The Burgess Shale

"If Rush and Weezer had a baby, it would be The Burgess Shale." -Kevin Barber, Boxo Studios, Hamilton, On.

The Burgess Shale consists of John Climenhage, Wyatt Burton and Gerry Gregg; three veteran musicians of a broad range of styles in the music world of southern Ontario. As a result of their history of writing and performing in a variety of styles as band members and side-men over the years, the music they create together borrows effortlessly from different genres and comes together to create a sound which is unique to them and indeed unique to each performance. Their songs range from instantly infectious pop/rock gems that hook the listener immediately to more extended experimental explorations which draw the listener into vitally honest performances. The band released their eponymous, independently produced debut album just 8 months after coming together and the response has been extremely positive, such as this review from Wire Magazine:

“Wyatt Burton, John Climenhage and Gerry Gregg make up the Burgess Shale and this release made it onto one of my MacBook PARTY playlists immediately. There should be a special rock award given out to anyone who comes up with a title like “Fighting Depression with Depressants”. The basic guitar, bass, drums and vocals combo serves up great, and I mean GREAT, pop songs delivered with an off-the-cuff cool that won me over from the start…Find THIS CD! BUY IT!”
-The WIRE/Reviews, February 2013

At the beginning of March, 2013, the band will be going into the studio again to record the music for a multi-media piece they have written based on the time that iconic Canadian artist Tom Thomson spent missing in Canoe Lake before being found dead. This piece, entitled Eight Days Lost, combines original music created by the band set to a visual back drop which also features a visual journey created by band members including paintings created specifically for this piece by the drummer John Climenhage who is also an established and highly respected painter in the Canadian art scene. This piece is performed live with the band in front of screen and also, after recording, will be incorporated into a DVD of the work. This piece was funded by the Peterborough Arts Week in 2012 and when performed was received with rave reviews.
The Burgess Shale, despite being less than a year old, have established themselves as a highly creative and prolific band. They expect to have their second album recorded and ready for release by the end of summer 2013.