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By Holly Miyasaki
What started as a group of guys moving furniture has turned into a whirlwind tour across the nation.
Hollerado, a group of four rock ‘n’ rollers from Manotick, Ont., is making a pit stop in Kelowna on its Pop Montreal Tour.
The band is promoting Record in a Bag — its most recent release, currently available for free at www.hollerado.com.
Offering an entire CD for free is a move only a few musicians have tried, but so far it’s worked in the group’s favour, getting their songs out to anyone who will listen. They even provide a printable CD label for those wanting to make copies for their friends.
“We make songs about people we know, imaginary friends, having fun, having-not-so-much fun,” said Nixon Boyd, guitarist and singer. Boyd is joined by Menno Versteeg on guitar and vocals, Jake Boyd on drums and vocals and Dean Baxter on bass guitar and vocals.
The band’s unique name is actually derived from a moving company, Haulerado, which was created by the quartet to help save money for a move to Montreal.
“We were sick of drinking in our friends’ garages playing cover songs on guitars with four strings,” explained Boyd. “Some of us were planning on going to Montreal in the fall for school, so the others tagged along.”
The group decided to try writing their own music and came up with some great material — so they built their own studio and began recording.
“Those recordings turned out pretty bad, but it got the ball rolling,” said Boyd.
Today their music is featured on CBC radio and their MySpace page reports over 100,000 listens to their songs.
With influences ranging from Roy Orbison to John Prine to The Who, Record in a Bag offers 12 distinct and raw recordings, each with its own catchy beat.
“If someone likes The (Rolling) Stones or Nirvana, they’ll probably like our show,” said Boyd, adding if you don’t like the music you can still attend for free giveaways.
“We’re going to give away cool stuff like a skateboard one of us got as a tip for fixing a burnt apartment for this guy that makes skate decks.”
Their current tour which ends in their hometown in early July, will take them to the West Coast and back again.
See Hollerado live at The Habitat at 7 p.m. with special guests The Goodluck Assembly.
Send the event to a friend: www.kelowna.com/events/pop-montreal-presents-hollerado/2898/june-19
Sample Reno Chunk by Hollerado
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Hollerado guitarist and vocalist Menno Versteeg. Photo courtesy Pete Nema.
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Hollerado's bass guitarist and vocalist Dean Baxter. Photo courtesy Pete Nema.
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Hollerado's drummer Jake Boyd. Photo courtesy Pete Nema.
Tags: Hollerado, Music, Reno Chunk
