From Centre Stage to Centre Ice, MacEwan Alumni Score with Hockey Anthem
For Edmonton rockers Tupelo Honey, the pace just doesn’t let up for a moment. After a busy year of touring their monstrous 16-song album Caught Up In The Excess, the former MacEwan students went right back into the studio to record their entry for the Edmonton Journal’s “Puck Rock” feature: a contest for local songwriters to pitch Edmonton’s unofficial hockey song. Entitled Can’t Stop, the fist-pumping anthem resonated with listeners, winning the band a clear majority of votes on the newspaper’s online poll.
From start to finish, the song took the group roughly a month to complete. Incubating raw ideas in the rehearsal studio quickly led to tracking drums, guitars, then vocals, all with producer Jeff Dalziel overseeing the process via skype from his studio in Toronto.Having worked together for years, the band was comfortable capitalizing on communication technology to expedite the recording process.
However, the final product sounds nothing like a rush job. Can’t Stop is a massive rock track that successfully blends technical musicianship with just enough testosterone to make one want to lace up the skates. On November 28th 2011, the Edmonton Oilers welcomed the group to Rexall Place by playing a music video of various team highlights as Can’t Stop blasted through the arena speakers.
For these MacEwan alumni, it seems there is little time to savour the moment. With their album currently nominated for six Edmonton Music Awards, the group is staying focused as they prepare for showcases during Canadian Music Week this March. With plans to begin work on a new album shortly after returning, it seems clear that the hustle and bustle of the music business suits Tupelo Honey just fine.
