THE UNITED STEEL WORKERS OF MONTREAL
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NIGHTLIFE MAGAZINE - TOUR DE FORCE- Montreal Sextet The United Steel Workers of Montreal keep the country-western members burning bright and strong
TORONTO STAR - Ex-trucker driving 'citygrass' combo
NOW - Hearts of Steel
THE RECORD - Men at Work; USWM come by hard-times image honestlyPress Clippings:
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 MagazineIt doesn't take long to realize that USWM is doing something different than most bands out there. The lead vocals are unique and the harmony vocals are outstanding.
antiMUSICBreathtaking harmonies, strings, and banjo ...can make you stomp a hole into the dance floor on one track ...and hold your girl tight as you sway to the next.
HerohillThe USWM eat the crowd with a raucous country-marries-urban-roots set. After Felicity's sass has met Gern's grit, a vocal shot of Tom Waits if he'd been born in a motel in the Ozarks, you are feeling that familiar flush of pride and thinking "we've done it again." Because USWM are indeed from Montreal.
The GazetteA fantastic band. Good-hearted people who are very hard workers when it comes to their music... sharing the spotlight because that's what they do. Good people, good music. Highly recommended
CTVThe hoot-and-holler meter went highest when the United Steel Workers of Montreal thundered through a set of urban hillbilly -- or "citygrass" -- music.
Brad Wheeler, Globe and Mail
Dive-bar roots-rock is all the rage
Know now that dive-bar roots-rock and taproom alt-country is alive, weird and woolly in Canada. A four-band bill curated by independent label Weewerk showcased a pan-Canadian array of talent, most of which succeeded, at the sooty and venerable Horseshoe Tavern.While Peterborough's The Silver Hearts -- a rambling nine-piece that does speakeasy blues -- was ostensibly the headliner, the hoot-and-holler meter went highest when the United Steel Workers of Montreal thundered through a set of urban hillbilly -- or "citygrass" -- music. Though comprised of six members, the band had two singers who drew the bulk of the attention. At stage left was Felicity Hamer, a pigtailed redhead who looked pretty much what you'd expect a Felicity Hamer to look like, except for the tattooed arms. On rowdier cowpunk tunes, she used a raspy Janis Joplin vocal approach; on slower material -- comparable to the haunting melancholia of the Cowboy Junkies -- she was breathier and sweeter.
The gentle giant holding down the other side was "Gern f.," who wore a rumbled suit that worked well with his Depression-era fade haircut. The big man worked hard, chopping at an acoustic guitar with hands large enough to palm watermelons and maybe a thumb left over for a jug of corn liquor. He sang about drag racing and united stands against various bodies of authority -- the working-class blues of a prosperous nation.
A punk edge serrated the drumless fire-on-the-mountain romping, with Ramones-style "1-2-3-4" count-ins during a couple of songs, including one that had the sloppy fierceness of a Tom Waits-Shane MacGowan knife fight. There was a slow country "period piece" about Montreal all-beef wieners, too.When you convince people to slow dance in the middle of the room,
you pretty much rule.
Matt Semansky , Chartattack
Six-piece Montreal band plays dirty, dive-bar country with an urban twist.
The Steel Workers proved that playing the first set of the night doesn't need to hold a band back if they have the right attitude. Their catchy country tunes and infectious enthusiasm started winning whoops and cheers halfway through and earned them a huge ovation at the end of the set.This band owned the stage from the start, mostly on the strength of their excellent songs. Their look was appropriately dirty, save for vocalist Felicity Hamer, whose punk-rock mini-skirt and boots added sex appeal, and frontman Gern F, who wore a suit and hat that could have been stolen from the Mighty Mighty Bosstones' closet. The banjo player seemed to be having an especially good time chatting with the crowd. Pretty much every member has a distinct personality.
