House of Doc

House of Doc describe their musical union as ‘three siblings and two in-laws’...: Brothers David and Dan Wiebe, sister Rebecca Harder, Andrea Wiebe (wife of David) and Matthew Harder (husband of Rebecca) compose and perform as only a family does, with uncanny unity and cohesion. The three siblings, Rebecca, Dan & Dave have been singing together since early childhood where they first began to hone their craft on Sunday mornings in their Mennonite congregation. The lifetime of practice has paid dividends, giving audiences a large helping of real singing, free of the dehumanizing effects of computer processing, as it was meant to be. Andrea Wiebe took on mandolin, accordion and vocal duties a couple of years ago, shortly after looking way, way up and saying “I do” to her 6’ 9” husband, bassist David. At the other end of the height spectrum, at 5’ 6”, Matthew Harder has used his strength as a performer, composer and guitarist to help drive the group from the status of gifted amateurs to serious entertainment up and comers, and he hasn’t needed to stand on an apple box to do it.

Named after their family home, presided over by Grandfather David ‘Doc’ Schroeder, Ph. D., House of Doc family history in Canada dates back to the late 1800s and “Prairiegrass” features songs that chronicle that history. Infusing musical inspirations such as Gordon Lightfoot, Simon & Garfunkel & Spirit of the West with intricate harmonies, sophisticated counterpoint and a down-home delivery, the band has captured its story with a rich and sensitive attention to detail.

“…A lot of people quickly focus on the Bluegrass element…We certainly would never categorize ourselves as ‘Bluegrass’. That’d make the purists mad! And anyway that’s only one facet of our sound. We come from a pretty broad musical background.” says Matthew Harder. Multi-instrumentalist and talented arranger Daniel Wiebe explains, “We have a pretty large instrumental capability, flutes, whistles, harmonicas, bouzoukis, bassoons, piano, guitars, squeezeboxes, and we’re not afraid to use it. I’ve played bassoon with the Winnipeg Symphony; besides playing guitar Matthew’s also a concert pianist. As a group we’ve got a lifetime of singing Sacred music a cappella and in choirs …It’s just a great big smorgasbord of sounds and influences…A huge palette for a composer / arranger.”

The 11 song album was written in Winnipeg but recorded at Vancouver’s “Greenhouse Studios” under the direction of producer Vince R. Ditrich (Spirit of the West), who fortuitously met the group onstage during a workshop at the 2004 Winnipeg Folk Fest and struck up a conversation. “One minute we were chatting about Matthew’s lovely Gretsch guitar, the next minute they were singing backup vocals with us, and an hour later we decided we’d work together on an album project….”

Prairiegrass is a collection of Folksongs that are both timeless and current. Engineered by Brandon Cherrington, mixed by Richard Sera, and lovingly mastered by Greg Reely, the album is a rich blend of acoustic sounds with a strong vintage tonality, coloured by facile musicianship melded to thoughtful arrangements.

Artist Mgmt: Vince R. Ditrich – vince@vinsynch.com telephone: 250 729 6358
www.houseofdoc.com

For bookings contact:
Alex Grigg / Steve Butler
www.slfa.com