01-27-2010, 09:39 AM
I always liked these guys, glad to hear they have something new coming out
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Artists/W/Wide_Mouth_Mason/2010/01/27/12625701-qmi.html">http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Artists/W/Wid ... 1-qmi.html</a><!-- m -->
Wide Mouth Mason back from break
By DENIS ARMSTRONG - QMI Agency
Considering how long they've been canned, Wide Mouth Mason look very well preserved.
Four years is a long time in the accelerated reality of rock and roll, where every calendar year for regular mortals is the equivalent of 10 for a musician.
Knowing this, Wide Mouth Mason still had the temerity to take the last four years -- (that's like 40 years for the rest of us) off to rest and recover from 15 years of being stadium-shaking blues-rockers.
"I felt like I was banging my head against a brick wall by the time we took a break in 2006," front man Shaun Verreault says from his home in Vancouver.
"It was time to diversify. The band was our only priority for 15 years when we decided it was time to take a break. It was time to do some of the stuff we had been putting off for years."
Drummer Safwan Javed earned a law degree at the University of Ottawa, front man Shaun Verreault recorded two solo acoustic albums, The Daggerlip Sketches in 2006 and Two Steel Strings in 2008 and produced a couple more, while bass player Earl Pereira fronted his own band Mobadass, which released their debut album Island Rock in 2008.
Despite the occasional reunion gig, such as their show on Canadian Pacific's Rock train in 2006, all the signs of a foreclosure on the future of the band were in place. One of the top-grossing bands in Canada, WMM simply closed up shop, apparently for good.
Au contraire, insists Verreault.
"We tore a page out of the Blue Rodeo book and decided it was time to alternate our own individual projects with the band. It keeps them balanced. It's time to be Wide Mouth Mason again."
Apparently, rumours of their demise were greatly exaggerated. The band is back in business big time with a new live DVD shot in Montreaux, Switzerland, and their first national tour, including a stop here at Mavericks Wednesday and a headlining gig at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics next month.
Watch for a new studio album, due later this year.
"We have to rebuild the band from the ground up. Audience awareness is a flower you have to water and nurture," he says.
Ah, he knows how fickle the record-buying audience can be, and how quickly they forget you, and he's determined to lure their fans back, playing small clubs instead of giant arenas.
Yup, it wasn't that long ago that the trio from Saskatoon was huge. Their first album 1996's The Nazarene went gold and earned the band a nomination for Best New Group Juno in 1998, Best Rock Album for Stew in 2001, and a Juno nod for Rock Album of the Year for 2002's Rained Out Parade.
Now, after a lengthy layoff, the band is playing as hungry as they were when they were breaking into the business.
"Playing again is really exciting," Verreault says. "I would listen to Jimi Hendrix and Peter Gabriel to get fired up before the show. I don't have to now. It's exciting again."
"When you get to our age, you get points for just being around," he adds.
The only show that Verreault is nervous about will be their headline gig at the Vancouver Olympics.
"We play the night after the gold medal hockey game, so it will either be crazy loud if Canada wins, or the most depressing gig if they lose."
Wide Mouth Mason play Mavericks tonight (Jan. 27). Tickets are $14 online at <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.mavericksbar.com">http://www.mavericksbar.com</a><!-- m -->
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Artists/W/Wide_Mouth_Mason/2010/01/27/12625701-qmi.html">http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Artists/W/Wid ... 1-qmi.html</a><!-- m -->
Wide Mouth Mason back from break
By DENIS ARMSTRONG - QMI Agency
Considering how long they've been canned, Wide Mouth Mason look very well preserved.
Four years is a long time in the accelerated reality of rock and roll, where every calendar year for regular mortals is the equivalent of 10 for a musician.
Knowing this, Wide Mouth Mason still had the temerity to take the last four years -- (that's like 40 years for the rest of us) off to rest and recover from 15 years of being stadium-shaking blues-rockers.
"I felt like I was banging my head against a brick wall by the time we took a break in 2006," front man Shaun Verreault says from his home in Vancouver.
"It was time to diversify. The band was our only priority for 15 years when we decided it was time to take a break. It was time to do some of the stuff we had been putting off for years."
Drummer Safwan Javed earned a law degree at the University of Ottawa, front man Shaun Verreault recorded two solo acoustic albums, The Daggerlip Sketches in 2006 and Two Steel Strings in 2008 and produced a couple more, while bass player Earl Pereira fronted his own band Mobadass, which released their debut album Island Rock in 2008.
Despite the occasional reunion gig, such as their show on Canadian Pacific's Rock train in 2006, all the signs of a foreclosure on the future of the band were in place. One of the top-grossing bands in Canada, WMM simply closed up shop, apparently for good.
Au contraire, insists Verreault.
"We tore a page out of the Blue Rodeo book and decided it was time to alternate our own individual projects with the band. It keeps them balanced. It's time to be Wide Mouth Mason again."
Apparently, rumours of their demise were greatly exaggerated. The band is back in business big time with a new live DVD shot in Montreaux, Switzerland, and their first national tour, including a stop here at Mavericks Wednesday and a headlining gig at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics next month.
Watch for a new studio album, due later this year.
"We have to rebuild the band from the ground up. Audience awareness is a flower you have to water and nurture," he says.
Ah, he knows how fickle the record-buying audience can be, and how quickly they forget you, and he's determined to lure their fans back, playing small clubs instead of giant arenas.
Yup, it wasn't that long ago that the trio from Saskatoon was huge. Their first album 1996's The Nazarene went gold and earned the band a nomination for Best New Group Juno in 1998, Best Rock Album for Stew in 2001, and a Juno nod for Rock Album of the Year for 2002's Rained Out Parade.
Now, after a lengthy layoff, the band is playing as hungry as they were when they were breaking into the business.
"Playing again is really exciting," Verreault says. "I would listen to Jimi Hendrix and Peter Gabriel to get fired up before the show. I don't have to now. It's exciting again."
"When you get to our age, you get points for just being around," he adds.
The only show that Verreault is nervous about will be their headline gig at the Vancouver Olympics.
"We play the night after the gold medal hockey game, so it will either be crazy loud if Canada wins, or the most depressing gig if they lose."
Wide Mouth Mason play Mavericks tonight (Jan. 27). Tickets are $14 online at <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.mavericksbar.com">http://www.mavericksbar.com</a><!-- m -->