Cuff The Duke

Cuff the Duke’s debut Life Stories for Minimum Wage was released on Toronto-indie Three Gut Records on October 15, 2002 to rave reviews. Critics heralded their efforts as “intense” and “timeless.” Emphasis was placed on the mature aspect of the album…a surprise considering the members (all originally from Oshawa of all places) were only 21!
July 26/2005 saw the sophomore release of the self-titled CUFF THE DUKE on Hayden’s Hardwood imprint (a first besides Hayden himself), distributed by Universal. A favourite of the fans, college radio and critics alike, the band toured relentlessly blowing away all with their dynamic live show.
The new year found Cuff the Duke weathering not only the departure of guitarist Jeff Peers, but the discovery that drummer Matt Faris required surgery to repair what is, in fact, a broken wrist that had been previously diagnosed as a mere sprain.
Well you can’t keep a good band down! Welcome to the fold Halifax multi-instrumentalist Dale Murray to play electric and steel guitar and Toronto drummer Patrick Conan to temporarily cover for Matt behind the kit, joining founding members Wayne Petti and Paul Lowman plus guest musician Paul Aucoin as the band embarks on another extensive cross-Canada tour as well as a trip to Austin, Texas for 3appearances at SxSW.
AND, somewhere amongst all of that, Cuff the Duke managed to be part of an exciting new Toronto-based band called The Hylozoists, led by producer/musician Aucoin (The Sadies/Golden Dogs/CTD), recording a debut album that will be released this spring on Boompa.