The Turncoats

The Turncoats – Teeth Like A Chainsaw
These Lethbridge locals are always performing, and for good reason: the Turncoats are an excellent band. Playing in an alt-country style with a bit of rockabilly, the four fellows in the Turncoats write great stories that are backed up by solid musicianship. The album really begins to open up at “Sentry called on a Disto,” a quiet number that features steel guitar, soft yet driving percussion, and hushed, whispered lyrics.
That’s not to say that The Turncoats’ faster tracks aren’t worthwhile: one of the standouts of the record is “The Green Teeth of Jealousy,” a rockabilly number with classically dark lyrics. One of the best aspects of alt country is the combination of upbeat music with distressing vocals, and the Turncoats have this skill mastered. Their next show is at the beginning of April, so keep your eyes open for posters.

(Source: http://www.themeliorist.com/?q=node/1482 )
- The Meliorist

The Turncoats discover country ain't so bad after all
Meld of rock, jazz, blues and heavy metal forms alt country sound that's garnering attention
Diana Rinne/Encore!

Andrew Scott's dad, Bill, told him if he wanted to make it in the music business he should go into country music.

"I was like, what are you talking about?'' laughed Scott, who this spring earned the best performance award with his Lethbridge-based band The Turncoats, at the Calgary Folk Festival Songwriting competition.

Turns out, maybe dad was right, said the former Grande Prairian.

"Country music just has this vibe, but it's so misunderstood," he explained. " I mean you take the first album by the Barenaked Ladies, Johnny Cash, someone like Corb Lund, then Travis Tritt and Shania Twain - how do these people all, so different, exist in the same genre? There is something so wide about it."

Scott, 26, hesitated to say The Turncoats' sound is pure country, preferring more the alt country or rockabilly label. "At its heart, to me, it's kind of folky country music, but then Arlen is a flat out rocker guitar player. He's coming in from like Megadeath cover bands. And then all of us have a pretty solid jazz backing."

It was the University of Lethbridge Jazz Ensemble that actually spawned The Turncoats a few years ago.

"We were in the rhythm section we just kind of clicked and started doing this thing," said Scott. "It just really took off locally pretty quick. It was exciting because we've really only been playing together for about two years."

The Turncoats are Scott who sings and plays guitar, Kyle Harmon on percussion, Arlen Wutch on guitar and Paul Holden on bass.

"We didn't want to be a country band, but it just happened to be the label that stuck out," said Scott. "When people first started saying that, I was like 'what the hell are you talking about?' But it really is.

"What we found was when we took the things that we liked about metal, punk rock, blues, and the things that we liked about basic rock and roll, then put all those things together and try to inject a bit of a sense of humour, you end up with what people refer to as country music."

The band recorded its second CD, Teeth Like A Chainsaw, with James Oldenburg at Moberly Sound Studios right here in Grande Prairie.

"We just went in there and put down our live show. We tried to have a little bit of everybody's personality. There's a little bit of the Chicago-esque funk in there, then the Willy Nelson country, the flamenco and the classical guitar," said Scott of the album.

For Scott, who grew up in Grande Prairie and is just about to graduate with his Bachelor of Music and Bachelor of Education from the University of Lethbridge, music has continued to evolve as he has matured.

"You grow up playing in metal bands and you always want to have that aggressive edge, but as you get older your idea of intensity and aggression totally changes," he explained. "It's less about the sound and more about the why, and what's appropriate to the song."

Songwriting has proven to be one of the young artist's strong points as he has matured.

"There's just so many things to sing and write about," he said. "And not to just represent lyrically, but to represent musically. There is such a wide spectrum of subjects."

The band has a busy summer planned with a number of gigs on the road, including a trip through this week to Vancouver. Though The Turncoats won't be through the Swan City this summer, Scott said plans are in the works for a fall gig in Grande Prairie.

As the gigs The Turncoats are landing get bigger, Scott is optimistic the audiences will continue to buy into what the band is selling.

"If you go out there and really commit and believe in what you are doing, you will win audiences. Even if you're doing some weird French polka thing, if you go out and give it your best, there will be a positive response every single time," he laughed.

"A big part of the job of being a musician is being an entertainer. You can't always be this reflective artist; sometimes you've gotta pull out the goofy stuff and just kind of get people laughing."

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- Encore - The Daily Herald Tribune