The Strumbellas

It’s been a busy year so far for Lindsay, Ontario’s The Strumbellas. The band hit the ground running with a win for Roots & Traditional Album Of The Year at the 2014 JUNO Awards in March for their sophomore album, We Still Move On Dance Floors. In May they took home the SiriusXM Indies award for Folk Group Of The Year. This summer they pull up stakes and head out for a slew of summer festivals across Canada as well as their first tour on the Pacific Northwest of America.

FolkPop, RockGrass, AltCountry… whatever you want to call it, there’s plenty to go around on The Strumbellas’ most recent release, We Still Move On Dance Floors (October 2013). For the album, the band headed to the woods of the pacific north west, settling in at Bear Creek Studio just outside of Seattle to record with Grammy nominated producer, Ryan Hadlock (Metric, Gossip, Moondoggies, The Lumineers). It seemed a natural progression for the band, whose dark lyrics about death and solitude crop up amongst beautiful lyrical mindscapes of trees and lakes and home.

"As one of Canada’s finest country-roots bands, Ontario’s Strumbellas do not disappoint with their sophomore record, We Still Move On Dance Floors. From the rollicking Did I Die and Home Sweet Home through more sullen moments like album closer The Fire, the future looks incredibly bright for The Strumbellas." Musicnerd.ca

Since the release of The Strumbellas’ eponymous 2009 EP, which was peppered with accolades from Toronto weeklies and prompted a proclamation from the CBC that they are a “band to watch,” the six-piece group has been slogging it out, earning their stripes through SOLD OUT residencies at The Cameron House and The Dakota Tavern as well as several cross-country tours, a plethora of festivals including CMW, NXNE, Pop Montreal, Eaglewood and Hillside in Guelph, which by all accounts was the equivalent of their cotillion ball. The band have also dipped their toes in the waters south of the border, with fans flocking to see them as their US presence builds.

"There’s a mightiness and a grand — if, at times, reaching — comportment to We Still Move on Dance Floors, which is a little like watching a child vault from standing to fruit hanging ripe at the top of a branch, but still. After living with this record for an afternoon or two, one would be foolish to under-estimate the nature of the band’s vertical leap." National Post

The Strumbellas’ 2012 JUNO nominated debut album, My Father And The Hunter, offers a beautiful, harmonious dichotomy between melancholy heartbreak and blow-the-barn-doors-off spunk. The album, produced by Cone McCaslin and recorded at Blue Rodeo’s coveted Woodshed Studio, is the harvest of talented friends, some whisky and a few rounds of euchre. Check out the mini-doc for The Bird That Follows Me in-studio recording here.