Slowcoaster is a Canadian

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

band from

Sydney, Nova Scotia Sydney is a former city and urban community on the east coast of Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, Canada within the Cape Breton Regional Municipality. Sydney was founded in 1785 by the British, was incorporated as a city in 1904, and dissolv ...

. The band's sound is

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

-based, with strong influences of

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

ska Ska (; ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a walki ...

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

History

Slowcoaster was formed in November 1999 by guitarist Steven MacDougall, drummer Devon Strang, and bassist Mike LeLievre. To promote themselves, they founded their own management company, House of Rock, which has since become influential in promoting a number of acts from

Cape Breton Island Cape Breton Island (french: link=no, île du Cap-Breton, formerly '; gd, Ceap Breatainn or '; mic, Unamaꞌki) is an island on the Atlantic coast of North America and part of the province of Nova Scotia, Canada. The island accounts for 18. ...

. The band performed locally and toured the

Maritimes The Maritimes, also called the Maritime provinces, is a region of Eastern Canada consisting of three provinces: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. The Maritimes had a population of 1,899,324 in 2021, which makes up 5.1% of Ca ...

, releasing two EPs, ''Jody's Garden'' and ''Volume II''. Slowcoaster added percussionist Darren Gallop to the lineup in 2002 and released ''Leaves'', with ''Accidents & Excuses'' following in 2003. The band began touring nationally and their debut album, ''Where Are They Going?'' was released in 2004.Sandy MacDonald, "Slowcoaster on the fast track". ''

Halifax Daily News ''The Daily News'' was a tabloid newspaper in Halifax, Nova Scotia, that was published from 1974 until ceasing operations in February 2008. History ''The Daily News'' owed its existence to David Bentley, who, along with his wife Diana and Patric ...

'', December 23, 2004. Steven MacDougall's song "Spanish Bay" placed second in the 16th Annual National Songwriting Competition the same year. A video for the single "Patio" was released and saw national play on

MuchMusic Much (an abbreviation for its full name MuchMusic) is a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults. MuchMusic launched on August 31 ...

. Drummer Devon Strang left the band around this time, with longtime collaborator Brian Talbot replacing him. Slowcoaster came to the forefront of the Maritime live music scene in 2005 and 2006, touring frequently and headlining at

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

Evolve Festival Evolve Festival is an annual multi-genre music and cultural festival in New Brunswick. The festival is dedicated to the promotion of sustainable living and environmental awareness. It uses renewable energy sources (aided by Diesel generator, dies ...

and

Stan Rogers Folk Festival The Stan Rogers Folk Festival, informally known as Stanfest, is an annual music festival held in Canso, Nova Scotia. Established in 1997 in honour of the late Canadian folk singer and songwriter Stan Rogers, the festival bills itself as "Canada ...

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

's Sunseekers ball music festival, the Canada Day Countdown and

Harvest Jazz & Blues Festival The Harvest Jazz & Blues Festival is an annual music festival held each September in downtown Fredericton, New Brunswick, that features blues, jazz and world music. The first festival in 1991 was held over four days in various existing venues ...

, and

Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island (PEI; ) is one of the thirteen Provinces and territories of Canada, provinces and territories of Canada. It is the smallest province in terms of land area and population, but the most densely populated. The island has seve ...

's Shoreline Festival. They won Music Nova Scotia's Alternative Group of the Year award in 2005, and an ECMA award for Alternative Recording of the Year in 2006. In 2007 the band released ''Future Radio''. A video for the single "Leave" was released in early 2008. They followed up in 2010 with the album '' The Darkest of Discos'', again winning the ECMA for Alternative Recording of the Year in 2011. Their last full-length album, ''The Girls Downtown'', was released in 2013. They have since released a few further singles independently on their

Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online audio distribution platform founded in 2007 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with headquarters in Oakland, California, US. On March 2, 2022, Bandcamp ...

page, most recently "Haunt You" in 2020.Alex Cook
"SINGLE: SLOWCOASTER RELEASE ‘HAUNT YOU’, HINT AT PLENTY OF NEW MATERIAL"
''The East'', April 1, 2020.

Discography

Albums

*''Where Are They Going?'' – 2004 *''Future Radio'' – 2007 *'' The Darkest of Discos'' – 2010 *''The Girls Downtown'' – 2013 *''Apples & Oranges'' – 2023

EPs

*''Jody's Garden'' – 2000 *''Volume II'' – 2001 *''Leaves'' – 2002 *''Accidents & Excuses'' – 2003

References

External links

Slowcoaster
{{Authority control Canadian alternative rock groups Canadian indie rock groups Musical groups from Nova Scotia Musical groups established in 1999 1999 establishments in Nova Scotia