SONG OF THE DAY

“For Love & Your Mother’s Sake” by The United Steel Work­ers Of Mon­treal (Three On The Tree, Weew­erk Records, 2009).

LINKS

• MySpace Page
• CBC Radio 3 United Steel Work­ers Of Mon­treal page
• Offi­cial Website
• Toronto-based indie label Weew­erk Records

INTERESTING FACTS (a la Wikipedia)

- United Steel Work­ers of Mon­treal (or USWM) are a six-piece alter­na­tive coun­try ensem­ble based in downtown Montreal.

- At present, the band con­sists of Gern F (vocals/acoustic gui­tar), Felic­ity Hamer (vocals/accordion), Sean “Gus” Beauchamp (vocals/acoustic gui­tar), Matt Wat­son (elec­tric gui­tar), Eddie Blake (bass) and Christo­pher Reid (banjo/mandolin).

- The band draws on punk rock, bluegrass and coun­try influ­ences, and is part of a “city­grass” scene of alter­na­tive coun­try musi­cians in Mon­treal which also includes Katie Moore and Lee Mel­lor and the Mudhounds.

- The band began as an infor­mal busk­ing col­lec­tive, play­ing every Tues­day in Montreal’s Lucien-L’Allier metro station. After about seven or eight months, they booked a rehearsal space and began to actively record and per­form as a per­ma­nent band.

- In 2007 a Mon­treal Mir­ror read­ers’ poll voted them the third best act in the city, behind only Arcade Fire and elec­tronic duo Team Canada.

PRESS RELEASE (a la CDBABY)

A potent mix of blues, jazz, coun­try and swing, The USWM’s live per­for­mances are filled out with dry wit, tall tales and some out­right lies. Danc­ing is optional but hard to avoid.

Fol­low­ing in the wake of their crit­i­cally acclaimed albums, Bro­ken Trucks and Bot­tles and Kerosene & Coal, THREE ON THE TREE sees the band branch­ing out from their earthy, acoustic-country-punk roots to exper­i­ment with gospel (“Jesus We Sweat”), his­tor­i­cal bal­lads (“Mary Gal­lagher”), Span­ish horn arrange­ments (“Glen Jones”) and thun­der­ing pre­mo­ni­tions of death (“Three Hard Knocks”)… Huge in heart, nar­ra­tive scope and emo­tion, THREE ON THE TREE swoops down over the indus­trial grim­ness of “Shot Tower” sashay­ing through the street-level social tur­bu­lence of “What a Riot” and peers into a del­i­cate room where lead singer Felic­ity Hamer’s vel­vety vocals bal­ance the melody of “Lit­tle Girl” like a frail tea-cup on her saucer. All of the most loved con­ven­tions of The USWM’s pre­vi­ous work are rep­re­sented, from the stir­ring ral­ly­ing cries of “Rise Up” and “The Line” to light hearted foot stomp­ing romps like “Mak­ing Babies” and “Lorelei”.

THE UNITED STEEL WORKERS OF MONTREAL were voted Montreal’s #1 Folk/Roots Band and #2 Best Live Act, and have been recorded live by CBC Radio 2 and CBC Radio 3. The band has been receiv­ing crit­i­cal acclaim, play­ing SXSW, NXNE, CMW, Pop Mon­treal, Toronto Inter­na­tional Film Fes­ti­val, Fes­ti­val de musique émer­gente, Que­bec City’s 400th anniver­sary, Ottawa Blues­fest, Berlin’s Pop­komm, Nancy France Jazz Fes­ti­val and received nom­i­na­tions for the Que­bec Inde­pen­dent Music Awards and the MIMIs.

RECENT PRESS QUOTES:
– Their live gigs have achieved a leg­endary cult-like status…they sing about you and me, and to you and me. It’s real, it’s about a good time, it’s about life. – Nightlife Magazine

– The USWM are the quin­tes­sen­tial Mon­treal band…one of the best, hard­est work­ing and most loved bands in the city. Pos­sess­ing a blue-collar charm that’s impos­si­ble to fake and a punk-country sound impos­si­ble to mis­take – The Hour

– A fan­tas­tic band… Good peo­ple, good music. Highly rec­om­mended — CTV

– The hoot-and-holler meter went high­est when the United Steel Work­ers of Mon­treal thun­dered through a set of urban hill­billy — or “city­grass” — music…with the fierce­ness of a Tom Waits-Shane Mac­Gowan knife fight. – Globe and Mail

VIDEO OF THE DAY