Not quite rock. Not quite country. Not quite bluegrass. Quite entertaining.
The Barrelmen are a quartet of multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriters from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Formed in the spring of 2011, the group didn’t waste much time getting their hands dirty.
They quickly wrote a handful of songs and released a self-produced, self-recorded 6-song EP a month later, and were invited to play a main stage set at Ness Creek Music Festival that summer. A successful gig at the legendary Bassment in Saskatoon that December has evolved into an annual, sold-out evening and has now expanded to two nights - both of which were sold out in the first year of doing two nights.
A partial hiatus in 2013 - while one of the members was in Vancouver for school - provided the band with time to work on writing new material for their new album, ‘Wood, Wire, Words, Whiskey’. The album is as diverse as the group - the result of having four songwriters - and is a labour of love. All aspects of the production of the album, from instrumentation to design to recording, were handled by the group.
Supporting shows all over western Canada followed the release and were highlighted by a return to Ness Creek to play the Northern Lights Bluegrass & Old Time Music Festival, Jasper Folk Festival, back-to-back nights with Blake berglund and Belle Plaine in Regina at The Exchange and in Saskatoon at Amigos, and a sold out night at their annual holiday show at The Bassment in Saskatoon.
Their next release comes in the form of 4 EPs, three of which (Smokey Bar, Cooperstown, Three Leg Dog) are out now and the fourth and final set to be released in July.
The band prides itself on the diversity of the songs, the four-part vocal arrangements, and the ability of the members to play any of the instruments. The live shows are a continual rotation of upright bass, guitar, banjo, mandolin, percussion, harmonica, piano, pedal steel and dobro.
Past Shows include:
Jasper Folk Festival, Ness Creek Music Festival, Northern Lights Bluegrass & Old Time Music Festival, Napatak Ramble (Waydown Wanderers, Hillsburn), The Bassment - Saskatoon, Sk (Headline), The Exchange - Regina, Sk (Blake Berglund), Amigo's - Saskatoon, Sk (Blake Berglund, Headline), Capitol Music Club (The Dead South, Headline), Wakeride Festival (The Dead South, One Bad Son), O'Brian's Event Centre (One Bad Son), The Almanac - Edmonton, Ab (Headline), The Refinery - Saskatoon, Sk (Peter Katz), Taste of Saskatchewan Festival, Eagle Creek Jamboree, The Root - Lloydminster, Sk (Hockey Day in Canada), The Happy Nun - Forget, Sk (Headline), The Church - Brock, Sk (Headline), Barker Island (Hillsburn), and headline shows in Archerwill, Sk, Greenwater Lake, Sk, Borden, Sk, Hepburn, Sk, Rosthern, Sk, Buffalo Pound Lake, Sk, Turtle Lake, Sk, Waskesieu, Sk, Macdowell, Sk, Blaine Lake, Sk, Kenaston, Sk, and Outlook, Sk.
