Changing Colours The Sheepdogs

• 1Nobody04:30
• 2I've Got a Hole Where My Heart Should Be03:14
• 3Saturday Night02:54
• 4Let It Roll03:42
• 5The Big Nowhere03:40
• 6I Ain't Cool03:26
• 7You Got to Be a Man02:16
• 8Cool Down02:37
• 9Kiss the Brass Ring01:50
• 10Cherries Jubilee02:17
• 11I'm Just Waiting for My Time04:19
• 12Born a Restless Man01:39
• 13The Bailieboro Turnaround01:30
• 14Up in Canada03:46
• 15Hms Buffalo00:59
• 16Esprit Des Corps02:33
• 17Run Baby Run04:23
• Total Runtime49:35

Info for Changing Colours

Canada’s favourite bearded rockers The Sheepdogs have released their new album Changing Colours today. The Saskatechewanian’s sixth studio release was heralded by “I’ve Got a Hole Where My Heart Should Be,” which reached the top spot at rock radio to join the ranks of the bands #1 hits “Feeling Good,” “The Way It Is” and “How Late, How Long”.

In the lead up to the release of Changing Colours the band have been hitting the interview circuit with stops at ET Canada, The Morning Show, Tim and Sid and Entertainment City. On top of this, the band will be stopping by CBC’s q on Monday, February 5 for an interview with Tom Power where fans will get to hear songs from their pop-up show, recorded last December. The band will also be hosting a Twitter Q&A on Monday. Stop by the band’s Twitter page for all the details on this. Finally, last December, the band were invited to the YouTube Creator Space in Toronto to record a live version of “I’ve Got a Hole Where My Heart Should Be.” Fans can watch that video here.

In addition to the album release promotion, The Sheepdogs have stepped into the microbrew world, creating their own ale in conjunction with Mill Street Brewery. More details on the partnership will be unveiled soon, but the brew will be available at select shows on the tour.

The Sheepdogs have seen their single “I Don’t Know” reach Platinum certification status, and both “The Way It Is” and “Feeling Good” have achieved Gold levels of sales. In addition to their singles success, their albums Learn & Burn and The Sheepdogs have also achieved Platinum and Gold status respectively. The Sheepdogs have also been nominated for seven Juno Awards, including receiving Rock Album of the Year nominations for their three latest studio albums.

"The sixth full-length effort from the Juno Award-winning Canadian roots rockers, Changing Colours may not live up to its forward-thinking title, but it won't disappoint fans looking for another perfectly executed set of sun-baked '70s-inspired highway jams and boogie rock anthems that faithfully administer that peaceful easy feelin'. "I've got James Brown on the radio" and "a pretty mama in the passenger's seat," announces frontman Ewan Currie on the breezy opener, "Nobody," all but putting to rest any notion that the Sheepdogs might be considering swapping out their vintage VW bus for a Bluetooth-enabled Dodge Sprinter. Follow-ups "I've Got a Hole Where My Heart Should Be" and "Saturday Night" scratch that Lynyrd Skynyrd and Bad Company itch, respectively, while the brooding "I'm Just Waiting for My Time" proves that the band can pen a song that doesn't require its audience to keep 25 beach balls in the air." (James Christopher Monger, AMG)

The Sheepdogs

The Sheepdogs built their name on hard work and determination. Having funded their first three albums and early years of touring on their own, this rock and roll band’s momentum began to build exponentially with the release of the 2010 album, Learn & Burn. The band would go on to win three 2012 JUNO Awards (the Canadian equivalent of a Grammy): New Group of the Year, Single of the Year and Rock Album of the Year. With a list of accolades this impressive the band is on the brink of engaging fans on a wider scale.

The Sheepdogs will do just that with the release of their new self-titled album, produced by The Black Keys’ Patrick Carney and Austin Scaggs, which will genuinely introduce them to the U.S. and beyond.

Hailing from the small Canadian town of Saskatoon, SK, The Sheepdogs won an international competition in 2011 securing them the cover of Rolling Stone, making the group the first unsigned band to appear on its front page. The win, decided by 1.5 million public votes, also scored them a record deal with Atlantic, which offered up a new EP from the band, Five Easy Pieces, in August 2011.

After the band was introduced to Carney at Petty Fest in New York last year, he immediately began offering ideas for The Sheepdogs next album (“He seemed strangely passionate about it,” Currie notes). The hope was that Carney could actually produce the album. In January, Carney invited the band to the studio, where they culled together old material and quickly began laying down new ideas.

“I think different albums have processes and this was a different experience for us, but that’s part of what makes it interesting,” Currie said. “We wanted to just go with the flow and make the album that represented where we are now. We were rushed into the studio, but you can let that pressure destroy you or you can let that pressure galvanize you, and I think it was a positive force. Having that tight time structure, buckling down and doing music all day every day was great.”

Although the band had only spent those two and a half weeks with Carney, Scaggs and studio engineer Roger Moutenot in Nashville’s Haptown Studios, the sessions proved fruitful. From the first single “The Way It Is,” a thumping, blues-tinged track, to rollicking stomper “Feeling Good,” the album embraces a vast range of influences, pulling in various styles and genres to create a collection of raucous, unabashed rock and roll numbers. A pensive reflection is threaded throughout, whether on mid-tempo acoustic track “Laid Back” or on pounding rocker “While We’re Young.”

“I think Patrick has a good sense of no bullshit,” Currie says. “A lot of making rock and roll is about cutting the fat and being a good filter. In the studio, he helped us refine the songs and found the best representation of each one possible. Plus, we wanted to be able to incorporate all different styles and I think our albums run the gamut.”

After touring steadily since 2006 and spending the last year entirely on the road with bands like Kings of Leon, John Fogerty and Robert Randolph & the Family Band, The Sheepdogs hoped to create songs that would lend themselves to their impassioned performances. The band, which has also performed at numerous festivals, including Coachella, Bonnaroo and SXSW, enlisted a keyboard player as the new album features a heavy dose of Hammond organ and Rhodes piano.

In the end it all ties back to the group’s goals, which essentially involve making really good rock songs, and you don’t need a crazy origin story to do that.

“Our goal is two-fold,” Currie says. “We want to make killer albums that people really want to listen to, but we also want to have a really reputable live show. When we come through town we want to be the hottest ticket there. Those two elements are what make a truly great rock and roll band. Really, though, we just want to play to anyone who is willing to give us a shot and who wants to have a good time.”

This album contains no booklet.