Hamer and Gern F. have distinct yet complementary voices, with Hamer softening the extreme edges of F.'s Tom Waits-inspired growl. This vocal interplay powers the band, but the support work of their colleagues can't be overlooked. Without a drummer, they used banjos, guitars and bass in a variety of ways for percussive effect, and their overall sound is authentic enough to entertain both old-school country fans and curious onlookers.
At the end of the show, The Steel Workers slowed it down and asked people to grab a partner and dance. It worked. When you play an early set and you convince people to slow dance in the middle of the room, you pretty much rule.
Country crooners and outlaw rockers make for great company
Eye Weekly
...and on the USWM's debut you'll find plenty of both. Similar to: The Silver Hearts, Son Volt, The Sadies
TopSix-pack of Canadian: top 6 bands to see during Canadian Music Week
Vit Wagner , The Toronto Star
The United Steel Workers of Montreal: With the likes of Great Lake Swimmers, Justin Rutledge, Luke Doucet and NQ Arbuckle also on the same bill, there are any number of reasons to settle in for the night March 3 at the Reverb. These roots rocking Montrealers, who kick things off at 8 p.m., are ample incentive to arrive early.
Critic's Pick: Front-porch casual approach to picking, Broken Trucks and Bottles has no shortage of closing-time charm
Tim Perlich, NOW
Contrary to popular belief, not every band from Montreal with more than four members sounds like Arcade Fire; the United Steel Workers have developed their own alt-country subgenre they've dubbed "citygrass." For their latest disc, Broken Trucks And Bottles, USWM's rickety shuffles seem to draw inspiration from the Pogues and Tom Waits, which puts them in the neighbourhood of Peterborough's Silver Hearts, although their front-porch casual approach to picking and tunes like Goddamn The CPR actually put them closer to the Gourds in sound and concept. At times they lean a little too hard on the hayseed switch, but Broken Trucks And Bottles has no shortage of closing-time charm.
Hoist a brew with USWM at the Reverb's CMW twang showcase Friday (March 3).
Top
USMW deliver the genuine country-blues goods
James Sandham, Spill Magazine
Live from la belle province, the United Steel Workers of Montreal rolled into the Reverb last night (Friday March 3), delivering a great set to an initially sparse audience. And maybe it was better that way; there seemed to be something appropriate about a half-full and half-lit lounge while USWM pounded out their brand of urban alt-country. The ambiance was right. Their music creeps over you from the stage like cigar smoke in a dimly lit room. Sounding like something somewhere between The Band and Tom Waits, the six members that comprise USWM delivered an at-times weary, melancholy, but always inviting sound, incorporating banjo, stand-up bass, ukulele, female and male vocals, and guitars. Tinged with sounds from both bluegrass and UK folk (think the Pogues), USMW deliver the genuine country-blues goods.
The United Steel Workers Of Montreal kick sweet honkytonk butt
Mary Dickie, Toronto SunThe band really deliver
Johnson Cummins, The Montreal Mirror:
This collective of countrified Montrealers seem to be hopped up on the lighter side of Lefty Frizzell, Bill Monroe, Hank Williams, Doc Watson and the cowpunk of Blood on the Saddle...
... it's Gern F.'s gruff voice, sounding like it's seen its shares of rough nights, that give USWM's songs a sense of conviction. The production and arrangement let things settle gently as Gern F. takes centre stage, ...the mandolin, Tele twang, wandering bass, glistening slide and brushes on snare all hit their mark...
...Felicity Hamer's country croon on "Wandering Eye" proves to
be the ace card here, though the band really deliver on barstool anthems like "Place St. Henri" and "Lay Me Down Father."
A unique addition to the Montreal music scene
Dave Gossage, Tüna:
...USWM are truly a unique addition to the Montreal music scene, their edgy urban cowboy punk music combines great songwriting with heartfelt vocals. A great band to catch live, they are all solid instrumentalists and their casual good humour is infectious
A must have!
