Name: The Rural Alberta AdvantageFrom: Toronto, Ontario
Story: The Rural Alberta Nostalgia
Sound: The Rural Alberta Neutral Milk Hotel
The Rural Alberta Advantage aren't from Rural Alberta by zip-code, but at heart. Formed in Toronto, Ontario, two of their members —Paul Banwatt and Amy Cole— had never even set foot on Rural Albertan soil when the band evolved out of an open-mic night in 2005. But songsmith Nils Edenloff grew up on farmland in Northern Alberta, and, on arriving in big-city Toronto, found himself yearning for the countryside left behind in his heart.
"I spent 25 years growing up in Alberta, so there are a lot of memories, both good and bad, to sift through," Endeloff told Toronto's Eye Weekly. "There will always be some sort of lingering influence from there in my songs."
The debut Rural Alberta Advantage album, Hometowns, runs through a checklist of Albertan towns in its tracklist: "The Deathbridge in Lethbridge"; "Frank, AB"; "Edmonton." The tunes, therein, are, as emblazoned on the RAA website: "about summers in the Rockies and winters on the farm, ice breakups in the spring time and the oil boom’s charm."
Going just by the snowcaked heartache and manly evocations of the land, you'd figure the obvious comparison for the Rural Alberta Advantage would be Bon Iver. Except, Edenloff's most obvious influence is Neutral Milk Hotel; his hoarse-throated wailing pretty much a knock-dead impersonation for NMH's indie-rock-Salinger, Jeff Mangum.
After self-releasing Hometowns in 2008, the RAA found a growing grassroots following drawn to their cranky, acousticky indie-rock. Nebraska's Saddle Creek Records (the house that Bright Eyes built) inked the band up, and will press up the widely-available Hometowns July 7, taking the combo from Rural Alberta unto the world at large. The Rural Alberta Tourage:
June 20: Indianapolis, IN - The Vollrath
June 21: Madison, WI - High Noon Saloon
June 22: Minneapolis, MN - 7th Street Entry
June 23: Winnipeg, MB - Royal Albert Arms
June 25: Calgary, AB - Sled Island Fest
June 26: Calgary, AB - Sled Island Fest
June 27: Edmonton, AB - Brixx
June 30: Regina, SK - The Club at The Exchange
July 5: Vancouver, BC - Media Club
July 6: Seattle, WA - Sunset Tavern
July 7: Portland, OR - Backspace
July 9: San Francisco, CA - Bottom of the Hill
July 10: Los Angeles, CA - Echo
July 11: Phoenix, AZ - Modified
July 13: Salt Lake City, UT - Kilby Court
July 14: Denver, CO - Hi Dive
July 15: Omaha, NE - Slowdown
July 25: Guelph, ON - Hillside Festival
July 26: Guelph, ON - Hillside Festival
July 30: Toronto, ON - Horseshoe Tavern
August 8: Wolfe Island, ON - Wolfe Island Musicfest
August 24: Chicago, IL - Downtown Sound/Pritzker Pavilion/Millennium Park
Photo © [Patrick Leduc]
Comments