Autumn of Awesome
Our Autumn of Awesome continues through this festive (Canadian Thanksgiving) and spooky (Halloween) month of October. I keep trying to think of a cool Halloween costume to wear this year. For some reason I just can’t shake the idea that I am destined to go as a Smurf, even though I really don’t want to cover myself in blue makeup, and those recent Smurf movies were utterly horrible. I would go as a Juggalo, but really, that is more of a lifestyle than a costume, amiright?!
There are a few times in the life of a little label like ours when we think, what the heck are we thinking? This is a crazy amount of work! Wouldn’t it have been easier to jump on the food truck craze? Or the pulled pork craze? Or the flash mob craze? Or the moustache craze? Or the artisan bread craze? Or the charcuterie craze? Or the pop up shop craze (wait, we did that.)? Or the internet meme aggregator craze? Or the caipirinha vs mojito battle royale craze? But then again, after a handful of minutes wasted identifying crazy crazes, we always realize that this Six Shooter ride continues to be effin’ awesome, and we revel in being entirely craze proof! Fresh off the smashing success of our first ever Interstellar Rodeo, we embarked on the release of four of the very best albums we have ever released (which is saying a lot, ‘cause everything we release is a-mazing). And while we haven’t had a moment to breathe and our offices are a disastrous mess, we forge ahead knowing that this is a defining year for Six Shooter. In the last five weeks, we have launched these amazing records by these amazing artists:
Amazing record #1: “The Fate of the World Depends on this Kiss” by Whitehorse, the husband and wife team of Luke Doucet and Melissa McClelland. It’s true what they say that Whitehorse is greater than the sum of its already great parts, with a Massey Hall date booked just 18 months after we launched this project last year with their self-titled EP. The new album is going to blow your miiiinds, maaaan! I really feel like Whitehorse are evolving and hitting their stride with this one, filled with genre smashing and beautiful songwriting. In fact, I would say that the fate of the world is in pretty good hands, given the smooch power of this duo (and since the fate of the world is now fully taken care of, I suppose you can go ahead and have that fossil fuel bonfire you were planning on for Thanksgiving).
Amazing record #2: “Black Birds are Dancing over Me” by Danny Michel. As the Autumn Of Awesome rolls into town, and that crisp cool tinge enters the air, I’ve pulled out the ol’ magic gloves for yet another season. Magic gloves truly are magic. No matter how chubby my digits get from slamming entire Thanksgiving Tofurkeys, these miracles of synthetic fiber warmth always seem to be a perfect fit. This leads me into a convoluted metaphor whereby I insinuate that as Danny’s catalogue of fantastic music has grown, Six Shooter has become the perfect fit for his new material… yes, we are the magic gloves of record labels. On this latest outing, Danny has figured out how to blend his obsession with Belize (where no magic gloves are needed, unless you are hauling in ice for the caipirinha vs. mojito battle royale) with his proficiency in writing excellent songs with this career record, made with members of the Garafuna Collective and famed producer Ivan Duran. The result is magic. Like gloves. I have to admit though, when black birds are dancing over ME, I get scared as hell.
Amazing record #3: “The Beautiful Wild” by Jenn Grant. This new joint by Jenn Grant is, well, both beautiful and wild! It feels like all of our artists are riding a particularly creative high these days, and I luvs it! Jenn took some different approaches when writing this album, taking an inspired step away from her previous techniques, and letting her voice be the guide to wonderfully layered instrumental exploration. The result is a truly deep and textured album that explores how life is defined by one’s ability to love, and how, as life throws changes and curveballs at us, the mess of experiences we leave behind become the tangled and beautiful wild (hey, that would be a good name for an album… oh wait).
Amazing record #4: “Spectators” by Amelia Curran. A couple days ago my father-in-law was showing me videos of music he digs on the ol’ YouTube, and he was all “omgz, have you heard Amelia Curran?!”, and I got to brag that I totally met her once (mind blown, bonus points scored). True story. Early reviews of Amelia’s simply superb stuff, her finest yet, have been aptly touting this as “simply superb stuff” (Exclaim) and “Curran’s finest yet” (New Canadian Music). We think that pretty much nails it. Canada’s new poet laureate (that’s Amelia!) has surpassed the already high bar she set with her Juno Award winning album “Hunter, Hunter.” Amelia’s new album also features an unofficial “Where’s Waldo” game on the front cover, where the goal (that I set) is to find the cool guy in shades. It’s pretty easy, I found him right away.
To celebrate the Autumn of Awesome, we prepared a lovely butternut squash soup, then we asked our friend and artist Tyler Clark Burke to create an awesome poster for the fall, which you can check out in person when you support your local indie record shop to pick up physical copies of these fine new albums (no really, get out and do that! It’s way more fun than downloading, we promise!). They are also available through mail-order via the Six Shooter webstore, in a bundle of 4 CDs for $40, easy peasy. Oh yeah, and to ramp up the super fun autumnal frolicking, we have a bunch of great contests running via our facebook page, twitter feed, and instagram account. We have become hashtagging experts! Download a hard copy of the internet and like/follow us til yr fingers bleeeed!