The Sheepdogs come to Ottawa Sept. 7 to play Ottawa Folk Festival. But this isn’t their first trip to the capital city. The Sheepdogs have played all over the city, including it’s biggest summer music festival, Bluesfest.
“Ottawa was one of the first places that we noticed people latching onto our music. This was before Rolling Stone and everything like that,” Ryan Gullen, bassist and singer for the band, said.
“I’m not just saying this because we are playing Ottawa, [the city has] a vibrant appreciation for music. That rings true with Folk Fest and Bluesfest,” he said.
The band played Bluesfest in 2011, just before their Rolling Stone cover which pushed the band into the spotlight.
“It was absolutely crazy. It was one of the biggest crowds we’d played to in our career at that point, and we didn’t expect it,” Gullen said. “People were going nuts. It was a really cool thing.”
But even before the festivals, The Sheepdogs were making their way around Ottawa.
“We used to play the free Monday night with Zaphods. We’ve played Mavericks, and even the Arena with Kings of Leon. We are always impressed by how big the music scene is and, on top of that, how you’d see people like MPs and people you wouldn’t expect at shows,” Gullen said.
And while the band had an Ottawa presence before their Rolling Stone cover, it was that piece that pushed Mark Monahan, executive and artistic director of Folk Fest, to book them.
“I became aware of their existence in the early stages of the Rolling Stone contest,” he said. “I knew that they were coming to play at Mavericks in the winter of 2011. I saw them and thought they were fantastic live—really great presence on stage.”
And for some, seeing the band grow from their first performances in the city to an international presence has been one of the more rewarding parts of working with the band.
“It is great to watch bands like this . . . develop as they work through the festival years,” Joe Reilly, Folk Fest and RBC Bluesfest spokesperson, said.
Gullen and the rest of the group’s laid back attitude lends itself to the carefree rock and roll spirit that fills their music. With this attitude in mind they have embraced some crazy experiences while touring the world.
“In Spain we played a festival a couple months ago. It was Black Crowes, Modest Mouse, Smashing Pumpkins. We were the headliners on a side stage, going on after Smashing Pumpkins,” Gullen laughed.
“We were playing at 2:30 in the morning, on a side stage. At a festival you don’t really know what you are getting yourself into.”
“When we got out there after the Smashing Pumpkins finished there was a crowd of like 10,000 people, and we’d never played in Spain before. They went absolutely crazy. As a result we are heading back to Spain to tour this fall,” Gullen said.
Now back at home, the group is looking forward to taking off a bit of time and recharging during the winter.
“I think come the fall and winter of this year our plan is to take some time and chill a bit. Then we will start to work on new stuff,” he said.
With two major label albums, a host of festivals, countries, and stories under their belt, the Sheepdogs are ready to rock Ottawa Folk Fest come Sept. 7.
