The Twisters were a

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

band from

North Vancouver North Vancouver may refer to: *North Vancouver (city), a city in British Columbia, Canada * North Vancouver (district municipality), a district municipality in British Columbia, Canada * North Vancouver (electoral district), a federal electoral di ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

. They are signed to Toronto's NorthernBlues Music.

History

The Twisters was formed by harmonica player David "Hurricane" Hoerl and drummer Sandy Smith (aka "Sandy Bone") in 1994, and included Pete Turland on bass and Greg "Junior" Demchuk on guitar, both as recommended by Smith. Smith had previously co-founded the

Back Alley John John Carl David WilsonNicole Wilson www.calgarybluesfest.com. Profile in relation to receipt of Calgary Blues Music Hall of Fame Lifetime Achievement Award, 2008. Nicole Wilson is identified as Back Alley John's niece. Retrieved 2014-08-18. (Febr ...

Revue in Ottawa, and later joined Back Alley John in Calgary, where the two continued to play and record. Smith had known Demchuk from Smith's time playing in Calgary, and persuaded Demchuk to move to Vancouver to join the band. Brandon Isaak joined the band on guitar in 1999, while James "JT" Taylor joined the band on bass in 2001. In 2003 The Twisters released an album ''Long Hard Road''. They were nominated for a 2003

Juno Award The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall of ...

, and winner of 'Best Blues Album of the Year' at the

Canadian Independent Music Awards The Canadian Independent Music Awards, also known as the Independent Music Awards or Indies, are national awards presented annually to musicians to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. They were first inaug ...

for this album. In 2004,

tendonitis Tendinopathy, a type of tendon disorder that results in pain, swelling, and impaired function. The pain is typically worse with movement. It most commonly occurs around the shoulder (rotator cuff tendinitis, biceps tendinitis), elbow (tennis elb ...

forced Smith had to leave the band; he was replaced by Matt Pease."The Twisters After the Storm"
''AllMusic'', Review by Scott Yanow In 2005, the band was in a car accident, in which Taylor was killed and Pease seriously injured.Uncredited
Vancouver bluesman killed
CBC News, October 31, 2005. Retrieved 2014-08-08. Chip Hart and Keith Picot later joined the band on drums and bass, respectively. The band released an album, ''After the Storm'', in 2006. Their album ''Come Out Swingin'' was nominated for 'Blues Album Of The Year' by The Western Canadian Music Awards in 2009, and was nominated for five Maple Blues Awards the same year. These included Best Recording of the year, Song Writer Of The Year, Electric Act Of The Year, Bass Player Of The Year and Harmonica Player Of The Year. ''Come Out Swingin'', which was composed mainly of original tunes, was praised by the Barrelhouse Blues enews in Boston for its arrangements, vocal harmonies and instrumental performances. and included as special guest former band member and Juno Award winner

Kenny "Blues Boss" Wayne Kenny "Blues Boss" Wayne (born Kenneth Wayne Spruell, November 13, 1944) is an American blues, boogie-woogie and jazz pianist, singer and songwriter. Music journalist, Jeff Johnson, writing in the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' stated, "There's no boogi ...

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

. In 2011, the band played the Ottawa Bluesfest. In mid-2014, shortly before the release of his first solo album, ''Un-Twisted'', David Hoerl suffered a stroke. As of February 2020, he has not returned to music. The remaining members have all moved on to other bands.

Discography

*''Fulla Hot Air'', 1999, Full Swing Records *''Long Hard Road'', 2002, Full Swing Records *''Live at Harvest Fest'', 2003, Festival Distribution *''After The Storm'', 2006, Northern Blues *''Come Out Swingin': The Masters of Hot Jump'', 2009, Northern Blues

References

External links

The Twisters official websiteNorthernBlues official websiteProfile of David Hoerl
{{DEFAULTSORT:Twisters Musical groups established in 1994 Musical groups from Vancouver Canadian blues musical groups 1994 establishments in British Columbia Northern Blues Music artists