IndieCan Entertainment The Sheepdogs Have At It Canadian Theatrical Premiere GAT PR Press Summary
Interviews Completed Thursday June 6 Friday June 14 Thursday June 20
Star Phoenix Print and online Interviewed: John Barnard
Toronto Film Scene Online Interviewed: John Barnard
Press +1 Online Interviewed: John Barnard
CTV News Live hit from the Rozy Theatre Interviewed: John Barnard
Global News TV Interviewed: John Barnard, The Sheepdogs
CTV News TV Interviewed: The Sheepdogs First Weekend Club Video (online) Interviewed: Ryan Gullen City TV TV (pre-‐recorded) Interviewed: Ewan Currie, Ryan Gullen, Leot Hanson, and Sam Corbett
680 News Radio Interviewed: Ewan Carrie and Ryan Gullen Outlet: Next Projection Online Interviewed: Sam Corbett and Ryan Gullen Outlet: Music Express Online Interviewed: Ryan Gullen Outlet: The Edge Radio (live)
Saskatoon debut of Sheepdogs documentary The Canadian Press
http://globalnews.ca/news/661772/saskatoon-‐debut-‐of-‐sheepdogs-‐documentary/
This story ran in the following outlets:
Director of Sheepdogs Documentary Morning News Saskatoon
http://globalnews.ca/video/657430/director-‐of-‐sheepdogs-‐documentary
Entertainment City: June 20, 2013 http://www.citynews.ca/2013/06/20/entertainment-‐city-‐june-‐20-‐2013/ (Go to 1:00 in the clip)
This interview ran in City TV stations across the country.
Rudy Blair Interviews the Sheepdogs Rudy Blair
http://www.680news.com/2013/06/21/the-‐sheepdogs-‐4/
The Sheepdogs Have At It charts the rise of a classic rock band Alison Gillmor
http://www.cbc.ca/manitoba/scene/other/2013/06/21/the-‐sheepdogs-‐have-‐at-‐it-‐charts-‐the-‐rise-‐of-‐a-‐classic-‐rock-‐band/
Here's the good thing about this new rock and roll documentary by Winnipeg filmmaker John Barnard: It's got a built-‐in narrative. Here's the bad thing: It's got a built-‐in narrative. Barnard gets a swell readymade story with The Sheepdogs, that scrappy, shaggy band from Saskatoon that won a 2011 contest to become the first unsigned band on the cover of Rolling Stone. Handed the opportunity of a lifetime, these four guys and their straight-‐up brand of neo-‐classic rock had to jump on it. Would they be revealed as an American Idol-‐style fizzle, or would they follow up with a solid album and great live performances and show themselves as the real thing? The Sheepdogs' terrific true-‐life tale gives shape to Barnard's material, which mixes solid concert footage and scenes in the studio with interviews with the band members and industry insiders. It can also make the film feel a bit over-‐determined. Most viewers-‐-‐or anyone who took note of the 2012 Junos-‐ -‐will know the answer to the "will they or won't they" question. Still, the band's Cinderella story raises some interesting questions. Barnard's not the only one looking for a narrative hook. The film demonstrates how the 21st-‐ century music industry runs not just on music but on media-‐friendly, sound-‐bitey stories about music. We hear about the guys going from weekday night audiences of "zero to 15," as drummer Sam Corbett sheepishly admits, to packed venues of 15,000, in less than a year. Everyone in the film is self-‐consciously aware of the underdog-‐makes-‐good angle.
Movie review: The Sheepdogs Have At It Jay Stone
http://o.canada.com/2013/06/20/movie-‐review-‐the-‐sheepdogs-‐have-‐at-‐it/
Rating: 2½ stars out of 5 The documentary The Sheepdogs Have At It is a chance to find out what’s been happening lately with The Sheepdogs and — for the few who might be wondering who the hell the Sheepdogs are — an introduction to one of Canada’s emerging rock bands. The Sheepdogs are four young men from Saskatoon who won a contest in 2011 in which an unsigned band would get to have its photograph on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine. Since then they’ve gone from touring small clubs (“zero to 15 people,” in the words of drummer Sam Corbett) to playing arena shows, although frequently as an opening act. Their first album, Learn & Burn, was recorded on the cheap — it went on to win three Juno awards and a gold record — and their next album, produced by
Patrick Carney of The Black Keys, was made in a full studio in Nashville and went to No. 1 in Canada the week it was released. This is terrific news, especially since the musicians (the others are Ewan Currie, Ryan Gullen, and Leot Hanson) seem to be very nice, respectfully and grateful young men, as well as talented musicians. John Barnard’s film follows them on their post-‐Rolling Stones tour, backtracks a bit so we can hear of the early days when they practised in their parents’ basement, and then looks ahead to bigger things to come. The result is a showcase of Sheepdogs music, which is great, straight-‐ahead rock and roll. As one Alabama fan says, “If the Allman Brothers had a baby…” The abiding philosophical statement comes in the film’s opening when Jeff Leake, the program director of the satellite radio station Sirius XM — who helped discover the band — says, “Maybe music for the most part has made itself too challenging.” The Sheepdogs, on the other hand, are content to simply “have at it” and the movie is pretty much the same. There is no conflict, not much insight into the various personalities — although Sam’s father, Sheldon, does note that Leot comes from PA (Saskatchewan talk for Prince Albert) and may be “less cosmopolitan” than the Saskatoon members — and no surprises. The film starts with the acknowledgement of the Rolling Stone breakthrough, then looks ahead and back and finds basically a lot of hard work. It’s still a great story, of course, partly because the band seems to come from nowhere. At an American date, they introduce themselves as being from “Saskatoon, Saskatchewan,” apparently taking advantage of a perceived image of amusingly named Ruritania. They beat bands from everywhere to get on the Rolling Stone cover — the magazine has since done a dozen profiles on them — in a campaign that was orchestrated by a record company and aided by radio stations that played their music. They became an instant hit, both in the rest of Canada and in Saskatoon (where, Sheldon Corbett says, 85-‐year-‐old women would stop them in the street and say, “I voted for you boys.”) Now they’re rising stars, but they keep their sense of wonder about it all. “I used to install windows and doors,” says Leot. “Now I play arenas.” Only in Saskatoon.
This story also ran on the following outlets:
http://www2.canada.com/windsorstar/entertainment/movie-‐guide/review.html?id=8560824
http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/movie-‐ guide/Movie+review+Sheepdogs+Have+tells+shaggy+rock/8555953/story.html
The Buzz Kerry Dole
http://www.newcanadianmusic.ca/buzz/item/283286/2013-‐06-‐12 Has any Canadian band had more exposure over the last couple of years than shaggy-‐maned Saskatoon rockers The Sheepdogs? We think not, and the lads are about to score even more attention, this time on the big screen. Yes, The Sheepdogs meteoric rise to the cover of Rolling Stone and beyond has been captured in celluloid in the rock and roll documentary The Sheepdogs Have It. The film, directed by John Barnard, has been picked up by Indiecan for distribution, and is going to hit screens across the country later this month. It screened as the Closing Gala of the Whistler Film Festival last year, to positive response. The Sheepdogs Have It begins its commercial run in Toronto, June 21, at the Cineplex at Yonge and Dundas. The evening before, it will be the Opening Film at this year's Open Roof Festival in Toronto, with a special live performance by the band who will be in attendance. They stay in town to attend Friday, June 21st's early evening screening, and will conduct a Q+A following the screenings with Director John Barnard. Barnard will also host other Q and A sessions over that weekend. Hub City's shaggiest gives fans an early peek at a Premiere Screening in Saskatoon's Roxy Theatre on June 19, with a commercial opening on June 21. Regina gets a June 21 screening, Windsor has it June 21-‐23, and upcoming dates in Winnipeg, Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary are to be announced shortly. According to press notes, the film charts the group's conquest of Rolling Stone, then "follows the band into a Nashville recording studio as they record their next album with producer Patrick Carney from The Black Keys. The band’s fate rests upon the success of the new album, and everyone is watching and waiting for the four pups to prove themselves in the dog-‐eat-‐dog world. The doc also offers a glimpse inside a rapidly changing music industry, and the challenges faced by management, marketing execs and agents in a biz with increasingly limited financial resources. The Sheepdogs Have It is about believing in yourself, being dedicated to what you love, and never ever giving up." Indiecan's Avi Federgreen, the film's Canadian distributor, was drawn to the doc as much for what it is as being an acknowledged "huge Sheepdogs fan". "When I saw the film," he explained recently, " it was obvious this was one music documentary that could not be left out. I know audiences will eat this up.”