Indigo Books and Music:
USWM?s record, Broken Trucks and Bottles, is a collection of edgy, rootsy, country-punkish music that is guaranteed to please any palate. A congregation of talented Montreal roots musicians USWM plays a great mix of folk, bluegrass, blues, swing and rock in just the right proportions. From Gern f.?s gruff Tom Waits like voice on Number Four to Felicity Hamer?s infectious country croon on Wandering Eye and the incredible musicianship from all members, this album is a must have! Songs like Life Bearable in Texas and Place St. Henri will have you up and dancing in no time and you wont be able to resist the greatness of tunes like Lay Me Down Father and CPR. Don?t wait any longer, go out and get your copy of Broken Trucks and Bottles today!
For Fans of: John Prine, Tom Waits, Lucinda Williams, The Pogues ?
This album is magic
Jonas:
...This album is magic. Sounds like Hiatt, Waits and Emmy Lou met at a bar, thought about putting a band together, but turned around and watched these guys instead...These guys fuckin rock! Heart, soul, talent - the whole package. ...I'm proud to say I come from the same city
Top
An important piece of the Montreal roots music scene
Matthew Large, Notre Dame de Grass:
Homages in content and style to Tom Waits (Number 4), Appalachian hillbilly music via The Pogues (Wandering Eye), and the current Americana singer-songwriter genre (Lay Me Down Father), are undeniable, but the unique abilities of the band make these tunes their own. Of particular interest are Shawn Beauchamp's lovely contributions and "heart on his sleeve" vocals - no overt showmanship, no airs, just pure, self-conscious and bang on roots singing.The recording itself is sparse, cohesive and beautiful. Pierre Pineault has mastered the song collection right at the tip of your nose and mixer Cécile Doo-Kingué and producer Gern f. have provided strong unwavering vision. This band is an important piece of the Montreal roots music scene and is poised to play a greater role on the Canadian folk scene at large.
Broken Trucks and Bottles Rocks!
Amber Dawkins, TokoroMAG:
The United Steel Workers of Montreal - Broken Trucks and Bottles. Rocks! You may have guessed from the name that these guys are a local Montreal band, not just a band though, they are a phenomenon! The Steel Workers were originally known as the Congregates who used to play weekly shows in the depths of the metro stations. They later formed as the United Steel Workers of Montreal exploring new realms in acoustic folk/bluegrass rock fusion. Largely influenced by Tom Waits, Emmy Lou Harris, Hank Williams and Doc Watson. Throw this all in pot and it produces an edgy, catchy heart breakingly delicious stew.The Album's first track, 'Place St. Henri', is a slow danceable love song about being on the road away from your true love and just wanting to come home in order to dance in the Place St. Henri metro station. Sweet, slow and memorable. 'Goddamn the CPR' is a cover of an old folk song by Dale Stoliker about building the CPR railway, it's punked up with electric guitar and ragin' mandolin.
The vocals are shared between Felicity Hamer and Gern F. two complimentary flavors. Gern being low, loud and gruff layered with Felicity's soft yet husky sweet melodies.
TopReconnue pour ses prestations enivrantes
Patrick Ouellet, Voir:
Reconnue pour ses prestations enivrantes, la formation United Steel Workers of Montreal prendra d'assaut le Sacrilège.... Balançant un folk saoulé au bluegrass, au rock et au country, Gern f, Felicity Hamer, Matt Watson, Shawn Gus Beauchamp, Sean b'y Moore et Roger Dawson lançaient en avril dernier leur premier essai, Broken Trucks and Bottles.A gem
Bob Klanac, Scene Magazine:
Imagine the Tom Waits of [Nighthawks] At The Diner fronting an unplugged version of Steve Earle's Dukes and you've pretty much got the United Steel Workers of Montreal. What makes all of Broken Trucks and Bottles such a wonder is how out of kilter it sounds. The drummer languorously strays just behind the beat, the acoustic guitar and mandolin players strum as though they're trying to balance a beer on the necks of their instruments and singer Gern f growls with more heart than precision. Better still, Felicity Hamer takes the lead on a couple of the songs here bringing a Margo Timmins-like sweetness to the proceedings. A gem of a disc and one helluva debut for the United Steel Workers of Montreal.Spirited bluegrass and old-timey twang is hard to resist
Jordan Zivitz, The Montreal Gazette:
The United Steel workers of Montreal are asking for trouble ? or at least for some confused construction-site foremen. Sure, the group?s spirited bluegrass and old-timey twang is hard to resist, but with a name like that their shows are bound to get mistaken for labour-union meetings.?Actually the name?s done pretty well for us. It gives a feel of our lefty, work-song end of things,? frontman Gern f. said. ?Occasionally somebody scratches their head ? but there?s a level of intrigue that probably makes people check out what we?re doing.?
