Born and raised on the dirt plains of Alberta, the country genre courses through the blood of every member of The Denim Daddies.
In 2010, three boys with a dream banded together and set off for Grant MacEwan University’s School of Music. After living together for a few years, they decided it was time to kick-start their dream of becoming musicians.
“We just decided we wanted to do a project together,” said lead vocalist and guitarist, Rudiger Metsin. “So we decided, hey, we’re in Alberta, might as well play some country music that doesn’t suck.”
Outside of The Denim Daddies, the three also play in a metal band which requires a different mindset entirely. This metal band, Zang!, like their country band which formed in October of 2016, is still finding it’s grounding. Zang! is soon to release their first EP.
Besides Metsin, Rick Visser is on bass and Danny Humboldt is on drums. All three split vocals.
Humour comes into play occasionally throughout their music. One song released last year, titled Six Beer Loneliness, is a play on modern country music .
“We try and get multiple aspects of the (country) genre,” said Metsin. “Your beer drinking, your heartbreak songs… we also have a lot of political songs and songs against the country music genre.”
There are three consistent themes in modern country music that The Denim Daddies vow to keep out of their music; trucks, jean shorts and dirt roads.
Metsin believes there are two sects to the country genre right now. Firstly, the modern country/pop crossover. Alternatively is the old-fashioned country music that tells stories of adventure, heartbreak, society and life’s journeys. Metsin prefers the old-time country.
Metsin saw a time in the late 2000s when country music started to turn into pop, with artists doing their best to appeal to a large audience with generalized, preformatted songs with shallow messages.
The Denim Daddies single release, Kill The Heart, is among Metsin’s favourites because of this.
“I feel like it’s a well-written song,” he said. “A lot of people think it’s about country music specifically, but it’s just about how a lot of genres these days have become very commercialized… there’s no real soul to them anymore.”
This song explores the idea that new bands are reaching to the past for inspiration from other genres, but now there are so many bands doing this that it’s hard to find a unique voice.
“It’s also a really fun one to play,” he said. “It’s a real boot-stomper.”
The Denim Daddies have yet to release a full album, and currently only have a few EP’s and singles out. However they are soon to record their first full album at the end of the summer and hope to release it before the winter of 2017.
This will not be the first time the Edmonton-based musicians have been to Fernie. Besides snowboarding here in the winter, Metsin previously played at The Northern Bar and Stage as a different band, Snake Legs. Visser previously played at The Northern as a part of the alternative rock group, Revenge Of The Trees. This time, The Denim Daddies will be taking over that same stage on Saturday, May 20.