The Sheepdogs Have At It: A front-‐row look at the machinery of the music biz Brad Wheeler
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/film/film-‐reviews/the-‐sheepdogs-‐have-‐at-‐it-‐a-‐front-‐row-‐look-‐at-‐ the-‐machinery-‐of-‐the-‐music-‐biz/article12731656/?service=mobile
The dogs are having their day. The Sheepdogs, that is, those burly, bearded, wheat-‐field rockers from Saskatchewan who are the subjects of a perfectly coherent documentary on the slow-‐rise of a band otherwise thought to be a spontaneous and instantaneous success story. We learn from director John Barnard’s tightly told saga that the Sheepdogs may have been born at night, but it wasn’t overnight. There’s probably a sense, in this world of talent-‐show idols and the quick-‐dry heroes of YouTube, that music stars just sort of happen. Take the Sheepdogs, who were nobodies thrust upon the North American rock-‐music consciousness in 2011 when they competed at and won the right to be featured on the cover of Rolling Stone, an overmythologized but nevertheless significant achievement. How did these obscure chooglers win such a highly publicized contest (and the major-‐label recording contract that came with it)? Where did they come from, and where did they still need to go after grabbing rock’s holy grail? Just who, I mean to say, let the dogs out? By use of interviews with music insiders and the band members and their parents, most all is crisply revealed. Livened up with studio footage and concert action, The Sheepdogs Have at It is a front-‐row look at music-‐ biz machinery. It’s easy enough to be almost famous. The next step is another matter.
This week in documentaries: The Sheepdogs go from the swamp to the spotlight, plus B.B. King, bees and more David Berry and Ben Kaplan
http://arts.nationalpost.com/2013/06/21/this-‐week-‐in-‐documentaries-‐the-‐sheepdogs-‐go-‐from-‐the-‐ swamp-‐to-‐the-‐spotlight-‐plus-‐b-‐b-‐king-‐bees-‐and-‐more/
The Sheepdogs Have At It It’s an interesting choice to begin a documentary about a rock band with a classical song, but that is roughly the last one writer/director John Barnard makes. Not much more than an amiable ramble along with the band, who rode an internet contest from Saskatoon swamp rock obscurity to the cover of Rolling Stone, it hits rock-‐doc notes as perfunctorily and predictably as a music box. The major revelations on hand are that rapid rises to popularity come with expectations, and recording an album can be kind of hard sometimes; meanwhile, Barnard never manage to move past the bands’ aw-‐shucks, “We’ve been working really hard to get here” personas, so the whole thing is the bland discussing the bland. The closest the movie gets to tension is in a brief middle section that lays bare the myopic stupidity of commercial radio, which somehow missed the appeal of the Sheepdogs’s inoffensive ’70s rock revival, but even that is shrugged off quickly and meekly. The Sheepdogs Have At It is a Cinderella story where the would-‐be princess falls asleep on the couch in front of Netflix reruns. ★;The Sheepdogs Have at It opens in Toronto, Waterloo, Saskatchewan, Regina and Winnipeg on June 21; Vancouver on June 23; and Ottawa on Aug. 4. D.B.
Toronto
The Sheepdogs Have At It John Semley http://www.nowtoronto.com/movies/story.cfm?content=193139 Since Robert Johnson made a deal with the Devil, rock music’s defining myth has been the Mephistophelean bargain. The fame, the fortune, the sex – it comes at a steep price: long bus rides, ruined friendships, substance abuse, all that VH1 Behind The Music “but backstage things were falling apart…” stuff. That narrative has always seemed a little disingenuous – like, boo-‐hoo, the big rock star has too much sex. But the myth, and its aura of danger, collapses altogether if your celebrity is the result of winning a contest held by an irrelevant pop culture magazine. See the Sheepdogs, a classic rock revival band of good ol’ boy archetypes from Saskatoon who were launched to superstardom overnight in 2011 after winning a contest to appear on the cover of Rolling Stone draped in the Emperor’s New Denims. The Sheepdogs Have At It feels like another part of the grinding self-‐ promotional apparatus that is the Sheepdogs. An 85-‐minute commercial for the band, it captures their reverse engineering as they struggle to complete a record after already becoming a household name. The film desperately tries to authenticate the band, which suggests that at some level they know they should be less worried about living up to the expectations set by being on the cover of Rolling Stone than with living them down.
The Sheepdogs Have At It Kevin Scott
http://exclaim.ca/Reviews/Film/sheepdogs_have_at_it-‐directed_by_john_barnard
Saskatoon rockers the Sheepdogs' sudden success after winning a contest to be the first unsigned band on the cover of Rolling Stone may have been the result of years of hard work, but they were also quickly thrust into the inhospitable gears of the music business. In telling the band's evolution from playing half-‐filled rooms to North American arena tours while interstitially returning to the recording of their important 2012 self-‐titled album, documentaryThe Sheepdogs Have At It can't help but feel like it's part of that big machine. Despite the artificial packaging, the group's '70s Southern blues-‐rock sound and down-‐ to-‐earth personalities emerge as the genuine article. The members all look and act like they've walked out of that bygone era, one where big riffs and loads of hair were practically prerequisites for acceptance. Through interviews with them and their
parents, it takes some time for their individual personalities to emerge and even then, there's little beyond a surface exploration of their dynamics. As the Sheepdogs tour their first album, the lo-‐fi Learn To Burn, to growing audiences on the heels of winning the Rolling Stonecontest, the true story behind their big break emerges. As one might expect, this wasn't just a case of a group slowly building an audience over time via word of mouth, but instead a matter of befriending the right people in the industry who could then get the proper push with media and radio stations to put the Sheepdogs over the top in the contest. If they were forced to play the game in order to reap the rewards, it's more a cruel reminder of how the industry works than an indictment of the group's savvy ability to capitalize on an opportunity. It's clear, especially in the scenes showing the group recording their newest album (with Patrick Carney from the Black Keys among the producers) that their focus is clearly on the music and that they are all aware of how quickly things can vanish if they were to let up for even a moment. With catchy hit singles like "I Don't Know" and a talent for extended, scintillating jam sessions on stage, it's still encouraging to see someone playing gimmick-‐free rock'n'roll like this find an audience in today's musical landscape. If only you couldn't hear the voice of some executive commissioning the making of this documentary as yet another prong of an intense, ongoing marketing blitz. (Indiecan)
The Sheepdogs, Roseanne Clash, Heathers top this week’s Toronto concert sampler Chris Young
http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/music/2013/06/19/the_sheepdogs_rosanne_cash_heathers_top _this_weeks_toronto_concert_sampler.html
The Sheepdogs No-‐nonsense Prairie rock ‘n’ rollers raise the curtain on opening night for this summer’s fourth Open Roof Festival of music (with a one-‐hour set) and film (with a screening of their rise-‐and-‐rise documentary , The Sheepdogs Have At It, which rolls out at theatres nationwide starting June 21) at its new waterfront venue. If the sun is shining and the forecast is benevolent, there will be additional tickets on sale at the door.