Three years ago when the steel workers were known as the congregates, the collective ? ranging in membership from five to ten ? held its meetings in the Lucien L?Allier metro station. ?There were a bunch of us who?d meet there on Tuesday nights and play for a couple of hours, or until they kicked us out.?
Union sessions moved into venues like Brutopia and Grumpy?s, and ? with the band?s first album expected around November ? look poised to include more dues-paying members. ?We have five players now, but we?re probably going to reintroduce the rhythm section shortly ? though not until after this show (tomorrow at El Salon). Seven would be a good number for us, and hopefully as we move along we?ll start bringing in guest performers too.
TopNIGHTLIFE MAGAZINE - TOUR DE FORCE- Montreal Sextet The United Steel Workers of Montreal keep the country-western members burning bright and strong
TORONTO STAR - Ex-trucker driving 'citygrass' combo
NOW - Hearts of Steel
THE RECORD - Men at Work; USWM come by hard-times image honestly
Radio Free Montreal podcast 37- Listen to the interview with Gern f.TOUR DE FORCE- Montreal Sextet
The United Steel Workers of Montreal
keep the country-western members
burning bright and strong
JANUARY 2023.
STEVE GUIMOND, NIGHTLIFE MAGAZINEWhile many of us weren?t listening all these years, one of this city?s best kept secrets has been filling concert halls small, medium and large on a scarily consistent basis ? we?re talking every two months here ? like few Montreal bands have, both then and now. All the while, this feat has been achieved without the push of a large label, publicity machine, or questionable marketing tools. The United Steel Workers of Montreal do it the old-fashioned way, spreading their blood, sweat and beers as if every gig were their last, handling all aspects of their existence, from the booking, to the promotion, to the driving, to the recording and releasing. Their live gigs have achieved a legendary cult-like status at home, the reason these eyes see being they sing about you and me, and to you and me. It?s real, it?s about a good time, it?s about life.
The band is a cornerstone of a larger movement that has painted the town blue?grass that is. While the spotlight of late has shone here on all things indie, post and whatever rock, an amazing array of artists steeped in the ole time traditions of country and western has exploded after seeking out what most wouldn?t call an existence for the better part of a decade, thanks to folky-friendly joints like Barfly and The Wheel Club providing gear, a stage and welcoming, appreciative ears. 2008 sees a list this long of credible and incredible folks practicing what Lee Mellor (of Lee Mellor and The Mudhounds) has dubbed City-Grass. In his words, ?it feels like roots music has been kind of buried lately. So in a way our music is like those little tufts of grass that sprout between the cracks in the sidewalk, desperately trying to find some life.? And what a life! Montreal has arguably the tightest-knit, and surely the most innovative and talented of such scenes anywhere in Canada.
