December 21, 2024 3.2°C
Shoeless Joes want hockey fame
Posted on December 2, 2013 by Maple Creek A local band is hoping their original work will be the next great hockey song. The Shoeless Joes are one of many musicians contending in CBC and Hockey Night in Canada’s Song Quest, a contest to create a new hockey montage.Voting is taking place now online at http://www.music.cbc.ca/#/Hockey-Night-in-Canada-Song-Quest, where people can view the list of competitors and listen to their songs. The ideal song does not have to be directly related to hockey, but must be an upbeat and catchy piece that gets viewers pumped up. The Shoeless Joes – comprised of Dillon Currie on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, Aspen Beveridge on lead guitar and vocals, Greig Beveridge on drums and vocals and Ethan Stork on bass – chose to enter The Runners, a song they wrote for their first EP, The Motions, that was released this summer. The song is based on a story Rockin’ Horse co-owner Ralph Saemann shared with the band about rum runners that came to Govenlock from Montana during Prohibition. “It’s not necessarily directly inspirational, but we think a lot of the lines in there you could picture being used as a hockey song,” explained Stork. “It’s got good energy and it builds up nicely, and I just think it would make a cool montage.” With hundreds of musicians from across Canada taking part in the contest, the Shoeless Joes would appreciate as much fan support as they can get. “Voting is huge,” Stork stated. “It’s what they mainly take into consideration, along with song plays.” The first round of voting is open until Dec. 11, when the contestants will be whittled down to the top 50 based on votes, song plays and quality of the song. Another round of voting will take place to narrow it down to the top 10. A panel of judges comprised of well-known artists and professional hockey players will then determine a winner, which will be announced around New Years. The winner will record a studio version of their song with Canadian rocker Joel Plaskett, and their track will air in a prime-time montage at the beginning of a Hockey Night in Canada broadcast. To cap off the experience, the individual or band will travel to Lloydminster, Alta., where they’ll perform live at the Scotiabank Hockey Day in Canada concert. While the Shoeless Joes would be thrilled to have that honour, simply being in the contest could have other rewards. “We would absolutely love to win, but just being in the contest alone, we get tons of exposure,” Stork said. “We’ve been getting emails from people out in Ontario saying that they really like our stuff and they’re voting for us and that we should check out their stuff.” He noted other bands from the Prairies such as Close Talker and Indigo Joseph have gained momentum and recognition after exposure on CBC Music. “Whether or not we win, we’re hoping something like that comes out of it,” he said. As a fun addition to the contest, the Shoeless Joes have been recording a series of skits and uploading them to YouTube to encourage people to vote for them. “They’re meant to be funny and poke fun at ourselves,” Stork said. They will be releasing about two videos a week for the duration that they’re in the contest. Anyone can vote for their favourite song in the contest through the Song Quest page on CBC Music’s website. Voters may cast their vote once a day.
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