Vancouver based blues rock band Head of the Herd have taken off since winning Vancouver radio station CFOX’s “New Seeds” Contest, of which previous winners have included Nickelback, Matthew Good and Bif Naked, to name a few.
They are just about to release their second CD “By This Time Tomorrow” of which the title track is already shooting to the top of the charts.
They play Scores, Nov. 1 with Glorious Sons.
One of the perks of winning the contest was meeting a variety of people in the business like Garth Richardson, who has worked with bands like Rage Against the Machine and Finger Eleven members Rick Jackett & James Black who produced six and three songs respectively.
“We recorded demos of about 30 songs and sent it to them and said ‘have at’er” described Head of the Herd frontman harmonica player/ Neu Mannas.
“ They took these songs from demos and made them into something way bigger and better,” he said.
Probably the biggest surprise of the lot was the first single.
“By This Time Tomorrow,” the first single off the upcoming album.
“Originally it was going to be this weird spooky thing at the end of the CD,” he said.
“When we recorded the first record, we had never played live before and we added organ, bass and harp to enhance the songs. This is more of a band record,” he said.
He has been listening to the blues since he was young.
“ I grew up listening to blues music. I’m just starting to get an appreciation for the harmonica
I used to just use it to add spots of noise,” he continued adding he was influenced a lot by Muddy Waters.
“We play the blues with a hell of an edge,” he described Head of the Herd’s music.
“ We‘re a five piece and we’re really different. When you get with the the right people, it is glorious,” he said. I can’t wait to get back on the road,” he continued.
Head of the Herd play Scores, Nov. 1 with Glorious Sons. Advance tickets are $15. The show begins at 9 p.m.