The Steel Workers call their musical wares ?punk-country,? a gritty mix of tales of the city, the open road and lost-love weepers. The band is led by the imposing Gern f. on guits, harmonica and vox, Felicity Hamer on accordion and vocals, Matt Watson on Telecaster, mandolin, banjo and backing vocals, Shawn ?Gus? Beauchamp on vocals, guitar, mandolin and Telecaster, Chris Reid on mandolin, banjo, backing vocals and finally Eddy Blake on stand-up bass and vocals. Their discography stands at two (with number three on the horizon for early next year) ? 2005?s Broken Trucks & Bottles and last year?s Kerosene and Coal ? initially self-released before both being picked up by cool Canadian indie Weewerk (home to Great Lake Swimmers). The band has just returned from their maiden voyage to the Old World, a broken bones adventure, and has not shied away from taking their reputable live act on the road in North America from East to West, as well as North to South. We touched base with Gern and Felicity to chat about this and that.
ALL THINGS LOCAL
How do you explain the band?s fiercely devoted Montreal following?
Gern: To a great extent our following in Montreal has been the result of our relentless effort. We started years ago with the plan that we would always try not to overplay our hand, and not perform more than one show per month. We put a lot of thought and promotion into each gig, starting with whom we?re playing with in terms of trying try to mix things up a bit, trying to play with as many local bands as we can, and trading our crowd with theirs. All shows get postered and press-released, and generally anybody who wants to know about our shows knows we?re playing. We?ve also had a lot of help from the fine folks around us to get the word out, anyone from the bars to the scene itself. The local production/promotion company UrbanHanded Works has been an enormous help, giving us support from the beginning and making us look good and professional on paper and on the internet. And finally, I think it must be said we really do give it our all at these shows. A lot of the time we?re playing for a lot of our friends and fellow musicians and we truly feel we have to pull it together and give them a concert with lots of banter and hard, fast playing.
Could this band exist anywhere but in Montreal?
Gern: The Steel Workers sprung from a scene that?s welled up over the last ten-odd years. It?s one that?s been centered on the experience of local jams from country, to folk, to old-tyme and even Irish, at the same time serving as a general meeting place for and between other musicians. We all came together years ago and got to know each other through a weekly night called ?Train Song Sundays? at a small brew pub. Any city that has this sort of thing going on can generally look forward to their scene(s) getting much larger, mainly due to artists having a chance and reason to get together and talk, bitch and play.
How important is the local scene you find yourselves immersed in ? the often ignored country and bluegrass circles? Who are your peers?
Felicity: I think we?ve been really lucky to be part of Montreal?s thriving music scene. The country and bluegrass scene here is incredibly strong and supportive with a lot of great collaboration going on between both the more traditional acts ? Katie Moore (Yonder Hill), Lil? Andy (Karaoke Cowboy), Matt Large (NDG), Lake of Stew, Caloon Saloon ? and the many off-shoot bands falling more into the alt-country category ? Ladies of The Canyon, The Jimmyriggers, The Unsettlers and The Slaters to name a few of MANY!
[ed: Don?t forget folks like Angela Desveaux, The Ideal Lovers, Bud Rice, Rockabilly Filly, The Cockroaches, Michael Jerome Brown, The Echo Hunters, Joe Grass, Mike O?Brien, Orillia Opry, Jordan Officer, David Macleod, etc.]
OVER THERE AND OUT OF BOUNDS
Why does the band seem to live in the shadows of the big, indie rock bands that have exploded out of Montreal?
Gern: I would say the Steel Workers have actually flourished over the last few years because of the huge response to bands like Arcade Fire and others, who?ve kept a spotlight on the amazing music scene that?s been building over the last decade. These big bands didn?t just happen overnight, they were the product of a lot of musicians doing their thing in bars and venues, even in the Metro. If there weren?t sixty bands in Montreal working as hard as we do, there probably wouldn?t be as many people out there in the clubs catching it all, and you probably never would have heard of Plants and Animals or Les Breastfeeders. Matty Watson always says: ?A rising tide floats all boats.?
How has the reaction been to the band outside of the city?
