Morning Noon Night

I hope Nils doesn’t cut off my balls for posting this video. It’s from way back in March at a house party during Canadian Music Fest, and they were playing at about 3 AM. As you can see, I was literally standing two feet away from them so the sound ain’t too great (not that it was much better in person). This was their third show that day and they were (self-admittedly) a little sloppy. Still, I think there is some value in sharing this video with y’all. The Rural Alberta Adavantage have been receiving a lot of attention lately, starting last fall when their self-released record Hometowns (which the band had been selling at shows in handmade packaging for several months) was featured on eMusic, a website that I wasn’t too familiar with but which apparently has quite a few users. That raised their profile significantly and soon they were playing successful shows in New York and at SXSW, which I was lucky enough to attend.

Yes, seeing them play to a packed church in Austin, Texas was quite special, especially since the first time I saw The RAA was in my hometown of Oshawa at the Velvet Elvis way back in November 2006. While the size of the venue and audience has changed, one thing that hasn’t changed at all in the last three years is the music – it’s still the same three people playing the same songs with the same instruments (I assume). That’s why I was so happy to see Hometowns get rereleased last week all across North America (on vinyl to boot!) care of Omaha, Nebraska’s Saddle Creek records. It’s a great record that faithfully captures their live performances while adding nice flourishes and here and there to flesh out their sound. The songs are memorable and the lyrics are heartfelt – it really couldn’t be a better representation of their music. It’s a nice story that I witnessed first-hand which shows that sometimes things don’t happen overnight. That’s why you’ve gotta stick with it people!

For bonus points, check out this “interview” I did with Nils back in ‘06 (a good year).