At this show, Skydiggers are royalty, so anything new is exciting, even if it is something old… Sure, we’ve already got the 2000 set, but the other two discs in this package are pretty enticing, and the promise of “National Tour Dates,” usually means that we’ll get a visit. We’ll let you know when we hear more, but for now, here are the details of some interesting upcoming releases:
Skydiggers To Celebrate 25th Anniversary in 2013 With Four Sets Of Seasonal Releases, National Tour Dates And A Series Of Special Events.
All of our Dreaming: Skydiggers Live, 1988, 2000 and 2012 set to come out on March 5.
Skydiggers – Circa 1989 (left to right): Peter Cash, Ron Macey, Andy Maize, Wayne Stokes, Josh Finlayson
Photographer: Ian Sutherland
Triple disc package to consist of two live albums and a live DVD captured a dozen years apart and spanning a career of performances that has had as many musical memories as miles.
1. Spadina Hotel (1988)
2. There & Back (2000) Reissue
3. Skydiggers Live at The Glenn Gould Theatre DVD – October 13, 2012
Listen to “Wreck of the Old 97” from Spadina Hotel
Chemistry, passion, energy and evolution are a few words that come to mind when Andy Maize and Josh Finlayson talk about twenty-five years together in Skydiggers. When the band released their eighth studio album, Northern Shore, in April of last year, it stood out as the band’s most adventurous and varied collection of songs yet. When they dug into the vaults to expand Northern Shore into a deluxe edition, another three discs of outtakes, alternate versions, and unreleased songs emerged.
To celebrate their silver anniversary, a series of four separate releases will be delivered each season in 2013. It kicks off with All of our Dreaming: Skydiggers Live, 1988, 2000 & 2012 which consists of three separate discs of the band captured live, twelve years apart, beginning with 1998’s Spadina Hotel, followed by 2000’s There & Back and rounded out with a DVD of 2012’s stunning performance, Skydiggers Live at The Glenn Gould Theatre.
“It all started in the beverage room of the Spadina Hotel. That is essentially when the band came together.” says Josh. “Andy and I performed there as a duo as part of Andrew Cash’s Monday night series called Acoustic Meltdown. When Andrew released his debut album and could no longer host the night, we took it over. We put an ad in Now Magazine answered by Ron Macey, and together with Wayne Stokes and Andrew’s brother Peter Cash, who was quietly writing some amazing songs, Skydiggers were born.”
“We cut our teeth there” adds Andy. “It forced us to come up with new songs every week and it prepared us for what was to come. What you hear on Spadina Hotel is a young band finding its voice and recorded from the audience with a single microphone. We have always been conscious of documenting where we were at as a band, which is why we still have so much unheard material. So a dozen years after those Monday nights at The Spadina Hotel, and after many miles on the band odometer, we revisited the idea of a live album. We recorded a number of sets at The Sidetrack Café in Edmonton for There & Back, but it wasn’t until we recorded our annual Christmas concerts at The Horseshoe Tavern that we felt we captured the energy that had kept us going for so long.”
For a band that has spent a quarter of a century together on the road and in the studio, Skydiggers are not only riding all of those years of momentum but continuing to evolve as well. According to Andy Maize and Josh Finlayson one of the keys is chemistry.
“You can spend your life searching for chemistry” Andy muses. “For any relationship to remain vital and continue to grow you need chemistry. We were lucky to have found that early on with each other. We were also fortunate to play four very big shows before our first record even came out” remembers Andy. “We opened for 54-40, The Tragically Hip, Cowboy Junkies and Blue Rodeo early on and I think we learned a thing or two about chemistry from those experiences. After all, those four bands are also still together.”
Josh agrees and also points out that in order to stay creative and pertinent you need to constantly challenge yourself. “Change and evolution are imperative. To bring a visible energy to the stage every night, you need to remain passionate by pushing yourself as songwriters and performers. You need to be constantly evolving yet trying to remain timeless at the same time. That is what is so exciting about the DVD of the Glenn Gould show last fall. It all came together.”
Indeed. The October 13 performance at Glenn Gould Theatre is the sound of an iconic band looking back and looking forward at the same time and a pinnacle so far to an illustrious career that in many ways feels like it is just getting started. Skydiggers are continuing to map new musical territory and as they plan for their series of 2013 releases the band will be announcing some projects they have been thinking about for years.
“Now is the time” states Andy. “We have a number of projects brewing that we have talked about putting out for years and now we are going to bring some of those ideas to fruition. We want to harness this creative momentum and renewed energy that has been pushing us forward. We can’t ignore it. We need to jump on board. Now is the time.”
Watch for national tour dates to be announced soon as well as more music and information on Skydiggers’ 25th Anniversary releases and events.
Watch “You Sparkle Silver”
Watch Skydiggers CBC Drive session on CBC Music:
More Info: www.skydiggers.com