Felicity: It?s really important to be recognized at home and it?s what has given us the confidence to try our music elsewhere. There?s nothing more thrilling though than walking onto a stage in front of complete strangers and getting the same positive reaction so far away from home. We?ve had great reception everywhere we?ve been ? sometimes with people already singing along!
Gern: Canadian audiences have definitely been the most receptive to our sound, I think due to bands like the Silver Hearts, Elliot Brood and The Sadies having cut a broad swath across the country giving folks a good idea of what our kind of derivative country music can sound like. The Steel Workers come out of a country background, but one that?s been mixed in with other influences like punk, rock, celtic, folk and the like. We?ve done quite a bit of road work stretching back four or five years and have always been happy with how accepting the fans all over Canada have been. Our biggest discovery though was when we went out West last year and found out how important CBC Radio3 is once you get out of Ontario. People really rely on web-based sources to keep them on top of new music, on a level we don?t realize here in the centre of Canada. Our shows were packed despite the band having not really done anything out there before. We were expecting to have to draw people into our stuff so they?d eventually get it, but we were wrong. They
were into us right off the bat.THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD AHEAD
What keeps the band together, given you all have day jobs and are not making a livingplaying music?
Gern: I keep thinking of that line from the old guy in the documentary In the Shadow of Motown, when he?s
asked how to keep a band together for forty years and he simply says, that it?s easy, ?don?t break up.? While we?ve had a steady core from the start, many members and contributors have come and gone. We refer to them all as dead members, something to the tune of twenty people over the last six years. The touring over the past couple of years has been a big issue in terms of going out for a couple of weeks, and then coming home and trying to fi gure out how to pay off the credit cards, or trying to find a new part-time job, and in some cases even a new place to live. I think the thing that keeps us into it is that the shows keep getting better, and the folks we meet on the road who are sticking it out month after month. Every time it gets bad you will inevitably run into some bunch who have been doing it longer and harder than you have, and you swap road stories and you swap ?don?t ever play there? stories.What are some of the upcoming plans for the band?
Felicity: With the release of our third album, Three in the Tree ? the tentative title ? in February we hope to
find ourselves touring more and we look forward to the reaction to what we think is a great new bunch of material. Then of course, world domination would be excellent. Can you take us a bit into the new record?Gern: In an overview I?d say it?s more political and heavy hitting, along with some sweetness peaking through and of course, as always, some history thrown in for good measure. This is the fi rst album we?ve done outside of Studio UrbanHanded Works and the first time we?ve done a lot of live-to-tape. It was recorded at the House of Miracles in London, Ontario with Andy Magoffin (Two Minute Miracles) at the board, and it was a real new experience of fl ying-by-the-seat-of-our-pants production. Andy is a true miracle worker and I think the album will feel every bit as thoughtful as our last albums, but with a fi re that you can feel in the centre of it.
Ex-trucker driving `citygrass' combo
Learned guitar while on the road
Job `nice fodder for songwriting'
Jul. 27, 2021.
VIT WAGNER, TORONTO STAR
The frontman for the boisterous roots/rock ensemble United Steel Workers of Montreal is a colourful anecdotist who will talk about almost anything except his last name."Let's not go into that," says the man known simply as Gern f. "I've dropped it over the years. I don't use it."
The 40-year-old Cobourg, Ont. native has no problem filling in the rest of his CV, which includes factory work, beer brewing, tending bar and 15 years spent driving a transport truck, sometimes for 18 hours a stretch. Mind you, he did have the tape deck for company.
"I went through virtually the entire catalogue of the Pogues, Tom Waits and Springsteen," he says. "To keep myself entertained, I'd be standing up there in the cab singing at the top of my lungs, with my truck on cruise control at 60 miles an hour at three o'clock in the morning."
There is a brief pause before he adds, "Good to know that's going on out there on the roads at three o'clock in the morning, eh?"
It was while driving a truck that Gern learned to play the guitar, but the hours didn't leave much time for musical growth.
