.”
Currie reached for the clarinet and filled in a “grey area” that was just waiting for something special.
Gullen described the sound as something reminiscent of the Beatles or the Beach Boys—“but, by no means as cool as something the Beatles would have done,” he added humbly.
Future Nostalgia is set to be released Oct. 2. So far only one song off the album is available online, while the rest have only been heard during live shows.
Gullen said the band loves testing out their new material on audiences and promised that at the band’s upcoming show at the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge, fans can expect to hear a few new tunes off the album.
The show will take place Aug. 15 on the golf course. Tickets are available by calling 780-852-6091.
Nicole Veerman
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