The Wooden Sky

Trying to nail down the disparate genres explored by the Wooden Sky isn’t an easy task. When pressed, the band tosses out tags like “folk rock”, but the words don’t hint at the nuances in their sound. Since 2003, the Toronto collective has been pushing the limits of folk and country, adding pieces of outside influence and slowly growing their own unique sonic aesthetic. It’s all led them to If I don’t come home you’ll know I’m gone, a massive undertaking that sweeps through rock and roll subgenres with the deftness of the Allman Brothers, the songwriting focus of Wilco, and the experimental sonic cacophony of the Flaming Lips. It’s a career-defining record, grown and built organically over months spent living, writing, and recording in cramped apartments between Toronto and Montreal.

After the band’s previous full-length, When Lost at Sea, garnered them national critical praise, college radio play (they charted at #33 on earshot), tours with Canadian indie rock royalty like Julie Doiron, a live performance on MTV, a spot at Osheaga Festival, and an In Session performance on CBC Radio 3, the Wooden Sky set about the daunting task of crafting a worthy follow-up. The result is the kind of democratic rock and roll record that requires the total shedding of ego and the equal involvement of all parties; If I don’t come home you’ll know I’m gone is epic in its scope and contributions, but never bombastic or crowded. It’s a lot of people playing when they need to, not just when they want to.

The record came together somewhere between Montreal and Toronto; starting out at Montreal’s legendary Hotel2Tango studio with Howard Billerman (Arcade Fire, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, the Dears), the band spent two weeks recording all day and sharing a cramped one-bedroom apartment with five friends at night. Three days followed at Toronto’s Lincoln Country Social Club with Chris Stringer (Ohbijou, Timber Timbre, Rush), then a day with the pipe organ and piano at St. Peter’s Anglican Church in Cobourg, and, finally, put the finishing touches on at Gardiner and Wyatt’s apartment in Toronto. The list of people involved the creation of the record is expansive, including some of the band’s oldest friends and newest acquaintances: Heather Kirby (Ohbijou), Debra Jean Creelman (ex-Mother Mother), Mika Posen (Forest City Lovers), Jessica Moss (Silver Mount Zion), Howard Billerman (ex-Arcade Fire), Stew Crookes ($100), Edwin Huizinga (Mars Volta), Adam Kinner (Marathon), Elspeth Poole, and Tyler Belluz.

Since the release, the band has crossed the country three times, including a stint with Polaris Prize short-listers Elliott Brood, a recent sold-out run with The Rural Alberta Advantage, and the now infamous “Bedrooms & Backstreets Tour” over the summer, finding them playing unique and unconventional spaces across the country. The press has been quick to latch on to the story, and to wholeheartedly support the album.

Ultimately, the Wooden Sky is the sound of collective will; a group of individuals coming together to forge something bigger. It’s a sound that started in a garage in downtown Toronto and found its way into the hands one of the most respected studios and producers in North America. With a new record and new friends to help them play it, the Wooden Sky are poised to push “folk rock” into something new, exciting, and earnest.