An interview with John Barnard, director of The Sheepdogs Have At It Trista Devries
http://thetfs.ca/2013/06/17/an-‐interview-‐with-‐john-‐barnard-‐director-‐of-‐the-‐sheepdogs-‐have-‐at-‐it/ It’s fair to say that in 2011 when Rolling Stone started their contest to let their readership decide which band would be the first unsigned talent to be on their cover that almost no one knew who The Sheepdogs were. Immediately after winning, the band – comprised of Saskatchewan natives Sam Corbett, Ewan Currie, Ryan Gullen and Leot Hanson – was rocketed into a level of fame that most musicians can only dream of. Frequently this kind of Cinderella story ends with a brief flash in the pan, a few radio singles and a fizzle a la any American Idol, Voice or X Factor winner, but The Sheepdogs were determined not to let that happen to them. Presented with an unprecedented opportunity, they set out to capitalize on their new found success and filmmaker John Barnard was there to capture their journey. When Barnard got the call to direct the movie, which chronicles the time after the contest was over, he wasn’t in the loop about the Rolling Stone cover contest, nor The Sheepdogs. “I was the only person in Canada who didn’t really know who The Sheepdogs were,” he says noting that the story of how he became involved with the project isn’t sexy. “The truth was it was a Super Channel documentary about them and it needed a director.” Interestingly, Barnard feels his lack of fan status helped the process and the film, allowing the audience to take a “getting to know the band” journey along with him. His production company, Farpoint Films was hired on a Thursday to start shooting on Saturday, so Barnard did what all good directors do: he got up to speed – fast. Driving from Winnipeg, where he lives, to Saskatoon and back again, he grabbed the band’s albums (including Learn & Burn, which went Platinum earlier this year) and started to learn whatever he could about them. Starting from scratch on a film you have to start shooting in two days isn’t easy, he says. “When I started I kind of had to prove myself to them because they didn’t know who I was. They could have said no, they could have said no to all of it. I really showed up and started shooting and I don’t think they even understood what I was doing at the beginning. I think the communication maybe wasn’t all in place, but they just kind of trusted me and went with it.”
The film is an interesting mix of a concert film, a making-‐of-‐an-‐album film and the kind of bio doc that typically gets made when a band is inducted into the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame, but it plays as though it’s a journey of discovery for everyone involved. “So from the beginning I had this kind of incremental relationship with them where bit by bit we had to learn a little bit about each other. For the most part I kind of learned about them and they learned about me in the same way that the movie unfolds.”] The most interesting thing about the film, it seems, comes directly from this back and forth learning. Barnard took the unusual step of sitting down with The Sheepdogs’ parents for a little background, which ended up being the heart of the movie. “The parents were there in Saskatoon when we shot the Saskatoon show and they were just a phone call away and they were willing to help. I think part of when you’re in a band and you’ve achieved something, and you’re nervous about wrecking what you’ve accomplished, you don’t want to say anything that’s going to detract from your street credit. I think that at the time they were being careful. I needed someone who would speak absolutely candidly about everything they had on the table and that was the parents.” The parents offer a refreshing perspective on the band members themselves, since they’re right there in the moment with their sons. Often this type of documentary is made well after a band is successful as a retrospective on a career, so interviewees memories are rosier and their basements cleaner. Barnard has captured this very important moment in time for The Sheepdogs, and he’s quite proud of it. “Because that’s what bands do, right? They perform and they go and make albums and that’s why you see it in films again and again, but you don’t ever see their parents. Other people had stuff to lose too, right?” What was at stake for The Sheepdogs is incredibly clear from the moment the film starts, and even though the band was hesitant about Barnard and his crew being around, they did have some ground rules. “From the very beginning they didn’t want anything to be artificial or staged or made up,” he says. “They created this kind of mandate for me, it’s not like they ruthlessly enforced it, but they said it was important for them that what we did was real. So I tried something that I hadn’t done before which was this kind of fly-‐on-‐the-‐wall perspective where you create the story as it unfolds for you. I didn’t know how it was going to end.” His remark is interesting because not knowing how things will turn out is a common theme for the band, and many musicians like them. There is no question that The Sheepdogs are talented, hard working and dedicated, but that’s not a new story in the music industry. Many musicians spend their entire lives trying to build a fan base and career that will pay their rent and put food on the table, only to watch Justin Beiber get hit by lightning on YouTube and explode into stardom. In a way The Sheepdogs were also hit by lightning, and once they were there was no stopping the train. “I was surprised by how quickly things changed for them, even while we were shooting,” Barnard says. “Even during that little window of three or four months while I was making the film I saw things change for them. They became more popular during that time, but also they became more comfortable in front of the camera. They had new opportunities show up. They kind of changed before my eyes. I don’t think the film is long enough to show that really, but I definitely saw the circumstances around them change.” The film is exactly the right length to tell the story of what happened to the band after the contest, but there is always something left on the cutting room floor. In this case, it was something fairly important. “When they won the contest and the article came out in Rolling Stone there was a bit of backlash in the community to the article,” Barnard says. “Some people in town felt that Saskatoon had been portrayed badly in the article – that The Sheepdogs were maybe looking down their noses a little bit at their own home town. And that the writer of the article, Austin Scaggs, felt the same way; that he was kind of looking down his nose at Saskatoon, too. I did an interview with Austin Scaggs while they were making the record and he said it was completely different than that. It’s not at all what he intended to come across. When he met the band he found that they were totally enamoured with their home town that all of the funny things that people took offence to were things that they liked about Saskatoon and he as the writer of the article felt that it had been completely misinterpreted by those people. We didn’t go into that in the film because it didn’t fit but if you follow the story and you know what happened after the article came out it’s an interesting little tidbit.” His experience with the band was obviously one Barnard will remember fondly. He may have started out a stranger they gave the side-‐eye to, but by the end he was obviously a member of the team. During the interview he often said “we” did things, correcting himself to note that it was actually The Sheepdogs who did it (“…we were making the record – well, while they were making the record…”) and his relationship with the band is clearly close to his heart. “I think it deserves being said that they didn’t have to let me do this,” he says humbly, “I showed up and I have no interest in gonzo TMZ journalism, but they didn’t know that at the time. As far as they knew I was out to expose whatever their secret for success was, any of their vices that they might have had (incidentally I don’t think they really have any), but they might have thought that was the case and they just rolled with it anyway. So I’ve been lucky.” This very Canadian film is being distributed by Indiecan Entertainment, headed by Avi Federgreen and it is being released at a very interesting time. While most indie documentaries about Canadian bands, even those as big as The Sheepdogs, are often released when the competition of audience is less fierce, The Sheepdogs Have At It is being released in the heart of summer blockbuster season. This, above all else, might be why you should head out to Cineplex Yonge & Dundas and see it when it opens on Friday, June 21. Of course the other compelling reason to see it is that it’s a fantastic film about some good prairie boys who really know how to rock and roll.
