By: Bridget Sinden
Photo: Stephanie Montani
CCMA award winning Canadian act High Valley is known for blending contemporary country storytelling with a bluegrass sound, something that’s made them one of Canada’s top selling country bands of all time. We got the opportunity to talk with front man Brad Rempel about their upcoming tour and EP Paradise and Hurricanes, which’s title track released a few weeks ago.
“It started from a dinner,” Brad tells us when we asked what sparked the idea behind the song, Paradise and Hurricanes. “the waitress asked ‘what are you celebrating?’… which was 22 years of marriage, and the waitress being so sweet asked ‘what’s the secret?’ and I said fight a lot, just off the cuff. And then my wife said ‘making up is the best part.’ That’s kind of the thing…if you’re going to aim big, if you’re going to try and live in paradise you’re probably going to get rocked by quite a few hurricanes. If you’re going to chase a dream in the music industry you’re probably going to get your teeth kicked in a few times, if you’re going to fall in love you’re probably going to get your heart broken, and finally hopefully find someone you can be with for 22 years.”
Along with the highly anticipated EP, High Valley is going on the Paradise and Hurricanes tour across Canada starting in only a few weeks on March 4th. Something Brad says he can’t wait to reveal to fans, “I was just up in the attic finding merch and getting packed up, I’m excited for everything, meeting everybody, the reveal moment at the beginning of every show where you don’t know who’s there and see them for the first time. Probably the intro of every show and at the end, when people are just screaming along, those are my two favourite parts.”
We asked what was different this time around with Paradise and Hurricanes verses their other beloved projects and albums and what fans can expect from it, Brad had this to say: “I think in some ways it’s not that different, but it’s still that high Valley, you’ll have upbeat songs primarily, I think a lot of our albums are pretty fast and wide open just like our shows. This album is probably the most narrowed in, on our favourite sound, what I call the ‘stompgrass sound’” joking that “it probably has more stompgrass per capita than any of our other records before.”
In addition to that Brad says his inspiration behind this record came partially from his son, recalling to us, “Subconsciously it must be Tyler Childers, Zach Bryan and Noah Khan. My 14 year old son I drive to school every morning, and he plays the playlist, so I haven’t chosen my own music to be inspired by in quite a long time… But I’m always inspired by storytellers and anyone who leans a little more acoustic.”
High Valley is sure to deliver a memorable show on the Paradise and Hurricanes tour, you can stream their latest single Paradise and Hurricanes on all major streaming platforms. They’re bringing high energy and a whole lot of country ‘stompgrass’ fun this spring to a city near you! And In case you’re wondering, here on earth, Brad says paradise is Belize.
Stay wild, stay listening, stay country