"I found that I was spending 75 to 80 hours a week on the road and I didn't have time to do the music," he says. "It was nice fodder for songwriting, but after 15 years I wasn't a whole lot farther ahead musically than when I started."
Gern pulled off the road, settled in Montreal and started working in bars ? a vocation that led naturally to meeting players with similar musical tastes. The eventual result was the United Steel Workers of Montreal (USWM), which has had as many as nine members but currently operates as a sextet.
The group ? also including vocalist Felicity Hamer, bassist Roger Dawson and multi-instrumentalists Matt Watson, Shawn Beauchamp and Kevin McNeilly ? performs tomorrow at the Silver Dollar.
It will represent the third Toronto appearance for USWM, including a reportedly standout set on a bill with Luke Doucet and Great Lakes Swimmers at Canadian Music Week in March.
"We're fairly new to the scene, so to get to play a CMW show with those bands was pretty cool," says Gern. "We were really primed for it. It was the early slot but we were more than happy to be in on that."
USWM is in the process of working on a follow-up to last year's debut CD, Broken Trucks and Bottles, which served up a collision of root-flavoured genres that Gern calls "citygrass."
"It's not all `aw shucks and pick-up trucks,'" he says. "It comes out of old-time country and bluegrass, but it very much has an urban quality. There are songs about pick-up trucks and the railroad and stuff like that, but there is also stuff about the neighbourhoods of Montreal."
That said, the group's current tour is fairly divided between urban destinations, including Quebec City and London, Ont., and rural locales such as Bracebridge and Wilno, a small village east of Algonquin Park in the Madawaska Valley, where the nightlife alternatives are decidedly fewer.
"In Wilno, we had a couple of locals who took us to heart," Gern says. "They did a ton of postering, got us on the local radio station for the whole month before we went up. And then we did a half-hour interview on air. Even though it was a Monday night, we packed the place. Everyone danced through the whole two sets.
"We played in the middle of this massive storm. All through the set, the lights kept going out. But they'd go out at the most convenient moments, like in the middle of the breakdown of a song. It was almost as if God was our light technician or something. It was pretty cool."
TopMusic Feature
Hearts of Steel
United Steel Workers bust out of Montreal
By TIM PERLICH, NOWOther than having "wolf" in your band name, being from Montreal is probably the next-best thing that could happen to your indie group if you're looking for some attention. Even though New York Times reporters and major-label deals haven't yet made their way to the door of the United Steel Workers of Montreal headquarters, gravel-voiced singer/guitarist Gern F. concedes that just living in the city that Arcade Fire, Wolf Parade and the Dears transformed into a hip scene has its advantages, even for a banjo-pluckin' country string band with a mandolin player who doubles on "pig harmonies."
"All the media attention focused on Montreal certainly hasn't hurt," he says from a stop in Sudbury. "I think the main consequence of the success of those types of groups is that people in the industry now take what's happening in the Montreal scene a lot more seriously than they did before.
"We've definitely had a lot more calls from people at labels and those involved with booking shows asking us what we're doing and what we've got planned. There's a nice light shining on Montreal right now, and we're just trying to make the most of it."
For the tireless Steel Workers, that means leaving the comfortable surroundings of their regular gig at Grumpy's Bar to tour outside Quebec and starting to record a follow-up to the group's impressive debut, Broken Trucks And Bottles (UrbanHanded Works), released just a few months ago.
According to Gern F., all the songs have been written and they've been airing out various selections at each show. By the time the Steel crew get to Toronto, they should have enough worked up at sound checks to deliver a 40-minute set of new material.
The good news is that the gorgeous voice of the group's other lead singer, Felicity Hamer, will be featured prominently on the new stuff. Listening to her sweet hamonies and seductive croon on songs like Wandering Eye, it's difficult to imagine USWM without her, but believe it or not, she was added to the lineup as an afterthought.
