The Weakerthans are an award-winning and Juno-nominated 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

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

. The band, led by John K. Samson, has released four studio albums and is currently inactive.

History

The band was formed in 1997 in

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

by John K. Samson, after he left the punk band

Propagandhi Propagandhi is a Canadian punk rock band formed in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba in 1986 by guitarist Chris Hannah and drummer Jord Samolesky. The band is currently located in Winnipeg, Manitoba and completed by bassist Todd Kowalski and guitari ...

to start a publishing company. Samson joined bassist John P. Sutton and drummer

Jason Tait Jason Tait is a Canadian musician from Winnipeg, Manitoba. He is the drummer for the Canadian indie rock band The Weakerthans. Tait has also been a contributing member of Broken Social Scene and The FemBots. Career Tait played drums for the Pa ...

of Red Fisher, another band from Winnipeg's punk scene, and created The Weakerthans as a vehicle for a more melodic and introspective brand of songwriting than their previous projects. The origin of the band's name was explained, in 2004 by Samson, as having come from "a few places." The first was a line from the 1992 film '' The Lover'': "Go ahead, I'm weaker than you can possibly imagine." A second (he gave only two) was a line from Ralph Chaplin's union anthem "

Solidarity Forever "Solidarity Forever", written by Ralph Chaplin in 1915, is a popular trade union anthem. It is sung to the tune of " John Brown's Body" and "The Battle Hymn of the Republic". Although it was written as a song for the Industrial Workers of the W ...

": "What force on earth is weaker than the feeble strength of one?" The band includes this line in the song "Pamphleteer" from the album ''

Left and Leaving ''Left and Leaving'' is the second studio album by The Weakerthans, released July 25, 2000, on G7 Welcoming Committee Records. In ''Chart'' magazine's 2005 poll of the Top 50 Canadian albums of all time, ''Left and Leaving'' ranked in sixth plac ...

''. The band's debut album, ''

Fallow Fallow is a farming technique in which arable land is left without sowing for one or more vegetative cycles. The goal of fallowing is to allow the land to recover and store organic matter while retaining moisture and disrupting pest life cycl ...

'', was released in 1997 on

G7 Welcoming Committee Records G7 Welcoming Committee Records was a Canadian independent record label based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The label mostly released material by artists and speakers with a radical left-wing point of view. History G7 Welcoming Committee Records was ...

, and garnered positive reviews from Canadian music critics. Guitarist Stephen Carroll, formerly of

Painted Thin Painted Thin was a Canadian hardcore punk band, formed in Winnipeg, and active from 1993 to 1999. The core of the band consisted of vocalist and guitarist Stephen Carroll and bassist and vocalist Paul Furgale, with a variety of guest musicians, i ...

, subsequently joined the band, and ''

'' was released in 2000. In 2003, the band moved to

Epitaph Records Epitaph Records is an American independent record label owned by Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, most acts signed to the label were punk and pop punk acts, while there are many post-hardcore and emo bands ...

and released '' Reconstruction Site''. The album was met with positive reviews from Canadian and international critics for its ambitious combination of punk, rock, folk, country and

sonnet A sonnet is a poetic form that originated in the poetry composed at the Court of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II in the Sicilian city of Palermo. The 13th-century poet and notary Giacomo da Lentini is credited with the sonnet's invention, ...

s. It also became the band's best-selling record to date, and in September appeared on the !earshot National Top 50 Chart as a result of significant airplay on Canadian radio. It was the second Weakerthans album to be produced by

Ian Blurton Ian Blurton (born 1965) is a Canadian musician and record producer. Early life He was born in Champaign, Illinois in 1965, and moved to Toronto in 1973. Musical career He has been a part of Toronto's indie music scene since the early 1980s. He ...

. Sutton, who played on the band's first three albums, left in August 2004 and was replaced by Greg Smith. In 2005, ''Left and Leaving'' was named one of the ten best Canadian albums of all time in ''

Chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tabu ...

