Hey Rosetta! was a Canadian seven-piece

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

band from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, led by singer-songwriter Tim Baker. They released four studio albums, five EPs, and one live album. On October 13, 2017, the group announced via a Facebook post that they would be taking an indefinite hiatus, which persists as of .

History

The origin of the band's name is the

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, a

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inscribed in three languages:

Egyptian language The Egyptian language, or Ancient Egyptian (; ), is an extinct branch of the Afro-Asiatic languages that was spoken in ancient Egypt. It is known today from a large corpus of surviving texts, which were made accessible to the modern world ...

hieroglyphs,

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, and

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

—discovered in Egypt in 1799.

Formation and ''EP'' (2005)

In 2005, Tim Baker brought together a group of musicians to record songs he had written. This included Adam Hogan on electric guitar, Josh Ward on bass, and Dave Lane on drums. After a few rehearsals, the band added cello and violin players and arranged their first show, choosing the name Hey Rosetta! Within a matter of months, the band had recorded and self-released a demo, simply entitled ''EP'', consisting of four studio songs as well as three tracks from a live performance.

''Plan Your Escape'' album and EP (2006–07)

At the end of 2006, the band went into the studio with producer Don Ellis to begin work on their first full-length album, ''Plan Your Escape''. The record featured 13 songs, including new recordings of "The Simplest Thing" and "Epitaph", which had appeared on ''EP''. ''Plan Your Escape'' earned the band acclaim and recognition. At the 2006 Music NL Awards, Hey Rosetta! won Group of the Year, Pop/Rock Group of the Year, CBC Galaxie Rising Star of the Year, and Album of the Year. In 2007, Hey Rosetta! signed on with Canadian label Sonic Records, and ''Plan Your Escape'' was remastered and re-released as a seven-track EP. HrXmasShow2

''Into Your Lungs'' (2007–09)

At the end of 2007, Hey Rosetta!, which now included Phil Maloney on drums and Kinley Dowling on violin, began working with producer

Hawksley Workman Hawksley Workman (born Ryan Corrigan, March 4, 1975) is a Canadian rock singer-songwriter who has garnered critical acclaim for his blend of cabaret pop and glam rock. Workman has released eleven full-length albums throughout his career. A mul ...

on a new album; '' Into Your Lungs'' was released in June 2008. The next two years saw the band touring in support of the new record, and they added cellist Romesh Thavanathan to their permanent lineup. ''Into Your Lungs'' was shortlisted for the 2009 Polaris Music Prize.

''Seeds'', ''A Cup of Kindness Yet'' (2010–12)

For their third album, Hey Rosetta! enlisted the help of Scottish producer Tony Doogan. ''

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'' was released in February 2011. 8-Hey-Rosetta

In November 2012, the band published the Christmas EP ''A Cup of Kindness Yet''.

''Second Sight'' (2014)

Sessions for the band's fourth studio album, ''

Second Sight Extrasensory perception (ESP), also known as a sixth sense, or cryptaesthesia, is a claimed paranormal ability pertaining to reception of information not gained through the recognized physical senses, but sensed with the mind. The term was ado ...

'', began in 2013 and continued until May 2014. Several of the songs were recorded on Fogo Island, NL. The lead single, "Kintsukuroi", was released on August 4, 2014, and the album came out in Canada on October 21. A second single, "Soft Offering (For the Oft Suffering)", was issued on September 12, 2014, via Sonic Records' Soundcloud page. ''Second Sight'' won the 2015 Borealis Music Prize. In October 2015, the band collaborated with Yukon Blonde on the non-album single "Land You Love", a protest song about the 2015 federal election.

Hiatus (2017–present)

On October 13, 2017, Hey Rosetta! announced in a Facebook post that they would be going on an indefinite hiatus. They stated that some of the members felt they needed a break, and additionally, that all of them had decided to focus on their own projects outside of the band for the time being. They played their final show on December 22, 2017, at

Mile One Centre Mary Brown's Centre (formerly Mile One Centre) is an indoor arena and entertainment venue located in downtown St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The arena opened in May, 2001, replacing Memorial Stadium. At full capacity the arena c ...

, St. John's, including a cover of Ben E. King's " Stand by Me".

Band members

Final lineup * Tim Baker – vocals, piano, guitar * Adam Hogan – guitar * Phil Maloney – drums * Josh Ward – bass * Kinley Dowling – violin * Romesh Thavanathan – cello * Mara Pellerin – horns Past members * Tiffany Pollock – cello * Dave Lane – drums * Ariane Alexander – violin

Discography

Studio albums * ''Plan Your Escape'' (2006) * '' Into Your Lungs'' (2008) * ''

'' (2011) * ''

'' (2014) Live albums * ''Live from the Corona Theatre'' (2012) EPs * ''EP'' (2005) * ''Plan Your Escape'' (2007) * ''Red Songs'' (2010) * ''Sing Sing Sessions'' (2012) * ''A Cup of Kindness Yet'' (2012) Singles

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hey Rosetta! Musical groups established in 2005 Canadian indie rock groups Musical groups from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador Canadian pop rock music groups Dine Alone Records artists ATO Records artists