Winter might be stalking Hey Rosetta!.
Since the seven-piece band left their St. John's home, storms seem to have followed them to every show. It's made for delays, plenty of white-knuckle driving but at the end of the day some great shows as they make their way to Thunder Bay Friday.
"You get to the venue and everybody's really ready for it because they've been sitting through the winter too," bassist Josh Ward said on the phone in a little hotel somewhere in Michigan.
The band is somewhere in Michigan, moving toward Thunder Bay where they will play at Crock’s Friday, because their new tour bus broke down en route to a show in Madison, Wisc.
"Something just went terribly wrong," he said.
For the most part though, things have been going terribly right for the band, taking their latest release "Second Sight" on the road with Stars, not playing the Thunder Bay date. Their first full-length in nearly four years only took that long because of touring commitments for their last album "Seeds" and the chance to work with Marcus Paquin and explore.
"We had a lot of time to actually explore sound in the studio," he said.
"I think it's the product of just us being able to be in a room together and willing to experiment more and have access to fun toys."
It also helps to have vocalist Tim Baker, guitarist Adam Hogan, drummer Phil Maloney violinist Kinley Dowling, cellist Romesh Thavanathan and Mara Pellerin on french horn to fill out the sound. Most members also dabble in piano, back-up vocals and other instruments when needed.
Being in the room together is something Ward credits for how a song like "Soft Offering (For the Oft Suffering)" came together. A somewhat melancholy start eventually gives way to a steady groove, which all came together one day by chance.
"Everyone looks around at each other like 'this is it. This is what we need to do," he said.
While the band doesn't sound like it came from the East Coast in the traditional sense, Ward said they take the musical appreciation they were brought up with there. In Newfoundland, everyone is a musician. Some may play to a bar for five people, some may not perform at all.
"There's still this inherent value in the music itself," he said.
Hey Rosetta! plays Crock's Friday, Tickets are $25.