Radar: Open Roof Festival, A Celebration of George Harrison, Christian Louboutin at DX, Duane Linklater Lauren Pincente http://www.blogto.com/radar/2013/06/radar_open_roof_festival_a_celebration_of_ge orge_harrison_christian_louboutin_at_dx_duane_linklater/ FILM | Open Roof Festival Open Roof Festival kicks off a summer of outdoor movie screenings (in addition to a few of these freebies) with their opening gala screening of the 2012 documentary The Sheepdogs Have At It. What makes this film festival more than just movies is that each screening is accompanied by a musical performance, along with activities and food trucks making themselves open for business. Tonight's performers are, of course, The Sheepdogs and food will be provided by Fidel Gastro and Crepe It Up (for a price). While advanced tickets may be sold out, there will be a rush line. Get there long before doors open at 7:30PM to guarantee yourself a seat. The Moonview Lot (175 Queens Quay East) 7:30PM $25
The Sheepdogs’ Ryan Cullen Interviewed by Anna Hardwick
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svHqsyONaDA
CFR Interview – Director John Barnard http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5StLrUSvSvg
Interview with Ryan Gullen of The Sheepdogs Philip Parsons
http://dailyxy.com/article/interview-‐with-‐ryan-‐gullen-‐of-‐the-‐sheepdogs/
Fans of the Sheepdogs can get a behind the scenes look of the band’s rise to fame with The Sheepdogs Have At It, a documentary opening this weekend. The documentary takes a look at the long road the Sheepdogs traveled to get to where they are now, including the Rolling Stone cover contest that launched them into the mainstream. We caught up Ryan Gullen, the bassist of the band from Saskatoon to get his take on the doc, the Rolling Stone cover contest, and more. What do you think of the finished documentary? I think it’s really cool. Having a documentary about us is a little strange, but it definitely captures a very cool moment: us coming off being on the cover of Rolling Stone and then what happens afterwards. During that time for me, we were very busy and we didn’t get a chance to take it all in so its interesting to look back at that whole time of our lives. It was a big whirlwind. Other than that, it’s a little strange to see yourself on a movie screen. We’re used to playing on stage and people watching us, not sitting down and watch ourselves on a screen, so it’s a little bit different. What’s it like having a documentary crew follow you around? We were a little apprehensive at first. A lot of stuff involved with Rolling Stone involved cameras being around all the time and it’s definitely not what we were used to. When we were in the studio, we wanted to still be successful and
creative in what we were doing and we didn’t want to be thinking there was a documentary crew around. But they were very respectful and it wasn’t much of an issue at all. Is there anything you want the audience to take away from the movie? Our band came from years and years of very little success to suddenly being thrust into the spotlight. I think a lot of people assume that a big part of our success has to do with Rolling Stone and a lot people assume it was just us on easy street after that. And I think there’s a bit of a message to show there is a lot of work involved in what we do. And for someone who is interested in our band, it gives you a bit of a light into how we operate and what we do as a band. The documentary specifically looks at you guys living up to expectations after being on the cover of Rolling Stone. What was that experience like? We were fortunate that we were a band for a very long time so when we were put in this situation we basically had to be ourselves and just play music and that’s something we did together for a very long time. There was pressure and you definitely felt it at times but in the end we didn’t have very much time to think about it, we just had to go for it. And I think that’s kind of how we’ve always done things and it worked out I guess in our favour. Was it nerve-‐racking when the band got closer and closer to winning the contest? When it was sixteen bands, we figured there was no way in hell we were going to get past that. When we got to eight, we still thought there was still so many bands. But when we got down to the final two, at that point we were like “it’s a 50/50 chance its going to be us. We just have to go in and be ourselves and hustle and I think we can lock this in.” So it was very nerve-‐racking but as we progressed I think we got more confident. There was never a moment we thought we won until they finally told us. For a band that was just used to traveling around and playing to people in bars suddenly going to play these big festivals was a definite change of pace for us. But it was definitely worth it obviously and I think we dealt with it well. The documentary also looks at the process of recording an album vs. performing live. What’s the biggest difference and which do you prefer? I think one compliments the other. In the studio you’re being creative and you’re focusing on every little bit whereas when you’re playing live you’re performing and playing for other people. You want to make a really good record and make really good songs because it will enhance your live shows. Playing in the studio is satisfying because you’re creating and expressing yourself but playing live is more about getting feedback for those songs. I couldn’t really pick one or the other. You guys are always being compared to bands from the ’60s and ’70s. Does that bother you when you’re trying to make something new and unique? No, not at all. A lot of the comparisons are with people we respect so it’s not that bad of a thing. All music has its influences. Everybody looks to other artists for inspiration and looks to other songs for ideas. Being musicians you’re always going to be compared to others. People are going to critique and analyze your music and that’s part of putting your music out there. I don’t think it necessarily bothers us that we’re compared to other musicians because that’s what comes along with the territory. With all your recent success, have you had a moment where you’ve said “We’ve made it”? I think that you’re always striving to be bigger and better musicians and I don’t know at what point you can say you’ve made it. I think for us the biggest thing for us was at the end of the summer we were able to quit our jobs and start doing music full time. Before, we would work jobs, then go on tour, then come back and work jobs. Even during the Rolling Stone stuff we were working full time when we were home. For us, we wanted to do this full time and be passionate and put all our focus into it. We were finally able to do that and to see a paycheck come in that’s solely from your music, that’s making it for us. Also, you make music for yourself and to share with people and when people suddenly decide to really latch on to that and you see people are actually buying your music, that’s a pretty great moment.
The Sarah Mills Show The Sheepdogs hit the big screen http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://www.ckom.com/audio/sarah-‐mills-‐show-‐margi-‐ corbett-‐sheepdogs-‐hit-‐big-‐screen/117043
See above link for audio interview
The Sheepdogs premiere documentary film in Saskatoon http://www.ckom.com/story/sheepdogs-premiere-documentary-film-saskatoon/115966 The Roxy Threatre was rocking with the sounds of The Sheepdogs Wednesday night. Saskatoon's shaggy band hit the big screen in their first feature documentary. The Sheepdogs Have At It follows the band from their appearance on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine to the completion of their self titled album. After following the band for nearly four months, director John Barnard said the Sheepdogs break the mold of stereotypical documentary subjects. “I don’t think they have any natural fighting tendencies or reality TV tendencies that you would naturally consider for a documentary and that’s what make them interesting,” said Barnard. Barnard said he followed the band until money ran out and used what footage he had to build a narrative. The documentary captures a very precocious but exciting time for the prairie boys as they rode the wave to stardom. But Barnard said the movie is about more than just a small period in the band's life. “I guess you could say the movie is like a little microcosmic thread that illustrates their while journey in a loose way,” he said. Barnard travelled with the band, meeting up with them while they toured such cities as Vancouver, Toronto, Memphis, New York and Nashville. Although the point was to remain as unobtrusive as possible, it was sometimes difficult for the band to ignore the cameras. “It was a little weird because they would just show up,” Bassist Ryan Gullen said. “We’d be in New Orleans and they’d just show up and have cameras so it was a little weird at times but they were very good at fly on the wall trying to capture actual moments rather than more contrived like some documentaries can be.” In the end though, the band was still excited to see their faces on film. “It’s very weird watching a thing about yourself but it’s pretty cool for sure,” Gullen said. The band stuck around for some questions after the premier and played a couple songs for the crowd.
Interview: The Sheepdogs on their documentary, fame, and their influences outside of music Jacqueline Valencia
http://nextprojection.com/2013/06/24/interview-‐the-‐sheepdogs-‐on-‐their-‐documentary-‐fame-‐and-‐influences-‐outside-‐of-‐music/
This being my first interview on my own (my last one being Matt Johnson’s The The at the Sheraton Hotel in a room with a dozen other college radio reporters where I got one question in), I had no preconceptions on how it would go. I met the band at the shiny Cambridge Suites in downtown Toronto. I waited in the lounge area with another group of correspondents as the band walked down from a previous interview over at Citytv. Freshly from watching their documentary The Sheepdogs Have At It, I was wary about what I would ask the group considering they’d been through the ringer with Rolling Stone and many other media outlets trying to figure out how this little band from Saskatoon made it so big so fast. As their representatives introduce me to Ryan Gullen (bassist) and Sam Corbett (drums/percussion), both of which chose the hotel lounge to sit back with me and have a chat. To get the ball rolling I asked them if they had seen Man Of Steel which has been at the top of my brain since my NP review. They hadn’t seen it, but were very excited about the special effects. I quickly advised them to stay true to that excitement and not to let anyone cloud their viewing it; adding of course, that my review wasn’t a favorable view.
