\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSupplied photo<\/p>\n
The Sean Taylor Band will release its debut album on Sunday, April 28 at the Centre Culturel Franco-Manitobain (340 Provencher Blvd.).<\/p><\/figcaption>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n
\u201cJeff (Kula) and I have been playing together since I got out of high school, so 20 years and a bit ago,\u201d said Sean Taylor Johnston, lead singer and acoustic guitar player. \u201cI started filling in for his country cover band at the time, and then I evolved into our own.\u201d<\/p>\n
Drummer Kula was a longtime music instructor at River East Collegiate, where Johnston was a student.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve played with a lot of different players over the years,\u201d Johnston said. \u201cWe\u2019ve had numerous guitar, bass, and fiddle players over the years, who are now out there, playing professionally. We\u2019ve had some pretty famous players in the band.\u201d<\/p>\n
Currently, the band also includes music biz vets Greg Dunstan on bass and vocals, Blaine Badiuk on fiddle and mandolin, lead guitar and multi-instrumentalist Sean Borton, as well as keyboardist James Klassen, also an REC alumnus.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got one band member in his 60s, one in his 20s, so we span four decades of knowledge,\u201d Johnston said.<\/p>\n
In 2022 and 2023, the band was nominated for a number of Manitoba Country Music Award, which inspired the band to work on some the original material it had been kicking around, the result of which is the Sean Taylor Band\u2019s eponymous debut disc.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt first, I was worried we were covering too wide a variety of tunes, but I\u2019m happy with the way it flows,\u201d Johnston said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got Canadiana, older school country shuffles, waltzes, and poppy country stuff, too.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 10-track album includes a number of songs by local artists, including Letting You Go<\/em> by the Bros. Landreth (both Joey and David Landreth have performed in the Sean Taylor Band in the past), Rolling Stone<\/em> by the Proud Sons, and Cowboy\u2019s Last Ride<\/em> by the Foster Martin Band, along with originals from Johnston.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve been writing forever, and the guys have been really supportive of the writing,\u201d Johnston said. \u201cIt\u2019s been cool to see what really talented musicians can do with the songs.\u201d<\/p>\n Fans of the full-band, high-production \u201990s country sound will surely find themselves tapping their toes along to these tunes.<\/p>\n \u201cWe take our harmonies seriously,\u201d Johnston said. \u201cWe\u2019re kind of a smash together of Diamond Rio and Zac Brown Band.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite the pedigree of the players involved in the Sean Taylor Band today, the changes the music industry has seen in recent years has been a bit of a challenge of its own for the group.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the whirlwind of releasing an album, and learning what it\u2019s like to be an indie band,\u201d Johnston admitted. \u201cIt\u2019s been a bit of a shock to all of us. The guys in the band who have been on other records with other bands would have been more of the \u2018buy a CD at HMV-era.\u2019 Now we\u2019re in the Spotify-Apple Music world, which has been a learning curve for all of us. We\u2019re learning as we go.\u201d<\/p>\n Kates Outlaw, from Dauphin, Man., will open the show on April 28. Tickets are $12.<\/p>\n