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Biography
Use mdy dates|date=August 2010Infobox musical artist| name = The Weakerthans| image = The Weakerthans in Winnipeg.jpg| caption = The Weakerthans performing in Winnipeg, 2007| image_size = 250| landscape = yes| background = group_or_band| origin = Winnipeg , Manitoba , Canada | genre = Indie rock , folk punk , folk rock , post-punk | years_active = Start date|1997& ndash;present| label = Epitaph Records|Epitaph , ANTI- , G7 Welcoming Committee , Sub City , Grand Hotel van Cleef|B.A. Records | associated_acts = FemBots , Jim Bryson , Painted Thin , Propagandhi | website = URL|theweakerthans.org| current_members = John K. Samson Jason Tait Stephen Carroll Greg Smith| past_members = John P. Sutton The Weakerthans are a four-piece (and sometimes six-piececite web | title = MySpace Band Member Description | publisher = MySpace | date = 2006-08-30 | url = http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm? fuseaction=user.viewprofile& friendID=55573917 | accessdate = 2006-09-31 ) Canadian indie rock band.
History
The band was formed in 1997 in Winnipeg , Manitoba by John K. Samson , after he left the punk band Propagandhi to start a publishing company. Samson joined forces with bassist John P. Sutton and drummer Jason Tait , both from Propagandhi's Winnipeg-punk-scene mates Red Fisher, and created The Weakerthans as a vehicle for a more melodic and introspective brand of songwriting than their previous projects.
One origin story for the band's name, as quoted in the liner notes of Fallow (album)|Fallow , is a line from the 1992 film The Lover (film)|The Lover : "Go ahead, I'm weaker than you can possibly imagine."cite web | title = The Weakerthans: biography | publisher = AllMusicGuide | url = Allmusic|class=artist|id=p371918|pure_url=yes| accessdate = 2007-06-12 The band's name may also refer to a Ralph Chaplin quote from " Solidarity Forever ": "What force on Earth can be weaker than the feeble strength of one? " The band alludes to this line in the song "Pamphleteer" from the album Left and Leaving .
The band's debut album, Fallow (album)|Fallow , was released in 1997 on G7 Welcoming Committee Records , and garnered positive reviews from Canadian music critics.Citation needed|date=May 2007 Guitarist Stephen Carroll , formerly of Painted Thin , subsequently joined the band, and Left and Leaving was released in 2000.
Sutton, who played on all three of the band's first albums, left in August 2004 and was replaced by Greg Smith.
In 2005, Left and Leaving was named one of the ten best Canadian albums of all time in Chart (magazine)|Chart magazine's reader poll.cite news |title= The Top 50 Canadian Albums and Songs of All Time |work= Chart (magazine)|Chart , Issue 164 |publisher= |date= 2005-03 |accessdate=2007-02-07 In the same poll, Samson wrote the capsule review for another top ten finisher, The Lowest of the Low 's Shakespeare My Butt , which he cited as a major influence on his own music.
Reunion Tour was released on September 25, 2007 in North America by Epitaph Records|Epitaph and ANTI- . The band released a video for "Civil Twilight", which consisted of a single, unbroken camera shot of the band on a Winnipeg Transit city bus.cite web | last = Spinella | first = Mike | title = Video Premiere: The Weakerthans, "Civil Twilight" | publisher = Spinner | date = October 17, 2007 | url = http://www.spinner.com/2007/10/17/video-premiere-the-weakerthans-civil-twilight/ | format = Web | accessdate = 2007-10-25
Epitaph also re-released the Weakerthans' first two albums, Fallow and Left and Leaving , in Canada on November 6, 2007.cite web | last = Van Evra | first = Jennifer | title = Epitaph To Re-Release Weakerthans Classics | publisher = CBC Radio 3 | date = October 24, 2007 | url = http://radio3.cbc.ca/blogs/2007/10/Epitaph-To-Re-Release-Weakerthans-Classics | format = Web | accessdate = 2007-10-25
In February 2009, the band participated in Barenaked Ladies ' annual Ships and Dip cruise. http://www.canada.com/entertainment/Weakerthans+make+plans+plans/1515127/story.html "The Weakerthans make plans for no plans". Canwest News Service , April 20, 2009. In a subsequent interview with Canwest News Service , Samson clarified that the band would be taking some downtime over the summer of 2009 before deciding when to start working on their next album. Shortly afterward, Samson announced a series of solo 7" releases about Manitoba roads, which he planned to release over the next 18 months. The first, City Route 85 , was released on October 30, 2009 through Epitaph Records|Epitaph and ANTI- .cite web | title = The Weakerthans John K. Samson Reveals New Seven-Inches Series in Honour of Manitoba Roads | publisher = Exclaim! | url = http://www.exclaim.ca/articles/generalarticlesynopsfullart.aspx? csid1=136& csid2=844& fid1=41229 | accessdate = 2009-09-21 After a second EP, Provincial Road 222 , in 2010, the project instead evolved into Samson's first official solo album, Provincial (album)|Provincial .
