The Twisters (Canadian band)

Last updated
The Twisters
Origin North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Genres Blues
Instrument(s) Harmonica, Guitar, Bass, Drum
Years active1994–2014
Labels NorthernBlues Music, Full Swing Music, Festival Distribution
MembersDavid Hoerl
Sandy Smith
Pete Turland
Greg "Junior" Demchuk
Brandon Isaak
James "JT" Taylor (d. 2005)
Matt Pease
Chip Hart
Keith Picot
Website twisters.ca

The Twisters were a blues band from North Vancouver, British Columbia. They are signed to Toronto's NorthernBlues Music.

Contents

History

The Twisters was formed by harmonica player David "Hurricane" Hoerl and drummer Sandy Smith (aka "Sandy Bone") in 1994, and included Pete Turland on bass and Greg "Junior" Demchuk on guitar, both as recommended by Smith. Smith had previously co-founded the Back Alley John Revue in Ottawa, and later joined Back Alley John in Calgary, where the two continued to play and record. Smith had known Demchuk from Smith's time playing in Calgary, and persuaded Demchuk to move to Vancouver to join the band. Brandon Isaak joined the band on guitar in 1999, while James "JT" Taylor joined the band on bass in 2001. [1]

In 2003 The Twisters released an album Long Hard Road. [2] They were nominated for a 2003 Juno Award, [3] and winner of 'Best Blues Album of the Year' at the Canadian Independent Music Awards for this album.

In 2004, tendonitis forced Smith had to leave the band; he was replaced by Matt Pease. [4] In 2005, the band was in a car accident, in which Taylor was killed and Pease seriously injured. [1] [5] [6] Chip Hart and Keith Picot later joined the band on drums and bass, respectively. The band released an album, After the Storm, in 2006. [4] [7]

Their album Come Out Swingin' was nominated for 'Blues Album Of The Year' by The Western Canadian Music Awards in 2009, and was nominated for five Maple Blues Awards the same year. These included Best Recording of the year, Song Writer Of The Year, Electric Act Of The Year, Bass Player Of The Year and Harmonica Player Of The Year. [8]

Come Out Swingin', which was composed mainly of original tunes, was praised by the Barrelhouse Blues enews in Boston for its arrangements, vocal harmonies and instrumental performances. [9] and included as special guest former band member and Juno Award winner Kenny "Blues Boss" Wayne on piano.

In 2011, the band played the Ottawa Bluesfest. [10]

In mid-2014, shortly before the release of his first solo album, Un-Twisted, David Hoerl suffered a stroke. As of February 2020, he has not returned to music. [11] The remaining members have all moved on to other bands.

Discography

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexis Korner</span> British blues musician and radio broadcaster (1928–1984)

Alexis Andrew Nicholas Koerner, known professionally as Alexis Korner, was a British blues musician and radio broadcaster, who has sometimes been referred to as "a founding father of British blues". A major influence on the sound of the British music scene in the 1960s, he was instrumental in the formation of several notable British bands including The Rolling Stones and Free.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ottawa Bluesfest</span>

Ottawa Bluesfest is an annual outdoor music festival that takes place each July in downtown Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. While the festival's lineup historically focused on blues music at its inception, it has increasingly showcased mainstream pop, hip hop, reggae, and rock acts in recent years. Bluesfest has become the largest music festival in Canada and the second largest blues festival in North America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexisonfire</span> Canadian post-hardcore band

Alexisonfire is a Canadian post-hardcore band formed in St. Catharines, Ontario in 2001. The band's members are George Pettit (vocals), Dallas Green, Wade MacNeil, Chris Steele (bass) and Jordan Hastings. The band has won numerous awards, and in Canada their albums have all been certified either gold or platinum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jonah Jones</span> American jazz musician

Jonah Jones was a jazz trumpeter who created concise versions of jazz and swing and jazz standards that appealed to a mass audience. In the jazz community, he is known for his work with Stuff Smith. He was sometimes referred to as "King Louis II", a reference to Louis Armstrong. Jones started playing alto saxophone at the age of 12 in the Booker T. Washington Community Center band in Louisville, Kentucky, before quickly transitioning to trumpet, where he excelled.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ian Siegal</span> Musical artist

Ian Siegal is a British blues singer and guitarist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">JW-Jones</span> Musical artist

JW-Jones is a Canadian blues guitarist, singer, songwriter and band leader. He is a Juno Award nominee (2015), Billboard magazine Top 10 Selling artist, and winner of the International Blues Challenge for "Best Self-Produced CD Award" for his release 'High Temperature' in 2017 and Best Guitarist in 2020.

Bullmoose was a Canadian rock band formed in Elgin, Ontario in 1996. Its members were twin brothers Jeff Cowan (drums/vocals) and Seamus Cowan (bass/vocals) from Westport, Ontario, and Eric Lawrance (guitar/vocals) from Delta, Ontario, who launched the band when they attended school in Montreal. The band performed in the rock music genre, citing experimental influences of the late 1960s and early 1970s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Primer</span> American singer and guitarist (born 1945)

John Primer is an American Chicago blues and electric blues singer and guitarist who played behind Junior Wells in the house band at Theresa's Lounge and as a member of the bands of Willie Dixon, Muddy Waters and Magic Slim before launching an award-winning career as a front man, carrying forward the traditional Windy City sound into the 21st century.