Jacqueline: Did you guys feel a lot of pressure from family and friends after getting the Rolling Stone cover? Ryan: I think a little bit. The biggest thing is that immediately all that stuff finished we immediately started touring. We didn’t have too much time to fuss and just dive in and do what what we do on stage and make a record. They were things we normally did to keep going to show that we aren’t just a band that won a contest. We’re a real band and that’s integral to maintaining that. I mean there was pressure, but no real time to dedicate to it really. Sam: Instead of pressure, which to me implies a force pushing on you, it felt we were being pulled in all sort of directions. There were a lot of demands and that’s what it felt like more. J: Like seeing you on Project Runway! That was hilarious. I imagine that’s part of the pulling process. Ryan: That was something that we had no choice in the matter. It was tied into winning the contest. It worked out in a good way though since a lot of husbands of wives who watched the show discovered us there. And women who love our kind of music but just happened to be watching the show, they heard us there. In the movie it shows how awkward it was for us. J: There was this moment when they interviewed your parents and in particular, Sam’s mom was showing the state of her basement. She points to a poster where the head of sheepdog is superimposed on a woman’s body and says, “This is the kind of stuff that ends up in my basement.” How was that for you guys? Sam: “I’d like to add that I spent three days cleaning up that basement.” Ryan: “And most of that was Leot’s stuff and did he help?” Sam: “Nope.” * laughter * J: Is it weird seeing yourselves on the big screen like that? Ryan: It is weird, but it’s cool. One part of it is that during that time we were being pulled in all sorts of directions, so we didn’t have a whole lot of time to reflect. The film works as a way for us to reflect and say, “Oh hey I did that and that,” because it was just a big blur during that time. It is weird to see yourself on camera. All lot of time we do interviews, you do it, you’re done with it and you don’t see it afterwards. Then you see it on a big screen with a big group of friends, family or strangers. Last night we were in Saskatoon to our home crowd and that was a little odd. J: How was the hometown crowd for that? Sam: They were great. They had a big belly laugh at the Project Runway stuff that’s for sure. And everyone there pretty much loved it. Most of the crowd were people who know us well from way back when. They learned quite a lot from the movie of what our lives were like at that time. Ryan: They hadn’t seen us in a year after the cover. Some people assumed we were just on cloud nine afterwards and making tons of money. It gives a good insight into how we went about doing things afterwards. It wasn’t about us just being in this competition, but us forming the band in Saskatoon.
J: When does it sink in from being a struggling band, to dreaming and then this is what my life is now? You all worked really hard to get to this point. You do interviews and concerts now. That’s your schedule. Sam: It does feel more routine now. This is the type of thing that we’ll probably have a better perspective of it ten or twenty years down the road. Sometimes you think about it and say that it was really cool. A lot of the time we’re just so busy that you don’t have much a chance to think about it. Ryan: As soon as we’re done one thing we’re doing something else. So much of being in this industry is that you don’t really get to reflect on what’s happening to you because you’re constantly thinking of the next thing that’s coming up, or the next thing that needs to get done. We just played a festival this weekend and now we’re going to the UK. We did the festival and it’s done. Now it’s what will it be like when we play Glastonbury? And then even farther ahead and where we want to go. We are constantly looking ahead. I think what really stuck with us is when we had to quit our day jobs. That’s when it really sunk in. We were a touring a band for five years. We’d tour and then go back to our jobs. I think they knew we were going to quit our day jobs. Us realizing that we could quit those jobs and sustain a relatively comfortable way of living this way was really great. J: How was it having cameras follow you guys everywhere, especially in the recording studio? Sam: For this movie it wasn’t as intrusive as for a lot of the Rolling Stone stuff that we had to shoot. A lot of that was staged and we had to do take after take. Having been through that experience this was a lot easier because it was a lot more fly on the wall. And if we needed them to get out of the studio they would oblige. J: I don’t want to touch upon your influences because many have harped upon your classic rock nostalgia style. I want to ask you, what are you influences outside of music? Sam: There a book on The Beatles called ‘Revolution In The Head’. That book had as much influence on me in the way I though about music as the music itself. Television show or a great movie can inspire you to create something worthwhile. Ryan: Our music is also influenced by our travels. The people we meet, our families, and the very interesting characters we’ve met on tour. Playing on Wednesday night in bars at midnight you do run into some odd folks. They do give us ideas. Music is a reflection of where we go as artists. J: Anything you want to tell the filmgoers who are about to watch the film? Ryan: Whether you know us or like us or not, the movie gives you a view of who we are beyond the Rolling Stone cover without going too in-‐depth. It shows us as the hardworking band doing what we do. Sam: It’s very well made. I think it’s a very accurate portrayal of who we are and what we’re doing. As I left the hotel lobby, the Ryan and Sam were setting up for the next interview outside since it was such a sunny day. I appreciated the earnestness of those two and hope to see big things for them in the future. If anything it’s a fascinating idea to see this band start off, take off so quickly, and then try to catch up to their successes. Most of all, I wish them some time to reflect because in any industry these days, there needs some time allotted to smelling the roses. I don’t want to see The Sheepdogs burn out.
Documentary caps frantic year for the Sheepdogs Keith Sharp
http://themusicexpress.ca/documentary-‐caps-‐frantic-‐year-‐for-‐the-‐sheepdogs/
The Sheepdogs earned a standing ovation Friday night in Toronto, but not for any concert or club gig appearance (although that was them performing acoustically on the cinema’s rooftop). What had the fans out of their seats was their response to the Saskatoon band’s performance in John Barnard’s TheSheepdogs Have At It documentary movie which premiered at Toronto’s Cineplex Yonge/Dundas Square venue. When news broke that The Sheepdogs had beaten out 15 other unsigned bands to appear on Rolling Stone th magazine’s front cover August 18 2012, and in doing so earned a U.S recording contract with Atlantic Records, independent producer/director Barnard decided to capture the events which followed the band’s historic win and tracked the Sheepdogs’ activities for the next year. Thus “TheSheepdogs Have At It” (Farpoint Films), captures their
road travels, the making of their self-‐titled Atlantic Records debut produced in Nashville by Black Keys’ drummer Patrick Carney and Austin Skaggs as well as talking to the parents of band members Ewan Currie, Ryan Gullen, Leot Hanson and Sam Corbett to provide some historical perspective to the band’s current success. Prior to Friday’s premiere, bassist Gullen allowed that viewing the documentary themselves allowed the band to fully realize just how far they had come in the past 12 months. “We have been so busy, we haven’t had a chance to put things into their proper perspective,” noted Gullen, amidst a flurry of media activity at Toronto’s Cambridge Suites hotel. “It’s just been one big whirlwind of activity. It’s neat to reflect on what we have done and what we have achieved. It’s like looking at a scrapbook of a year that was like a big blur to us. The band members were receptive to the idea of Barnard capturing their activities on film but they had one major stipulation. “It had to be real. We didn’t want anything contrived,” explained Gullen. “We wanted the highs and lows to be reflected in the documentary. If he shot us performing a big gig we wanted him to then shoot us going out drinking afterwards. We are music fans and music documentary fans and we wanted our fans to feel they were watching something real. You can tell what is real and what is put on.” This included footage of the band alluding to firing their tour manager and struggling along, handling their own gear. “He cost us a whole bundle of our money ” explained The Sheepdog bassist. “He kept being asked about it and he didn’t know how to answer that question. We had encountered previous problems with him; the final straw was that he lost all of our money. We had toured without a manager for years so we could handle it but we had been on a nice trajectory and then we had to go back to how we used to do things.” As suggested by interviews with the band’s parents, TheSheepdogs were far from being overnight sensations. Currie, Gullen and Corbett were high school friends in Saskatoon who came about their southern blues roots via their exposure to Napster. “Napster meant you didn’t have to listen to just what was on radio. You could listen to what your friends were listening to, go on the internet, stay with one thing yet go down this rabbit hole of musical experiences. When we got together, we shared an appreciation for honest music and we built our band around that appreciation. One of the bands, The Sheepdogs appreciated was Kings Of Leon and when they discovered Prince Albert native Leon Hanson had a similar attraction, the final piece of the band’s lineup was in place. Being a southern rock blues band in a dance/pop environment wasn’t easy and although the band recorded two independent CD’s, “Trying To Grow” in 2007 and “The Sheepdog’s Big Stand” in 2008 they struggled in unanimity, executing several unsuccessful tours which left the band financially broke and disillusioned. “Did we almost quit? Absolutely, several times,” allowed Gullen. “There was one Canadian tour, about a year and a half before the Rolling Stone contest. We were travelling across the country in a beaten up Dodge van that went through a full tank of gas every three hours. We’d get to a show and like 10 people (sometimes even less) would show up, we were not making any money. Our van got broken into in Toronto, Kitchener, Calgary and Vancouver so we had to spend money repairing windows and replacing personal stuff. Then two hours out of Saskatoon, we pulled into a gas station to fill up and our line of credit was exhausted. We had scrounged up our personal money just to get home.” “What are we doing, we asked ourselves,” reflected Gullen. “We were having tons of fun but we asked ourselves, how long you can spin your tires. How long do we want to keep pushing it. The Sheepdogs’ big break came when they cobbled together enough funds to record an indie release “Learn And Burn” in 2010. They passed a copy along to Dine Alone Records owner Joel Carriere who at the same time received a phone call from a contact at Atlantic Records in New York. “He told Joel the label were looking for entries for a contest Atlantic were sponsoring with Rolling Stone magazine to find an unsigned band for the cover – and did Carriere have any bands in mind,” explained Gullen. “Joel said actually I have this band The Sheepdogs, even though he hadn’t actually seen us perform”.. Carriere is now the band’s manager.