'' magazine's reader poll. In the same poll, Samson wrote the capsule review for another top ten finisher,

The Lowest of the Low The Lowest of the Low is a Canadian alternative rock group formed in 1991 from Toronto, Ontario, Canada.Michael Barclay, Ian A.D. Jack and Jason Schneider, '' Have Not Been the Same: The Can-Rock Renaissance 1985-1995''. ECW Press. . They were o ...

's '' Shakespeare My Butt'', which he cited as a major influence on his own music. '' Reunion Tour'' was released on September 25, 2007 in North America by

Epitaph An epitaph (; ) is a short text honoring a deceased person. Strictly speaking, it refers to text that is inscribed on a tombstone or plaque, but it may also be used in a figurative sense. Some epitaphs are specified by the person themselves be ...

and ANTI-. The band released a video for "Civil Twilight", which consisted of a single, unbroken camera shot of the band on a

Winnipeg Transit Winnipeg Transit is the public transit agency, and the bus-service provider, of the City of Winnipeg, Manitoba. Established years ago, it is owned by the city government and currently employs nearly 1,600 people—including approximately 1,1 ...

city bus. Epitaph also re-released the Weakerthans' first two albums, ''Fallow'' and ''Left and Leaving'', in Canada on November 6, 2007. In February 2009, the band participated in

Barenaked Ladies Barenaked Ladies is a Canadian rock band formed in 1988 in Scarborough, Ontario. The band developed a following in Canada, with their self-titled 1991 cassette becoming the first independent release to be certified gold in Canada. They reach ...

' annual Ships and Dip cruise."The Weakerthans make plans for no plans"
.

Canwest News Service Postmedia Network Canada Corp. (also known as Postmedia Network, Postmedia News or Postmedia) is a Canadian media conglomerate consisting of the publishing properties of the former Canwest, with primary operations in newspaper publishing, news ...

, April 20, 2009. In a subsequent interview with

, Samson clarified that the band would be taking some downtime over the summer of 2009 before deciding when to start working on their next album. Shortly afterward, Samson announced a series of solo 7" releases about Manitoba roads, which he planned to release over the next 18 months. The first, '' City Route 85'', was released on October 30, 2009 through

and ANTI-. After a second EP, '' Provincial Road 222'', in 2010, the project instead evolved into Samson's first official solo album, '' Provincial''. In January 2010, the band announced that they would release a live album, '' Live at the Burton Cummings Theatre'', on March 23."The Weakerthans Set Release Date for New Live Album"
. ''

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features in-depth coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly Exclaim! print magazine publishes 7 ...

'', January 7, 2010. At the same time, they also announced that they were recording material with

Jim Bryson Jim Bryson is a Canadian singer-songwriter. Briefly a founding member of the band Punchbuggy, he moved to a musical life under his own name with the release of his debut album, ''The Occasionals'', in 2000. A member of singer-songwriter Kat ...

for his album ''

The Falcon Lake Incident ''The Falcon Lake Incident'' is the fourth studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Jim Bryson, released October 19, 2010, on Kelp Records and MapleMusic."Jim Bryson Recruits the Weakerthans for The Falcon Lake Incident"
. ''

'', September 23, 2010. In the same year, they were the subject of

Caelum Vatnsdal Caelum Vatnsdal (born 1970) is a Canadian writer and filmmaker.Randall King ''Winnipeg Free Press'', November 24, 2012. He is most noted for his books ''They Came From Within: A History of Canadian Horror Cinema'' (2004), a comprehensive study of C ...

's documentary film ''We're the Weakerthans, We're from Winnipeg''. In July 2015, media began to report that Tait had announced the band's breakup on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

. The band's social media accounts have been updated in accordance to the claims, defining themselves as "cryogenically frozen". Both Tait and Smith collaborated on Samson's 2016 solo album ''

Winter Wheat Winter wheat (usually ''Triticum aestivum'') are strains of wheat that are planted in the autumn to germinate and develop into young plants that remain in the vegetative phase during the winter and resume growth in early spring. Classification ...

'', which Samson described as feeling in some respects like a new Weakerthans album.

