The Strumbellas are a rock band from

Lindsay, Ontario Lindsay is a community of 22 367 people ( 2021 census) on the Scugog River in the Kawartha Lakes region of south-eastern Ontario, Canada. It is approximately west of Peterborough. It is the seat of the City of Kawartha Lakes (formerly Victori ...

, whose music has been described as

alternative country Alternative country, or alternative country rock (sometimes alt-country, insurgent country, Americana, or y'allternative), is a loosely defined subgenre of country music and/or country rock that includes acts that differ significantly in style ...

indie rock Indie rock is a 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 music they produ ...

, farm emo, and gothic folk."The Strumbellas - My Father And The Hunter"
''

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 ...

'', February 26, 2012.

History

Formed in 2008 in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

, Ontario, the band consists of songwriter Simon Ward on vocals and guitar, David Ritter on vocals and keys, Jon Hembrey on lead guitar, Isabel Ritchie on violin, Darryl James on bass guitar, and Jeremy Drury on drums. Hembrey, James, Drury and Ward are all originally from Lindsay, Ontario, while Ritter and Ritchie joined after Ward posted a call for additional musicians to

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. The band's self-titled EP was released in 2009, garnering numerous positive reviews"The Strumbellas review in Now Magazine"
August 19, 2010. and coverage in many different media outlets; stating them as a band to watch. Their

Southern Souls Southern Souls is a Canadian music website which features high-definition video recordings of musicians (predominantly but not exclusively Canadian) performing live in non-traditional venues."Southern Souls"
May 26, 2010. and awarded them an ongoing Monday night residency at Toronto's legendary Cameron House. In 2010 the band was invited to play landmark venues including Yonge-Dundas Square, the Horseshoe Tavern and the

Peterborough Folk Festival The Peterborough Folk Festival is a three-day music, arts, and community festival in Peterborough, Ontario. The festival is a non-profit organization which receives funding from the Lloyd Carr-Harris Foundation, The Department of Canadian Herita ...

. Their full-length debut album, '' My Father and the Hunter'', was released independently in 2012, and recorded at

Metalworks Studios Metalworks Studios is a music recording studio in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. It was established in 1978 by Gil Moore of the Canadian rock group, Triumph. Over a span of 40 years, Metalworks has been the recipient of Canadian Music Week's ...

Mississauga, Ontario Mississauga ( ), historically known as Toronto Township, is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is situated on the shores of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, adjoining the western border of Toronto. With a popu ...

. It was nominated for a 2013 Juno Award in the

Juno Award for Roots & Traditional Album of the Year – Group The Juno Award for Roots & Traditional Album of the Year – Group was presented annually at Canada's Juno Awards to honour the best album of the year in the roots and/or traditional music Folk music is a music genre that includes tradition ...

category. The band later signed with Six Shooter Records, releasing their second album, '' We Still Move on Dance Floors'', in 2013. The album was produced by

Ryan Hadlock Ryan Hadlock is an American record producer, best known for his production work on platinum-selling album '' The Lumineers'' by The Lumineers. Career Hadlock has been around music his entire life, as his parents Joe and Manny Hadlock, started ...

. ''We Still Move on Dance Floors'' won a 2014 Juno Award in the

category. After winning the Juno award, frontman Simon Ward expressed his distress after realizing that the live feed of the band's acceptance speech was cut off due to technical difficulties. The Strumbellas Summerfest 2019

The band's third studio album, ''

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'', was released on April 22, 2016. The first single from that album, Spirits, topped the Billboard Alternative Songs chart the last two weeks of May 2016 and also enjoyed significant mainstream radio play in Canada and a number of European countries. On April 21, 2016, the band were featured performers on

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, closing out the episode with a live performance of Spirits. They also performed at the

NHL Heritage Classic The NHL Heritage Classic (french: La Classique Héritage de la LNH) is one of the series of regular season outdoor games played in the National Hockey League (NHL). Unlike the NHL's other two series of outdoor games, the NHL Winter Classic and t ...

in Winnipeg during the first intermission on October 23, 2016. The band began an international tour in the summer of 2016, continuing throughout 2017 in Australia, Europe, and North America including festivals such as

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and Governor's Ball. The band's song "Spirits" won the 2017

Juno Award for Single of the Year The Juno Award for Single of the Year has been awarded since 1974 for the best single in Canada. It has also been known as Best Single and Best Selling Single. The award goes to the artist. Best Single (1974) Best Selling Single (1975 - 1979 ...

. The band's fourth studio album, ''

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'', was released on March 29, 2019. On April 3, 2019, the band performed the album's first single, Salvation, on

Late Night with Seth Meyers ''Late Night with Seth Meyers'' is an American late-night news and political satire talk show hosted by Seth Meyers on NBC. The show premiered on February 24, 2014, and is produced by Broadway Video and Universal Television. Airing weeknigh ...

. In September 2019, the

Liberal Party of Canada The Liberal Party of Canada (french: Parti libéral du Canada, region=CA) is a federal political party in Canada. The party espouses the principles of liberalism,McCall, Christina; Stephen Clarkson"Liberal Party". ''The Canadian Encyclopedia' ...

adopted the band's song "One Hand Up", which originally appeared on Rattlesnake, as their campaign anthem for Prime Minister

Justin Trudeau Justin Pierre James Trudeau ( , ; born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who is the 23rd and current prime minister of Canada. He has served as the prime minister of Canada since 2015 and as the leader of the Liberal Party since ...

's campaign. The deal included the band producing another version of the song in French. The French version was believed by some to have been

Google Translate Google Translate is a multilingual neural machine translation service developed by Google to translate text, documents and websites from one language into another. It offers a website interface, a mobile app for Android and iOS, and an API ...

d from English to French, and while the band did not confirm or deny the report, they did record a new version of the song. In March 2022, the band announced on Instagram that Ward had transitioned into a behind-the-scenes role in order to focus on his family and songwriting. Jimmy Chauveau replaced Ward as the band's vocalist.
''Instagram'', 2022-03-08. Retrieved 2022-06-03.

Discography

Albums

EPs

*''The Strumbellas'' (2009)

Singles

As lead artist

Promotional singles

Notes

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Strumbellas, The Musical groups established in 2008 Canadian indie rock groups Canadian alternative country groups Musical groups from Ontario Kawartha Lakes Musical collectives Six Shooter Records artists 2008 establishments in Ontario Juno Award for Single of the Year winners Juno Award for Roots & Traditional Album of the Year – Group winners Canadian Folk Music Award winners Glassnote Records artists