One of some 16,000 entries in the contest, TheSheepdogs made it to the final 16 before being confirmed as the th winners – appearing on Rolling Stone Magazine’s August 18 2012 cover. “Being the only Canadian entry help,” allowed Gullen. “We got tremendous national support.” According to the documentary though, winning the contest, came with pressure the band had never faced before. Suddenly the previously unknown band was now receiving international attention. Atlantic rush released a five-‐track EP, “Five Easy Pieces and The Sheepdogs found themselves in Australia opening for John Fogerty and even found themselves opening for Kings Of Leon, the initial source of their inspiration. “In the documentary, a rep from Rolling Stone magazine says that if we recorded a great record, great things would happen to us – but if we didn’t record a great CD, all these positive things would disappear. “ I mean who goes into a studio and says `we are not going to record a great record – we are going to record a mediocre record! I mean, talk about pressure.” Still, as the doc depicts, The Sheepdogs responded to the direction from producers Patrick Carney and Austin Skaggs and the resulting self-‐title album debuted at No1 in Canada and has even enjoyed exposure in Europe where the band concluded a successful Winter tour and are set to go back to Spain, Holland and Great Britain before appearing in a number of festivals in Canada and The U.S – yet surprisingly little touring activity in the States. “Surprisingly, Europe seems to like us. I think they appreciate our honest music coming as a change from the dance/pop music they are accustomed to. We met this very proper Englishman in Nottingham whose prize possession was one of Ronnie Van Zant’s hats. He just loved Southern Rock.” “Atlantic is happy with our record,” noted Gullen. “But it’s not like the old days when they funded a tour bus and sent you on the road opening for AC/DC. The onus is on us to produce but they are helping us as much as they can.” What The Sheepdogs have achieved is to star in their own movie documentary by performing honest, basic roots rock music which is rapidly winning over a national and international audience. TheSheepdogs have forged an identity based on their own honesty. They have won three Juno awards in 2012 and won two inaugural Music Express awards for best single “The Way It Is” and “Best Club Venue Live Group/Artist”. Now add movie stars to their ever expanding list of growing credits.
An unassuming doc for an underdog band Randall King
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-‐and-‐life/entertainment/movies/an-‐unassuming-‐doc-‐for-‐an-‐ underdog-‐band-‐212594511.html?device=mobile If the music business is a flavour-‐of-‐the-‐month kind of proposition, Saskatoon band The Sheepdogs offers up something as basic and true as vanilla, and just as delicious. Their music -‐-‐ two guitars, bass and drums -‐-‐ is fundamental. Their lineage -‐-‐ The Allman Brothers, Spirit -‐-‐ is classic rock and roll. So how does a contemporary band like that find an audience? Director John Barnard answers that question with an approach that is as unpretentious as the band itself, documenting their leap from prairie obscurity to sudden fame courtesy of a Rolling Stone magazine cover story. You can see it in Barnard's choice of interview subjects: Forget rock critics, dude, let's hear from the band members' moms. Before the Rolling Stone story, of course, there was just years of jamming and living in their parents' basements (so, hell yes, the band members' moms definitely have something to say about it.) Probably those prairie winters had something to do with their endurance but the band's Sam Corbett, Ewan Currie, Ryan Gullen and non-‐Saskatooner Leot Hanson (he's from Prince Albert) persevered to win a contest designed to give a boost to an unsigned rock band. They won in a campaign that notoriously included an appearance on Project Runway where the guys managed to maintain their dignity while being outfitted in hippie frou-‐frou. And even in the context of having their own documentary feature, the Sheepdogs come across as underdogs. The initial concert footage is from gigs they played opening for Kings of Leon. But their journey to main act status is an entertaining trip. Barnard's ambling style in not inappropriate for the subject matter, although he does seem overly protective of his subjects. We learn, for example, that while touring the U.S., the band fired their tour manager, but we don't hear why. Barnard also neglects to go as deeply that initial Rolling Stone article, which acknowledged that, yes, befitting a band inspired by some '70s groups, some marijuana does get smoked in their vicinity. You think Barnard might go there too, but no, that's a kazoo and not a hash pipe Ewan Currie is sticking in his mouth.
Review: The Sheepdogs Have At It Trista Devries http://thetfs.ca/2013/06/21/review-‐the-‐sheepdogs-‐have-‐at-‐it/
There are few people in Canada who don’t know the story of The Sheepdogs. An indie band from Saskatoon who gained international recognition when they entered, then won, the contest to be the first unsigned act on the cover of Rolling Stone Magazine (it also came with a recording contract). The story almost no one knows is what happened after they won. In the film The Sheepdogs Have At It chronicles the four months following their win in which they record their album and tour almost non-‐stop. Eight minutes into the film Matt Mastrangelo of Rolling Stone says “What do they need to do? I hate to say it, but it’s really, really simple. They gotta to deliver a great album. They gotta deliver a great live show. They gotta be on tour manically.” If it’s not clear by that point, then it becomes clear very quickly that right after all the hard work involved to win the contest, came more hard work. The film lays out in the plainest terms exactly what lead singer and lyricist Ewan Currie, guitarist Leot Hanson, drummer Sam Corbett and bassist Ryan Gullen had to do to become more than just a flash in the pan. Then the film watches as they “have at it.” Without question the most interesting thing about this film is the inclusion of the band members’ parents. Sit downs with Currie’s mother, and Gullen and Corbett’s parents very quickly become the centre of the film, grounding it in a kind of reality not often found in films about the beginning of a musical career. In this way the film is a bio-‐pic, a tour doc and a making-‐of-‐an-‐album doc all rolled into one. The combination makes for compelling viewing, but also gives viewers the warm fuzzies. These are some good prairie boys who are incredibly passionate about what they do, so they work damn hard at it. Their work is rewarded and they just work harder. They don’t complain. They don’t fight. They don’t devolve into drug use and womanizing. They just do what they do best: make awesome music.
Music buffs will enjoy the look behind the scenes with Joel Carriere of Dine Alone Records and Jeff Leake of Sirius Satellite Radio, who shed light on the mechanics behind making a band a commercial success. Is The Sheepdogs Have At It opening weekend worthy? Good God yes. Given that this is a Canadian movie directed by a Canadian about a Canadian band and released by a Canadian production company, there is literally no reason not to see it immediately. And if that’s not enough the concert footage will give you a bigger rush than any summer tentpole movie will, hands down. If that alone isn’t enough to move you to see it, director John Barnard and members of the band will be at the Friday and Saturday screenings for Q&As. Yeah. That’s right.
This story ran in the following outlets:
http://news.speedtv.com/article/0eQPeMtegbe2n
Urban Planner: June 20, 2013 http://torontoist.com/2013/06/urban-‐planner-‐june-‐20-‐2013/
MUSIC: One of the best summer activities to check out in Toronto is back. The Open Roof Festival, which highlights Toronto’s indie film and music scenes, returns for a fourth year of weekly gigs/screenings. For their launch, they’ve secured the Juno-‐award winning band, The Sheepdogs, who’ll be playing an acoustic set before screening their documentary film, The Sheepdogs Have At It. The Moonview Lot (175 Queens Quay East), 7:30 p.m., $25.