Chart performance

''Reunion Tour'' debuted at No. 22 on the

Nielsen SoundScan Luminate (formerly Nielsen SoundScan, Nielsen Music Products, and MRC Data) is a provider of music sales data. Established by Mike Fine and Mike Shalett in 1991, data is collected weekly and made available every Sunday (for albums sales) and eve ...

chart for Canada in its first week of release, and at No. 4 on the alternative/modern rock chart. The album reached No. 181 on the United States ''Billboard'' 200. The Weakerthans became the first band in the history of

CBC Radio 3 CBC Radio 3 is a Canadian digital radio station operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, which plays a relatively freeform mix of indie rock, indie pop, alternative hip hop, folk, country and electronic music. The service, which la ...

's ''

R3-30 CBC Radio 3 is a Canadian digital radio station operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, which plays a relatively freeform mix of indie rock, indie pop, alternative hip hop, folk, country and electronic music. The service, which lanu ...

'' charts to reach No. 1 with two different songs. The band's cover of

Rheostatics Rheostatics are a Canadian indie rock band. They were formed in 1978, and actively performed from 1980 until disbanding in 2007. After a number of reunion performances at special events, Rheostatics reformed in late 2016, introducing new songs a ...

' "Bad Time to Be Poor" reached No. 1 the week of June 21, 2007, and "Civil Twilight", the lead single from '' Reunion Tour'', hit the top spot the week of November 15, 2007. As of 2009, "Civil Twilight" remains tied with

Arcade Fire Arcade Fire is a Canadian indie rock band, consisting of husband and wife Win Butler and Régine Chassagne, alongside Richard Reed Parry, Tim Kingsbury and Jeremy Gara. The band's current touring line-up also includes former core member S ...

's "

Black Mirror ''Black Mirror'' is a British anthology television series created by Charlie Brooker. Individual episodes explore a diversity of genres, but most are set in near-future dystopias with science fiction technology—a type of speculative fictio ...

" as the longest-running No. 1 in that chart's history. "Civil Twilight" was also the No. 1 song in ''The R3-30s year-end Top 100 chart for 2007.

Members

Current members

* John K. Samson (lead vocals, guitar) *Jason Tait (drums, percussion,

vibraphone The vibraphone is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone is called a ''vibraphonist,'' ''vibraharpist,' ...

, keyboards) *Stephen Carroll (guitar,

pedal A pedal (from the Latin '' pes'' ''pedis'', "foot") is a lever designed to be operated by foot and may refer to: Computers and other equipment * Footmouse, a foot-operated computer mouse * In medical transcription, a pedal is used to control p ...

and

lap steel The lap steel guitar, also known as a Hawaiian guitar, is a type of steel guitar without pedals that is typically played with the instrument in a horizontal position across the performer's lap. Unlike the usual manner of playing a traditional a ...

, keyboards) *Greg Smith (bass)

Former members

*John P. Sutton (bass)

Live show help

(general support). Joined as of September 10, 2007. *

Christine Fellows Christine Fellows (born 1968) is a Canadian folk-pop singer-songwriter from Winnipeg, Manitoba. History Born in Windsor, Ontario and raised in France and Kelowna, British Columbia, Fellows lived in Toronto, Vancouver, Guelph and Montreal befor ...

(keyboards/background vocals) *Brian Poirier (

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

and backing vocals) *Tyler Greenleaf (trumpet and

trombone The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the Standing wave, air column ...

) *Rusty Matyas (general support) – performed with the band for the 2009 Rolling Tundra Revue MacKinnon and Poirier also have their own band,

FemBots FemBots are a Canadian indie rock band from Toronto formed in 1998. FemBots are known for their unique sound of combining instrumental everyday items, junk instruments, and traditional instruments in their music. Background The band's core membe ...