The Powder Blues Band is a Canadian musical band formed in 1978 in Vancouver. Its first album Uncut went double platinum in Canada. The second album Thirsty Ears was similarly popular.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Back Alley John</span> Musical artist

John Carl David Wilson, known as Back Alley John, was a Canadian blues singer, songwriter and harmonica player.

<i>Night Vision</i> (Bruce Cockburn album) Album by Bruce Cockburn

Night Vision is the fourth studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Bruce Cockburn released domestically on True North Records. The album earned Cockburn's first Canadian gold record award in 1979. It was the first full album that Cockburn recorded with a band. The album's artwork is an adaptation of a painting by Alex Colville entitled "Horse and Train".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White Lung</span> Canadian punk rock band

White Lung was a Canadian punk rock band. The band consisted of Mish Barber-Way (vocals), Kenneth William (guitars) and Anne-Marie Vassiliou (drums). They have released two albums on Deranged Records and their latest two on Domino Recording Company. Exclaim! named the band's first full-length album It's the Evil as 2010's punk album of the year. The band was nominated for Punk/Hardcore Artist/Group of the Year at the 2011 Canadian Music Week Indie Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Sheepdogs</span> Canadian rock band

The Sheepdogs are a Canadian rock band formed in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in 2004. The Sheepdogs were the first unsigned band to make the cover of Rolling Stone and have gone on to a career featuring multi-platinum album sales and four Juno Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Current Swell</span> Canadian indie rock band

Current Swell is a Canadian indie rock band from Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. The band has released seven albums; So I Say, Trust Us Now, Protect Your Own, Long Time Ago, Ulysses, When to Talk and When to Listen and Buffalo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Marriner</span>

Steve Marriner, is a Canadian multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter and record producer based in Toronto, Ontario. He first garnered attention in the Ottawa blues scene in his early teens as a prodigy blues harp (harmonica) player. He also plays baritone guitar, electric guitar, piano, Hammond organ, upright bass and electric bass. Since 2008, he has been the frontman, singer, one of two guitarists and harmonica player for the Canadian rock'n'roll-blues group MonkeyJunk. The band's album To Behold won the 2012 Juno Award for Blues Album of the Year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harpoonist & The Axe Murderer</span> Canadian blues duo

Harpoonist & The Axe Murderer are a Vancouver based blues duo, consisting of Shawn Hall and Matthew Rogers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Swears</span>

New Swears is a four-piece Canadian band consisting of Sammy J. Scorpion, Beej Eh, Nick Nofun, Stoney and S-Mike. Their music has been classified as garage punk or power pop.

Finis Tasby was a Los Angeles based blues singer and frontman for the group The Mannish Boys.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Archspire</span> Canadian technical death metal band

Archspire is a Canadian technical death metal band from Vancouver. They have released four studio albums and are currently signed to Season of Mist.

Billy Joe Green is an Anishinaabe rock and blues musician from Canada. He is most noted as a three-time Juno Award nominee for Indigenous Music Album of the Year, receiving nominations at the Juno Awards of 2002 for My Ojibway Experience: Strength & Hope, at the Juno Awards of 2006 for Muskrat Blues and Rock & Roll and at the Juno Awards of 2009 for First Law of the Land.

References

  1. 1 2 Vancouver bluesman killed. CBC News, October 31, 2005. Retrieved 2014-08-08.
  2. ↑ "Twisters Long Hard Road". Exclaim!, By Eric Thom, Aug 01, 2003
  3. ↑ "Bluesman James". Soulshine, 2005-11-01
  4. 1 2 "The Twisters After the Storm". AllMusic, Review by Scott Yanow
  5. ↑ "Review: The Twisters - After The Storm". Blinded by Sound, By Josh Hathaway on December 31, 2010
  6. ↑ "Musician devastated' by bandmate's death". Whitehorse Star on November 4, 2005
  7. ↑ "The Twisters After The Storm". Boston Blues Society, By Karen Nugent, July 2007
  8. ↑ "The Twisters - Come Out Swingin’". Illinois Blues, James Walker
  9. ↑ Barrelhouse Blues e-news, Boston (more detail needed here)
  10. ↑ Hughes, Josiah. "Ottawa Bluesfest Reveals 2011 Lineup..." exclaim.ca. Exclaim!. Retrieved 22 December 2021.
  11. ↑ "Rock My World Canada - David Hoerl". facebook.com. Facebook. Retrieved 22 December 2021.
  12. ↑ "The Twisters – Fulla Hot Air". discogs.com. Discogs. Retrieved 22 December 2021.
  13. ↑ "The Twisters – Long Hard Road". discogs.com. Discogs. Retrieved 22 December 2021.
  14. ↑ "The Twisters – Live At Harvest Fest". discogs.com. Discogs. Retrieved 22 December 2021.
  15. ↑ "The Twisters – After The Storm". discogs.com. Discogs. Retrieved 22 December 2021.
  16. ↑ "The Twisters – Come Out Swingin'". discogs.com. Discogs. Retrieved 22 December 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.