In January 2010, the band announced that they would release a live album, Live at the Burton Cummings Theatre , on March 23. http://www.exclaim.ca/articles/generalarticlesynopsfullart.aspx? csid1=139& csid2=844& fid1=43485 "The Weakerthans Set Release Date for New Live Album". Exclaim! , January 7, 2010. At the same time, they also announced that they were recording material with Jim Bryson for his album The Falcon Lake Incident , which was released on October 19, 2010. http://exclaim.ca/articles/generalarticlesynopsfullart.aspx? csid1=115& csid2=844& fid1=49741 "Jim Bryson Recruits the Weakerthans for The Falcon Lake Incident". Exclaim! , September 23, 2010.
Chart performance
Reunion Tour debuted at #22 on the Nielsen SoundScan chart for Canada in its first week of release, and at #4 on the alternative/modern rock chart. The album reached #181 on the United States Billboard 200 .Allmusic|class=artist|id=p371918|pure_url=yes Billboard, Allmusic
The Weakerthans became the first band in the history of CBC Radio 3 's The R3-30|R3-30 charts to reach #1 with two different songs. The band's cover of Rheostatics ' "Bad Time to Be Poor" reached #1 the week of June 21, 2007, and "Civil Twilight", the lead single from Reunion Tour , hit the top spot the week of November 15, 2007. As of 2009, "Civil Twilight" remains tied with Arcade Fire 's " Black Mirror (song)|Black Mirror " as the longest-running #1 in that chart's history. "Civil Twilight" was also the #1 song in The R3-30 s year-end Top 100 chart for 2007.
Jason Tait (drums, percussion, vibraphone , keyboards)
Stephen Carroll (guitar, pedal steel|pedal and lap steel , keyboards)
Greg Smith (bass)
Former members
John P. Sutton (bass)
Live show help
Jim Bryson (general support). Joined as of September 10, 2007.cite web | last = Lawrence | first = Grant | title = Bryson Rapidly Weakening | publisher = CBC Radio 3 | date = 2007-09-10 | url = http://radio3.cbc.ca/blogs/2007/09/Bryson-Rapidly-Weakening | format = Web | accessdate = 2007-09-25
Christine Fellows (keyboards/background vocals)
Dave MacKinnon (keyboards)
Brian Poirier ( Steel-string guitar|acoustic guitar and backing vocals)
Tyler Greenleaf (trumpet and trombone )
Rusty Matyas (general support) performed with the band for the 2009 Rolling Tundra Revue http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm? fuseaction=blog.view& friendId=2758938& blogId=475596815
MacKinnon and Poirier also have their own band, FemBots , and were previously associated with the bands Dig Circus and Hummer (band)|Hummer . Both Bryson and Fellows are solo artists in addition to touring with The Weakerthans; Fellows is married to Samson. Matyas is a member of the bands The Waking Eyes and Imaginary Cities .
Discography
main|The Weakerthans discography;Studio albums
Fallow (album)|Fallow (1997)
Left and Leaving (2000)
Reconstruction Site (2003)
Reunion Tour (2007)
Side projects
Samson frequently collaborates with his wife, Christine Fellows .
Tait, Samson, and Fellows collaborated with poet and filmmaker Clive Holden on his multimedia project Trains of Winnipeg .
Carroll appeared on The Details ' Draw a Distance. Draw a Border. and The Original Mark EP . He co-produced a couple of songs on The Original Mark EP as well as their upcoming full-length (2011).
In 2006, all of the Weakerthans except Samson performed on Greg Graffin 's second solo album, Cold as the Clay .
In 2000, the Winnipeg Free Press released a spoken word album by Catherine Hunter that included a bonus track featuring the Weakerthans doing backing instrumentation while Hunter read her poem "Rush Hour".
Awards
Won
Outstanding Independent Album Reconstruction Site Western Canadian Music Awards (2004)cite web | title = Weakerthans stick to their punk rock roots | publisher = The Brock Press | date = 2005-03-30 | url = http://media.www.brockpress.com/media/storage/paper384/news/2005/03/30/ArtsEntertainment/Weakerthans.Stick.To.Their.Punk.Rock.Roots-905809.shtml? sourcedomain=www.brockpress.com& MIIHost=media.collegepublisher.com | accessdate = 2007-02-07
Outstanding Songwriter John K. Samson Western Canadian Music Awards (2004)
Artist of the Year The Weakerthans The Verge (XM)|Verge Awards (2008).cite web | last = Wheeler | first = Brad | title = Weakerthans, Hey Rosetta& #33; win Verge Music Awards | publisher = The Globe and Mail | date = 2008-09-25 | url = http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080925.BUZZ25-4/TPStory/Entertainment | format = Web | accessdate = 2008-09-25
ECHO Songwriting Prize "Night Windows" (2008)
Nominations
Juno Award for Alternative Album of the Year|Best Alternative Album Left and Leaving Juno Awards of 2001|Juno Awards (2001)
Video of the Year "Psalms for the Elks' Lodge Last Call" Western Canadian Music Awards (2004)
Juno Award for Alternative Album of the Year|Alternative Album of the Year Reconstruction Site Juno Awards of 2004|Juno Awards (2004)
Juno Award for Video of the Year|Video of the Year "The Reasons" Juno Awards of 2005|Juno Awards (2005)
The Weakerthans DEFAULTSORT:Weakerthans, The Category:Musical groups established in 1997 Category:Canadian indie rock groups Category:Canadian folk rock groups Category:Canadian pop punk musical groups Category:Musical groups from Winnipeg Category:Canadian power pop groups Category:Epitaph Records artists Category:G7 Welcoming Committee Records artists
