If you've followed my sage advice and checked out the Enter the Haggis links from yesterday's post, I have a little plan to let you in on. Assuming that you liked what you heard (pssht... of course you did!) and you want to get your ears a Gutter Anthems copy of their very own, may I suggest a purchase date and time of this Wednesday, April 1st at 9:00pm EST from iTunes? No April Fool's joke here: Gutter Anthems has been hovering around the top of the world music chart on iTunes for about a week now, and there is a mission in place to nudge them up to the #1 spot. We feel that by doing this collectively, it would be just the right recipe to make it happen.
I recently had the good fortune to head up to Canada for a night to enjoy some of my favorite ear candy. Enter the Haggis is a band based in Toronto, Ontario that has been on an ever-increasing wave of success for almost ten years. Never heard of them? Well, it's time to change all that.
I've had the pleasure of knowing the guys for six years now, and to see their metamorphosis has been nothing short of wonderful. One reason you've likely never heard of them before is because they started out in their infancy as mostly a Celtic-genre band, playing and growing on the festival circuit (usually ones with the same theme), as well as small pubs and venues here and there. Though living in Canada, they quickly realized how to capitalize on a few benefits associated with traveling the U.S. by hopping to and from towns in close proximity to each other. As they traveled more, even to a handful of European gigs along the way, their fan base grew. Also growing at the same time was their sound.
When the current band member lineup came to be around the year 2000, it brought in a colorful resume of talent. New members with backgrounds and interests in jazz, latin, celtic, prog rock, classic rock, and traditional Canadian sounds were suddenly melded together, which to many, would seem worthy of an audible antacid. The happy surprise is that the result is just the opposite. As the guys describe it, their name has come to be synonymous with their sound: random elements mixed together to form something pleasingly palatable.
With the increase in their popularity, ETH has popped up in great places like The Kennedy Center, the soundtrack for the indie flick 10 MPH (support these flimmakers!), a live concert broadcast on PBS, A&E's Breakfast with the Arts, Live with Regis & Kelly, and most recently, Canada AM, performing The Litter and the Leaves:
Their newest release, Gutter Anthems, is, in my not-so-humble opinion, their most ambitious, unapologetic, and professional compilation yet. One of my all-time favorite artists is Billy Joel, primarily because of the great storytelling in his lyrics. ETH has been another all-timer of mine for not only coughing up some of my favorite ballads and crunchy rock tunes, but also for following that same lyrical formula, which they do exceptionally well again on Anthems. The other aspect that immediately caught my attention on this release is the thorough use of sublime vocal harmonies, for which I am most certainly a sucker.
All that said, it's time to shove some Haggis in your ears and see what I'm spouting off about. Right now, they are offering up the entire Gutter Anthems CD for a free listen on their website, a very tasty treat, indeed. If you need more of a free fix to see where they've come from, check out their page on UFO, their record label's website, where you can listen to all four of their most recent releases on the audio player. Need more linkage? Find them also on MySpace, Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook. Then go to their main website, find out when they're playing near you, and get thee to a show. If there's one thing to be said about ETH, it's that if you like their recorded sound, even just a little bit, their live sound promises to be slap-your-mamma good.
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As for that side of doughnuts...
ESPN today has been broadcasting their coverage of the local, incredibly fun, Krispy Kreme Challenge that we participated in, as mentioned previously. The network had their very own Greg Garber pony up to the contest, though he squeaked in just a few minutes shy of the one hour mark. How he did all of that in a suit and tie, with commentary, and not offer up any road cookies is beyond me.
The GREAT feature narrative clip can be seen HERE.
