Biography

JUBILEE RIOTS - FORMERLY ENTER THE HAGGIS

“That’s what folk music is: music of the people. Whether we’re writing rock songs or whether we’re writing country songs, part of what keeps them in the vein of folk music is that it’s music about people.”

- Brian Buchanan
 
Northern Roots Rock band Jubilee Riots has always endeavoured to write songs that people can connect to personally, and their latest outing, Penny Black, takes that dedication a step further: inspired by years of touring, meeting people, and sharing stories over late night drinks at the bar, Jubilee Riots decided to write an album dedicated to the fans: their joys and sorrows; the defining moments in their lives. The band called for people around the world to submit their stories as inspiration for the upcoming album; nearly five hundred pages of letters came in from all four corners – from the band’s native Canada to locales as far-flung as Japan and Australia – each bearing the weight of one person’s story.

“There were a lot of common themes,” vocalist and songwriter Trevor Lewington shares. “You start to see that not only does everyone have their own stories but there are some common themes that run through all of our lives, and sometimes those similarities can actually connect people who wouldn’t have guessed they had anything in common.”

In May of 2014, the band headed to a rustic studio in Portland, Maine, to record with producer Jonathan Wyman. After a month, the band had a set of ten new songs. Some drew specifically from submitted stories: “Astray” was based on a letter about a Russian Jew who escaped a death march and thought his family had been killed, only to find out fifty years later they had survived and lived full lives. Others drew on the common threads winding through the letters: meeting a significant other (“Cut the Lights”); challenging relationships (“Unsteady,” “Trying Times”); and the potential risk and reward of making bold life choices (“Two Bare Hands,” “Traveler”). Throughout the album is a live wire of energy, a pulse so strong it’s impossible to just sit still and listen to it. It’s the juxtaposition of upbeat party grooves with meaningful, human-hearted lyrics that make Penny Black so unique.

Under their former name, Enter The Haggis, the band released seven studio albums and toured internationally, landing high profile gigs on “Live with Regis and Kelly” and A&E’s “Breakfast with the Arts,” as well as being the feature of a concert/documentary on PBS. With a new album and new name, the band hopes to build on this legacy, and with the release of Penny Black they’ve got an extensive tour lined up through Canada, the US, and Europe.