The Deep Dark Woods (SCQ's Year-End Questionnaire Part II)

The Deep Dark Woods brought me into Spring with the warm, alt-country songwriting of Winter Hours. As depressing as the thought of another winter is, I know this debut will keep me company as Canada goes into deep-freeze all over again. Vocalist/guitarist Ryan Boldt and bassist/vocalist Chris Mason discuss their career highlights thus far, and what’s to come from this excellent prairie act.

SCQ: What have been some of your favourite records of 2009? Gush away!

Chris: Gordon Downie's Coke Machine Glow. It really stands the test of time. Every time I listen to it (mostly on the road) is a whole new experience. It's one of my favorite albums. As far as albums released in 2009....I very much enjoy Wilco's new album.

Ryan: I bought the Stanley Brothers Later King Years box set this year and it's blown my mind. There isn't a bad song on it. Lots of great banjo tunes and aching ballads.

SCQ: Be it from the radio, lost on Myspace or from your roster, what songs could you not stop spinning?

Chris: Check out the song "pain" by The Sumner Brothers. It's on their myspace page. Heartbreaking

Ryan: Merle Haggard - "Ramblin' Fever" and The Band's "Home Cookin'". Two songs that I can't stop listening to. I've had them on high rotation for a long long time now.

SCQ: Seldom celebrated but crucial to The Album’s identity is cover-art. Can you offer any shortlist of personal favourites from the past year?

Ryan: I haven't really bought any new albums this year except Bob Dylan's Together Through Life. It's not a bad album cover. One of my favorites of all time is Leonard Cohen's I'm Your Man. It shows an aging Leonard eating a banana. It's a real beauty. Bonnie Tyler's album with the lazers shooting from her ears is pretty good too.

SCQ: When you look back on what transpired this year, what will stand out as your most memorable professional moment(s) of 2009?

Chris: My favorite moment was the barn show at The Pickathon Festival in Portland. The Ottawa show with Elliot Brood was an amazing night/show as well. Playing with Little Miss Higgins and Foy Taylor during "The Roots and Blues Roadshow" tour was a very fun time. The shows just got better and better.

SCQ: Most of us probably haven’t thought as far as New Years Eve plans but still, looking forward, what do you have on the horizon for 2010?

-playing at the 2010 Olympics
-lots of great festivals lined up
-west coast shows in the states
-recording a new album? Probably.

Winter Hours - The Deep Dark Woods

Winter Hours

The Deep Dark Woods
Black Hen Music.

SCQ Rating: 76%

When winter descends here in Canada, we’re confronted with enough snow and bitter cold to last several months. The southwestern corner of British Columbia usually gets off easiest, followed by - my hometown - the Niagara region, yet wherever you are and wherever I seem to move, there’s no escaping winter’s clutches. Among the bleakest places to hibernate must be Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, the hometown of The Deep Dark Woods, who have characterized this dark season with Winter Hours; an album that fights our cottage-fever with warm tones of traditional country and folk.

Their first single, ‘All the Money I Had is Gone’, bears the alt. country cross that Ryan Adams and Josh Ritter swing around, yet with Ryan Boldt’s emotive baritone and the bluegrass ensemble’s deft instrumentation (Burke Barlow, Chris Mason and Lucas Goetz round out guitar, bass and drum duties), the familiar chords sound entirely fresh. That single is no fluke, as Deep Dark Woods’ irresistible melancholy flows throughout, opening the disc with ‘Farewell’’s far-reaching choral, landing plum-outta-ideas on the barstool for ‘How Can I Try’ and the title track’s beautiful vocal harmonizing. Strange thing is, Winter Hours always seems more hopeful than depressed, entrenching the band’s slow acoustics with a cast of worthy musicians who give ‘As I Roved Out’ its cozy fiddle and ‘The Sun Never Shines’ its classic organ. These additional contributions do their fare share of chasing the snow-clouds away and ensure that Winter Hours can be easily spun front to back.

Of course, it helps that Deep Dark Woods understand you can’t spend your whole winter sulking indoors, as illustrated by the bluegrass-jaunt ‘Nancy’ and the folk-rock pulse of ‘Two Time Loser’. The protagonist of Winter Hours may be dead broke and lonely, but that shouldn’t stop him from the occasional night out. Released on the edge of spring, I delayed purchasing this release because my own seasonal depression decided a record of additional winter blues might push me over the edge. Little did I know how optimistic Winter Hours would be, treating their fair share of heartbreak and isolation with an “aw shucks” customary for their genre. When the frost creeps back over your front lawn (cause you know it will), spend some time with the Deep Dark Woods.