This Week on Toronto Screens: 6/21/13 Andrew Parker
http://dorkshelf.com/2013/06/21/this-‐week-‐on-‐toronto-‐screens-‐62113/
The Sheepdogs Have At It With a title referring to the stripped down sound that Saskatchewan roots rockers The Sheepdogs bring to the table, this road and rock documentary follows a year in the life of a touring band just past the cusp of blowing up. After winning a contest to become the first unsigned band to grace the cover of Rolling Stone, the film asks what comes next for these musicians and how the pressure is greater than ever for them to follow through on such promise. It’s another one of those documentaries we’ve been getting in recent weeks around here that feels more like an EPK that anything else, but at least there’s some interesting insight here about the pressures of being anointed as the next big thing. Still, this one’s largely for fans only.
THE SHEEPDOGS: Have At It Kindah Mardam Bey
I saw the Sheepdogs perform at a private club during the 2011 TIFF. It is a rare occasion that a bunch of socialites shut up and listen to a band in the basement of a multi-‐level member-‐only club but The Sheepdogs – as shaggy as they were, as Saskatchewan as they were from, brought the house down and made their presence known. A few weeks later it seemed, they won the Rolling Stone Cover competition. It seems surreal that this unknown band from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan would win America’s greatest rock honour. It doesn’t get any better than being on the cover of the Rolling Stone. Now what? Well, Spenny – yep, that one – decided it was worth knowing what happens to the The Sheepdogs after that measure of fame, fan support ,and life changing event. Spenny recruits John Barnard to direct and what follows is a decidedly epic interpretation of The Sheepdogs' journey. Barnard takes the art form of the rock ‘n roll documentary we exclusively set aside for any band that has the term “legend” attached to it and gives a similar sense of fortitude to this band that may have made it to the cover of Rolling Stone but still has to prove the yare not a one hit wonder in the eyes of rock aficionados and the music industry at large. For example, the film starts with an operatic piece while you watch the Sheepdogs writhing around on stage while they perform. Opera is set aside for true states of grandeur in all situations, so starting Have At It this way sets a definitive. Have At It feels like we are part of the defining days of a bands evolution. We get personal interviews with Ewan, Leot, Ryan, and Sam, but it is also a documentary that embraces the thoughts and feelings of their family and the person at Bedlam Entertainment who got them into the Rolling Stone cover contest. These interviews showcase a community of natural cheerleaders who not only show a lot of support for these essentially really nice guys, but also highlights a level of support that translates into faith that this band has what it takes for the long haul. At least, Patrick Carney
thinks so, the drummer of The Black Keys is producing The Sheepdogs album and giving them a start in the business that is infused with legitimacy and credibility. After all, if The Black Keys like you enough to work with you on your album, well, that gets any band a stamp of rock approval. Of course, Have At It has a built in awesome soundtrack. Barnard takes tracks from the band that they perform live and showcases one to two minute sequences these songs. For new viewers it educates them on the band’s music library but for fans of the band already it gives a feeling of watching the bad live. Barnard admits it is hard to capture the live spirit of such a performance based band on stage to translate into film but seeing as we all can’t watch the band every weekend, it gives an ample substitute. If you have been following music over the last few years, you may already start to see the trend that Saskatoon, Saskatchewan is swiftly becoming the new Seattle for rock and it is clearly a love of old school rock ‘n roll that makes the likes of the The Sheepdogs and Reignwolf rising stars of the music industry. Have At It allows audiences that first glimpse – that feeling of being there – that we so often try to capture and recapture in documentaries about The Beatles or The Rolling Stones when two minutes of “new footage” is discovered of them in the studio and an entire documentary about those rock legends is hinged on those two minutes plus retreading stories we have already heard a thousand times. When audiences rally behind a band, they want to feel a part of being at the start with the band; The Rolling Stone cover meant we all had the opportunity to make that happen and Have At It means we get the chance to see and feel like we are part of those important first steps towards that epic rock ‘n roll story. Watch The Sheepdogs: Have At It in theatres as that live performance feel to this film is downright cool on a big screen.
Review: The Sheepdogs Have At It (2012) Jacqueline Valencia
http://nextprojection.com/2013/06/24/review-‐the-‐sheepdogs-‐have-‐at-‐it-‐2012/
There are a few things you expect from a documentary. An in-‐depth analysis and history of the subject, interesting cinematography to illuminate the analysis further, and a few surprising highlights exposing things we didn’t know on the topic. There are many techniques documentarians have used. Foundation-‐ wise, they can be like written essays where the filmmaker introduces the topic, sets a thesis statement, goes point by point proving their thesis, then wraps it up with a conclusion. Many filmmakers can build or distort to move beyond that foundation. Admittedly, rock documentaries don’t really need all of that, but there is a story to be told regardless. It can be a behind the scenes look at the recording process or it can be a chronicle of the changes that the recording artist must overcome before becoming a star.
In The Sheepdogs Have At It, director John Barnard chronicles the group after having won a contest where the winner becomes the first unsigned artist to be on the cover of Rolling Stone. The Sheepdogs are four young men from Saskatoon: Ewan Currie (vocals and guitar), Leot Hanson (guitar), Ryan Gullen (bass), and Sam Corbett (drums and percussion). I recently had the opportunity to interview the band, but that’s in another post here in NP. To note, I found them very personable, honest, and very hardworking, talented individuals. This documentary shows that part somewhat and it displays their music prominently. It’s necessary because although many say that they came out of nowhere, that part is not true. In the film you get a glimpse of their humble beginnings through talks with their respective parents and the fans that know them from before their RS cover. Through concert footage and very few backstage moments you definitely see that The Sheepdogs are extraordinarily talented individuals who play a wholly original classic blues-‐rock tunes. However, note that I’ve said “glimpse” and “few.” As an insight into the dynamic of the group, I got very little of that from this film. The camera follows, but it stops at points and just before I think something is going to happen, the scene goes into another fan/manager/radio dj proclaiming how great The Sheepdogs are. The camera pans from scene to scene, watching the band go about its hectic schedule through various cities. Moments are given to them in the studio with producer Patrick Carney (drummer of The Black Keys). This is a huge deal mostly because the bands debut (a debut that has seen them receiving various raves and awards), was recorded on a mostly threadbare budget. But we don’t see them interact much with Carney or with the rest of highly experienced music production crew. We get visuals, but no dialogue. All of this leads to the documentary feeling more like a music video or an extended trailer about The Sheepdogs instead of acumen into the making of or the affects of fame on the band. It is a detriment to the film. I did enjoy the moments when they talked to the band’s fans or the newly converted fans of the band. A unique candid moment was when they were in New Orleans and someone picked them out of the thick of the crowd to say, “It’s them! The Sheepdogs!” Those are the moments that are to be documented. I’m also keen that they didn’t go into who does the band sound like. Too many of that happens nowadays and I’m grateful that they circumvented those comparisons. The band stands as it is. I’m not sure what they were going for with The Sheepdogs Have At It. If it was a small portrait, then yes, they’ve made a small portrait of a band from Saskatoon who landed a cover of Rolling Stone. There wasn’t much insidious following around or tension of any kind invoked in this flick and it could be because the group is well grounded and because they are at the cusp of a breakthrough that there isn’t much meat to discover. I would have appreciated a little more background on how tough it was for these boys to be playing small venues and find themselves on giant arenas trying to prove themselves to the big crowds. As I said before, all we get are hints and it seems to me in the eighty five minutes of footage in the film, that it was a hurried process to get this story out there before the going was gone. I would be interested if there were another film seeing them ten years down the road and where they end up. It’s amazing to consider that they have just given up their day jobs to play and tour full time. It must be a challenge, but we wouldn’t know it because that isn’t shown in here. If you want a better perspicacity into the band, catch The Sheepdogs live or talk to them. They’re a great band to discover on your own.