"We'd been talking about adding a female voice for a while, thinking it would be great to have a softer voice to sing harmony and balance out what we were doing," explains Gern F. "I also thought it would be great to do some George-and-Tammy-type duets. One of our friends overheard us discussing the possibilities, said, "Hold on, I know just the person' and gave me Felicity's number. When I called, she wasn't home but she'd sung the outgoing message on her answering machine. It sounded amazing.
"That was really all I needed to hear, so I left a message and she was in the band. Felicity's been a real force in the band ever since."
The new album doesn't have a title, and the band have yet to establish whether they'll release the disc themselves, sign to a label like Weewerk (head honcho Phil Klygo is presenting the Silver Dollar show) or cut a distribution deal, but Gern F. doesn't sound overly concerned about how it all might shake down. Although getting their disc into more stores across Canada and elsewhere would definitely be advantageous, the United Steel Workers of Montreal have done remarkably well getting their music out independently.
"We've been talking with some people at labels I probably shouldn't say who, because I don't want to step on any toes but so far nothing is set in stone.
"We have a solid infrastructure built up after putting out our first disc, so we're not going to sit around on our hands waiting for someone to decide whether or not they want to do a deal. But if a reasonable offer comes our way," he adds, "we'll welcome it with open arms."
**
TopMen at work; Modern bluegrassers, United Steel Workers of Montreal come by hard-times image honestly.
Jason Schneider, The Record
Most bands try to come up with a name that evokes some kind of mystery that, with any luck, is also part of their sound. But when a band calls itself The United Steel Workers Of Montreal, there should be little doubt about what they represent: tough and honest music for similarly-minded people.The six-piece Quebec outfit is on tour in support of its latest disc, Broken Trucks And Bottles, so far their best attempt at capturing their concept of "citygrass," a mixture of traditional roots music and modern themes and energy. It's all tied together with the band members' unwavering alliance with their working class backgrounds.
"We don't just sing about pickup trucks and trains; a lot of the stuff we write about is drawn from the poor neighbourhoods we live in in southwest Montreal," says the band's frontman, known only as Gern f. "Most of us have certainly had our share of doing hard labour. I've been a truck driver and worked construction and all sorts of other odd jobs. We can't separate that lifestyle from how we approach music."
Although the band wears its influences in plain sight, from folk and bluegrass to even hints of blues and western swing, Gern says that they don't have a problem carrying the alt-country banner first raised by bands like Wilco and Son Volt over 10 years ago.
"Our sound didn't really start to gel until a couple of years ago," he says. "We weren't trying to copy any of those bands, but I can listen to Son Volt now and hear that we're coming at it from the same angles they are, which is basically just combining the rock and punk we grew up listening to with older music that was made in that same spirit."
This kind of style might sound unusual coming from a place that in the past year became the centre of the modern rock universe through bands like The Arcade Fire, Wolf Parade and The Dears. However, Gern says that there is much more going on beneath the surface of Montreal, just as there is in any city.
"We have a big old-time music movement up here and a big country movement. We've all been around that for a long time, and some people in our band still host weekly jams. At the same time, we know the rock scene really well too, because in a lot of ways Montreal really isn't that big of a town. I think everyone respects each other, but there's at least a half-dozen bands doing the same kind of thing we are that we feel make up our part of the scene."
And just as The Arcade Fire blazed the trail on the rock side, the Steel Workers hope to accomplish similar things for the roots side as they slowly begin to tackle the rest of the country.
"All of us have been involved with this kind of music for 10 years or more, so we're not concerned with whether or not what we do is trendy," Gern says. "We know that there are lots of bands all over Canada doing stuff like this too, so we've just been trying to hold our end up here in Montreal. It's been great to get positive reactions in other towns, and hopefully we can build on that."
As far as their live show goes, Gern says to expect a knock- down, drag-out affair. "We try to hit as hard as we can, but then also like to see people slow-dance at certain points too."
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