WATCH / SHARE “SUNBEAM” VISUALIZER HERE
SONGS FOR MY PEOPLE OUT TOMORROW VIA VICTORY POOL RECORDS
GHOSTKEEPER’S 2023 POLARIS MUSIC PRIZE NOMINATED ALBUM MULTIDIMENSIONAL CULTURE OUT NOW VIA VICTORY POOL RECORDS
“Songs for My People is a gift to Ghostkeeper's family and community but sharing it with the world is a gift to the rest of us.” - CBC Music
"If you’re having one of those vital moments in your relationship when you wonder why the soothing aloe plant also has thorns, this music helps you appreciate every fibre" The YYSCENE
Photo Credit : Heather Saitz // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES
This Friday, Shane Ghostkeeper will release his debut solo country album, Songs For My People, out via Victory Pool. Fans of independent Canadian music will likely recognize the name Shane Ghostkeeper from his namesake project GHOSTKEEPER, a band whose most recent album Multidimensional Culture has been nominated for the 2023 Polaris Music Prize and who has been responsible for some of the more thrilling music to emerge from Alberta during the last 15 years. But while his parent band trades in a highly unique, left-of-centre approach to indie rock, this new project is a deeply reverential tribute to the music he absorbed while growing up in the Northern Alberta Métis communities of Paddle Prairie, High Level, and Rocky Lane.
Today, Ghostkeeper is sharing one last track from the LP before its release, "Sunbeam” was written “for my late Uncle Tucker and the family he left behind,” says Ghostkeeper. “I was unable to attend his funeral so I wrote this to express my condolences and support for my Aunty Lorraine and my cousins. Tucker was a huge force in the Paddle Prairie Metis Settlement community and beyond, and he was a fiercely dedicated father and husband.
This song started as an acoustic lament and then morphed into a classic rock-style tune once the band and I hit the studio. This was not my intent. However, my Uncle Tucker’s spirit stepped in and said let's make this a rocker. I have awesome childhood memories of his love for classic rock; Led Zeppelin, T-Rex, and CCR. I will forever appreciate his influence on me. Hiy Hiy"
WATCH / SHARE “SUNBEAM” VISUALIZER HERE
SONGS FOR MY PEOPLE OUT TOMORROW VIA VICTORY POOL RECORDS
MORE ABOUT SONGS FOR MY PEOPLE
“The concept of this record,” Ghostkeeper says, “is to present, as a gift to my people, an exploration of the country and western and roots records they surrounded me with since childhood.” Songs For My People is a truly a family affair.
From the opening notes of the album, this notion rings true wholeheartedly; shades of classic boot stompin' anthems shine through, offering glimmers of Waylon Jennings, Johnny Horton, and Conway Twitty; and the singer took a particular shred of influence from the ‘Bakersfield sound’ scene, a strain of '60s-era artists that infused traditional country and western songwriting with the electrified, then-new zing of rock and roll. In turn, Shane achieved his own version of ‘this plus that’ by injecting the Bakersfield sound with his own musical hallmarks. Ghostkeeper's singing style is one of the most arresting aspects of his songwriting; his ability to mix conversational speech (a la Lou Reed or Bob Dylan), percussive breaths, and other mouth-driven sound production with traditional melodic singing makes Ghostkeeper one of the more dynamic vocalists you're likely to hear anytime soon.
WATCH / SHARE “I KNOW HOW” HERE
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And it wouldn't truly be a Shane Ghostkeeper project without a few flashes of sonic risk-taking; “Into the Night” begins with a dark, ominous introduction before settling into a classic country ‘train beat’, while “Sunbeam” sports a lightly psychedelic overcoat in tribute to Shane's T. Rex- and Led Zeppelin loving Uncle Tucker.
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But the true emotional core of this album is “Hunger Strike”; its upbeat feel sits in stark to contrast to its backstory. A few years after Shane's Grandmother Olive passed, her widowed husband Rolly spent a few heartbroken, lonely years by himself before deciding that her absence was too much to bear. “After a few years of pain,” Shane remembers, “he called an end to his time and went on a hunger strike. He notified all his family and friends so that everyone could say goodbye, and lasted close to a week before he passed away peacefully with his family by his side.” As if this wasn't enough of an emotional load to carry, Shane's mother informed him that the date of Rolly's passing was indeed his Grandparents' anniversary. “I was floored beyond my emotional capacity,” the singer says. “I will forever be inspired and grateful for the immense power of love and romance that my Grandpa possessed and shared so generously. I hope these songs tell his story in a deserving way.”
WATCH / SHARE “HUNGER STRIKE” HERE
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Further extending the concept of ‘family’, Shane recruited a close-knit crew of collaborators to help him bring this project to life. He asked producer extraordinaire Lorrie Matheson (Rae Spoon, Art Bergmann) to ‘post up at the helm’, and this was no accident – Matheson has been part of the Ghostkeeper world since day one, recording their debut album in 2008, and producing and mixing their Polaris Music Prize nominated album, Multidimensional Culture, last year. Shane's bandmates in the main Ghostkeeper band – drummer Eric Hamelin (known for his work with JOYFULTALK and drumming on Alvvays' smash hit “Archie, Marry Me”), bassist Ryan Bourne (Chad Van Gaalen), and guitarist and pedal steel player Wayne Garrett (Surf Kitties) – join him here as well, and their expertise and wide-ranging artistic sensibilities helped elevate this album from what could have been a simple tribute project to another fully-formed entry in Ghostkeeper's body of work.
WATCH / SHARE “I KNOW HOW” HERE
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01 Into The Night
02 Hunger Strike
03 Sunbeam
04 I Know How
05 One More Name
06 V Chill
07 Uncle John
08 Ghost
09 Why Do I Hide
10 Just A Closer Walk With Thee