, and were previously associated with the bands Dig Circus and Hummer. Both Bryson and Fellows are solo artists in addition to touring with The Weakerthans; Fellows and Samson are married. Matyas is a member of the bands

The Waking Eyes The Waking Eyes is a Canadian rock band from Winnipeg and Steinbach, Manitoba. History The band formed after the break-up of two other Manitoba bands, The Pets from Steinbach and Novillero from Winnipeg. In 2002 The Waking Eyes released a full- ...

and

Imaginary Cities Imaginary Cities was a Canadian indie pop duo based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The project consisted of multi-instrumentalist Rusty Matyas, formerly of The Waking Eyes and a sometime collaborator of The Weakerthans, and vocalist Marti Sarbit.

Discography

;Studio albums * ''

'' (1997) * ''

'' (2000) * '' Reconstruction Site'' (2003) * '' Reunion Tour'' (2007)

Side projects

*Samson frequently collaborates with his wife,

. *Tait has recorded and performed with

Broken Social Scene Broken Social Scene is a Canadians, Canadian indie rock band, a musical collective including as few as six and as many as nineteen members, formed by Kevin Drew (vocals, guitar) and Brendan Canning (vocals, bass) in 1999. Alongside Drew and Cannin ...

and

Do Make Say Think Do Make Say Think is a Canadian instrumental band formed in Toronto, Ontario in 1995. Their music combines jazz-style drumming, distorted guitars and wind instruments, and prominent bass guitar. Biography The band formed in 1995 as a recording ...

. *Tait, Samson, and Fellows collaborated with poet and filmmaker Clive Holden on his multimedia project '' Trains of Winnipeg''. *Carroll appeared on

The Details The Details are an indie rock band based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, featuring vocalist and guitarist Jon Plett, bassist Keli Martin, guitarist Sean Vidal and drummer Shaun Gibson. Their current record label is Parliament of Trees. History ...

' ''Draw a Distance. Draw a Border.'' and ''The Original Mark EP''. He co-produced a couple of songs on ''The Original Mark EP'' as well as their upcoming full-length (2011). *In 2006, all of the Weakerthans except Samson performed on Bad Religion singer

Greg Graffin Gregory Walter Graffin (born November 6, 1964) is an American singer and evolutionary biologist. He is most recognized as the lead vocalist and only constant member of punk rock band Bad Religion, which he co-founded in 1980. He embarked on a s ...

's second solo album, ''

Cold as the Clay ''Cold as the Clay'' is the second solo album by Bad Religion's vocalist Greg Graffin. It was released on July 10, 2006 in Europe, and the following day in the United States.

''. They also toured with Graffin on a tour supporting the album. *In 2000, the ''

Winnipeg Free Press The ''Winnipeg Free Press'' (or WFP; founded as the ''Manitoba Free Press'') is a daily (excluding Sunday) broadsheet newspaper in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It provides coverage of local, provincial, national, and international news, as well as ...

'' released a spoken word album by Catherine Hunter that included a bonus track featuring the Weakerthans doing backing instrumentation while Hunter read her poem "Rush Hour".

Awards

Won

* Outstanding Independent Album – ''Reconstruction Site'' – Western Canadian Music Awards (2004) * Outstanding Songwriter – John K. Samson – Western Canadian Music Awards (2004) * Artist of the Year – The Weakerthans – Verge Awards (2008). *

SOCAN Songwriting Prize The SOCAN Songwriting Prize, formerly known as the ECHO Songwriting Prize, is an annual competition recognizing the best in Canadian emerging music, both anglophone and francophone. Established in 2006, the competition was designed to recognize so ...

– "Night Windows" (2008)

Nominations

* Best Alternative Album – ''Left and Leaving'' – Juno Awards (2001) *Video of the Year – "Psalms for the Elks' Lodge Last Call" – Western Canadian Music Awards (2004) * Alternative Album of the Year – ''Reconstruction Site'' – Juno Awards (2004) * Video of the Year – "The Reasons" – Juno Awards (2005) * 2008 Polaris Music Prize — ''Reunion Tour''

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Weakerthans, The Musical groups established in 1997 Musical groups disestablished in 2015 Canadian indie rock groups Canadian folk rock groups Canadian pop punk groups Musical groups from Winnipeg Canadian power pop groups Epitaph Records artists G7 Welcoming Committee Records artists 1997 establishments in Manitoba Sub City Records artists Anti- (record label) artists