The Stanfields, a folk-roots band with elements of punk, hail from Halifax, but will be calling The Spot in Yorkton home next Wednesday (Oct. 13), as they make a stop as part of a cross-Canada tour.
The Stanfields are a relatively new band, but they've been an active one.
"The band has been together for a little over two years," said band bassist Craig Eugene Harris. "We all met through mutual friends and musical projects in the Halifax Music scene. The music scene in N.S. for as large as it is, can be very close-knit at times, where everyone knows everyone, or has at least met once or twice. Jason (Wright) and Jon (Landry) are first cousins, and have been playing and writing together since childhood."
While the band's Myspace spot terms the music folk-roots, Harris said it is less easily labeled.
"It's always hard for me personally to give our material such a 'label', but it's predominately rock'n'roll, with a dash of Celtic/Irish traditional kitchen party-esque style of music," he said. "We've been compared to some groups where I've been like 'Yeah ! right on!', and then other where I've been like 'Huh? What the Deuce?'
The current tour is a first for The Stanfields.
"We've played all over the country, but just doing festival-style stop-ins," said Harris. "This is our first official 'driving to B.C. and back' tour."
The band though has played enough around the country to create some memorable moments."I'd have to say our biggest highlight was playing at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics," said Harris. "The crowd was large, and very receptive, which made for a helluva gig. We also got to open for Sloan which was nice."
The current tour is in support of a new disk.
"The material was 99 per cent all written and done when we went into the studio, which gave a lot of head-room to add to stuff which was nice for the guitar players, etc.," said Harris. "The only song that wasn't written yet was 'Ghost of the Eastern Seaboard', which was recorded live off the floor the same day it was written, which was a bold move when you're an Indie band, with hardly any cash to record, but we got lucky and it came out great!
"The lyrics, and base of the song will be brought in by Jon, and the rest of us just cook up our own parts for things, and that's how we write Also sometimes a song will come from a riff or idea someone else in the band had wrote.
"There's no real rules to our format of production."
The album was recorded at the Sonic Temple, in Halifax NS.
"We all live in Halifax, so it was nice we didn't have to travel anywhere to do the tracking and mixing," said Harris. "It was also mastered in Halifax. We were happy to keep everything in our current town."
As a lower-budget first effort, Harris said the disk is solid.
"I'm extremely happy with the finished product," he said. "We've already released a single to radio, 'The Dirtiest Drunk (In The History Of Liquor)'. It has been getting steady airplay around the Maritimes, and Sirius Iceberg station, and even some spins in the USA."
The Stanfields will be joined by the Birthday Boys for their night at The Spot.
