Canadian rock band The Sheepdogs were featured on the Nov. 4 edition of the Devo Rock Show.
Here’s the archive.
The group, which hails from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, recently spoke with Devo during an appearance in The Sinclair in Cambridge, Mass., discussing how they formed and about their recent EP release, Paradise Alone (Right On Records).
Formed in 2004, the initial line-up — featuring Ewan Currie (guitar/vocals), Ryan Gullen (bass/vocals) and Sam Corbett (drums) — was known at The Brakes. The trio were students at The University of Saskatchewan and had an affinity for classic rock which wasn’t being played much in their local music venues.
They decided to begin making their own music and released their self-titled debut EP in 2006. Later that year, they added an additional guitarist, Leot Hansen and changed their name to The Sheepdogs.
They then recorded their self-released debut long-player, Trying To Grow at Cosmic Pad Studios in Saskatoon. After two years of touring, they followed with The Sheepdogs’ Big Stand in 2007. In 2010, they followed with the independent release, Learn & Burn.
In 2011, they caught a break by winning a contest with Rolling Stone magazine of unsigned bands and were featured on the cover. This led to their being signed by Atlantic Records.
In 2012, they teamed up with Black Keys’ drummer Patrick Carney who produced their self-titled album which was released in September of that year. The album went platinum and hit No. 1 on the Canadian charts. This ushered in long stretches of tours in the U.S. and Europe.
The band added Currie’s younger brother, multi-instrumentalist Shamus, to the lineup. Following Hansen’s exiting the band in 2014, they added guitarist Jimmy Bowskill. Two more albums would come out in the ensuing years: Future Nostalgia (2016) and Changing Colors (2017).
In early 2020, they were slated to tour with The Black Key,s but that was up-ended by the Covid-19 pandemic. Instead, they went into the studio and began work on their next album, No Simple Thing, (Warner Music Canada) which was released in 2021. In 2022, they put out Outta Sight (Warner Music Canada).
Personnel changes continued as Bowskill left the band in 2022 and was replaced by Ricky Paquette.
The band plans to release another EP, Hell Together, on Nov. 7.