Wylie Writes The Reviews of Addison Wylie
The Sheepdogs Have At It Addison Wylie
http://wyliewrites.wordpress.com/2013/06/21/the-‐sheepdogs-‐have-‐at-‐it/ I went into The Sheepdogs Have At It with interested, persuasive ears. I had heard some of the band’s work and liked it, but never found myself yearning to find out more about the band members themselves. I would take the music at face value and soak in the nostalgia that lined the tracks. The Sheepdogs Have At It offered insights here and there regarding how the band got started and how tough and exhausting touring is, but director John Barnard never gives his audience more than just a few insights – at least, for the first 2/3 of his documentary. As we hear these floating facts about the band’s origin and how their appearance on the cover of Rolling Stonemagazine changed their lives, Barnard tends to repeat himself. We constantly hear fans, family, and essential workers in the music industry commend The Sheepdogs on having non-‐stop drive and perseverance – even during those slower periods as the band tried to find their audience. However, it’s the post-‐Rolling Stone opinion that seems all too clichéd and usual. “Their next album needs to be big,” says everyone as they comment on The Sheepdogs possible future. It’s a true, concern but needn’t Barnard keep a control on how many times its uttered? It’s times like these along with other continual instances – like watching the band record solos and becoming upset at their messy takes – it feels like the doc is chasing its own tail. Even though they have a history with band members Sam Corbett, Ewan Currie, Ryan Gullen, and Leot Hanson, the documentary isn’t all that flattering of a vehicle for these third party interview subjects or for the band either. That’s not to say it puts these people into a negative light. The thing is they aren’t put in the light as best as they could’ve been. A good example would be that concert footage. Not only is The Sheepdogs Have At It a straight-‐up documentary, but it’s also a semi-‐concert film as well – giving moviegoers the feeling of being awash in the crowd of rockers. The footage is frequently displaying these rugged musicians from profile shots while their hair drapes over their faces. These shots are mixed in with random unsteady close-‐ups of instruments and unfocused snap-‐zooms into the smiley crowd. It’s as if the shoot called for multiple cameramen to take aim at a musician and improvise creative shots. The willingness to get creative is mindful, but there needs to be more planning and a more detailed shot list before shooting a concert on-‐the-‐fly and accumulating lots of footage that isn’t so appealing to look at. It’s not until moviegoers start to learn more about the
contest process behind the Rolling Stonecover that the film builds genuine excitement. Again, we hear how so many people adore the old thyme-‐y sounds of The Sheepdogs, but we figure out how their word-‐of-‐mouth can be so effective. Because of their distinct, unnatural sounding tunes (by radio stations’ standards), The Sheepdogshad a hard time getting listeners of all ages to hear what they cooked up. Interviews with Fearless Fred from 102.5 The Edge as well as other chats with knowledgable musical hounds tell audiences how they worked to get airtime for the band. Barnard’s doc also highlights a funny but equally odd piece of promotion that helped the band significantly – a featured spot on the reality TV showProject Runway. When we see the crowds gradually grow building up to the final days of voting for the Rolling Stone contest, our smiles can’t help but grow as well. The support by Canadian listeners alone is an impressive move and subtlety shows how dedicated fans can make a difference for their beloved band for the better. Barnard and his doc are adamant to win you over by the end credits. The filmmaker manages to make us smile and tap our feet as we approach the final moments of the film, but The Sheepdogs Have At It needed that same excitement during its introduction. That excitement may have been there but, unfortunately, it would’ve been done in by repetitive direction and unpolished editing. I’m more of a fan of The Sheepdogs and their music after watching Barnard’s hasty doc, but the filmmaker needs a bit more rehearsal time behind the camera in order to pull off something consistently effective.
Weekend Warrior: Open Roof Festival, Om T.O., Strange Brew, Toronto Jazz Festival, Waterfront Festival Rachel Bloom
http://www.postcity.com/Eat-‐Shop-‐Do/Do/June-‐2013/Weekend-‐Warrior-‐Open-‐Roof-‐Festival-‐Om-‐TO-‐ Strange-‐Brew-‐Toronto-‐Jazz-‐Festival-‐Waterfront-‐Festival/index.php Open Roof Festival When: June 20 – Aug. 22 Where: The Moonview Lot, 175 Queens Quay E. Details: This outdoor music and film festival kicks off tonight with a rooftop concert by Juno-‐winning band The Sheepdogs followed by a screening of their documentary, The Sheepdogs Have At It. Other film screenings will include Spring Breakers and The Kings of Summer, and the festival will also feature a roster of other live music acts including Michael Rault and Lilly Mason.
The Sheepdogs Have At It (2012) – or – Rock and roll returns The Film Reel
http://www.the-‐filmreel.com/
After winning a contest to be the first unsigned band to appear on the cover of Rolling Stone, The Sheepdogs went from playing tiny bars to filling arenas. Winning the Rolling Stone competition was only the beginning for the band, and the film, The Sheepdogs Have At It, talks about their rise to fame, as well as following the band in the year following their contest win. It’s always nice to see someone succeed, especially when they deserve it, and The Sheepdogs may be the most deserving band around. They also happen to be Canadian, which only makes things that much better for this Canadian writer. The band members are down to earth guys, and their music proves that there’s still a place in the over produced world of pop for a band that makes good, old fashioned rock and roll. The Sheepdogs Have At It follows the band in the year after their Rolling Stone contest win while they constantly tour, and put together their self titled album. In between scenes of sold out concerts and studio time, the film explores the bands history, as well as the events leading up to their contest win. It’s all a matter of the ‘right place at the right time’ for the band, but it also shows that real talent wins out in the end. Without being able to create such fantastic music, the band would never have made it as far as they have. Their sound, a classic southern rock feel which many say reminds them of The Allman Brothers Band, is full of soul. Watching them perform is a little bit like traveling in a time warp. It seems like you’re
watching a concert from the 70s, but The Sheepdogs make every moment their own. It’s a perfect blend of new and old, and their popularity has proven that it works. Hidden behind the incredible music and interviews is the underlying theme of perseverance. The band kept pushing toward their goal, surprising people at every turn. Watching the various managers, radio personalities, and record executives talk about being stunned by the bands popularity is a bit funny, but also a little depressing. To think that people had a hard time accepting how amazing The Sheepdogs are is a bit sad. There’s always going to be room for rock and roll like this. Perhaps The Sheepdogs will help show the world what real music is, and The Sheepdogs Have At It is a great introduction to the band. The Final Call Anybody who appreciates real music over the endless churn of heavily produced crap that streams out of the radio now is going to really enjoy this one. The film is worth it just to watch the band find out they’ve won the Rolling Stone contest, the fact that these guys deserve every bit of fame is just the icing on the cake.
Open Roof Festival 2013 Kicks Off: A Sheepdogs Extravaganza! http://www.yelp.ca/events/toronto-‐open-‐roof-‐festival-‐2013-‐kicks-‐off-‐a-‐sheepdogs-‐extravaganza
It's been hard to keep quiet but we're crazy excited to finally announce that our 2013 summer festival kicks off with a live acoustic set from Juno-‐winning Canadian rockers The Sheepdogs followed by the Toronto premiere film screening of the band's own documentary The Sheepdogs Have At It. The Sheepdogs, Canada's rock & roll legends-‐in-‐the-‐making and the only unsigned band ever to appear on the cover of Rolling Stone Magazine, are excited to share their behind-‐the-‐scenes documentary about the band's rise from obscurity to the cover of Rolling Stone, and through the recording of their next -‐ and most important -‐ album. The Sheepdogs Have At It is directed by John Barnard and produced by Kyle Bornais. Tickets for the opening night show will be $25, with the remainder of the festival's ticket price remaining steady with previous seasons' pricing at $15 a pop. Tickets will be available here starting May 31, 2013. We're also thrilled to announce that $5 from every opening night ticket sold will be donated to MusiCounts, Canada's music education charity helping to keep music alive in schools across Canada. If you haven't heard yet our brand new home is on Queens Quay Blvd. E (175 Queens Quay Blvd E -‐ adjacent to Corus Quay), which offers fans of the festival more space for a larger audience and beautiful views of Toronto's waterfront. Check out our contest to help us name our new home and enter for a chance to win a season's pass. On rainy nights, our indoor space will be Studio 1, in the Corus Entertainment building, courtesy of Corus' 102.1 the Edge. We've got a lot more updates coming soon on all the other films, bands and food we'll be showcasing all summer long!
Publicity handled by GAT PR