The Glorious Sons want you to rock out like it's 2017, 'cause it is.

Sometimes it’s good to know when to quit, or give in, and that’s exactly what The Glorious Sons’ principal songwriter and lead singer Brett Emmons did after attempting to make music on his own.

“I was at Dal [Dalhousie University] and working at this shitty shoe store, making zero dollars by myself, music-wise,” explains Emmons. “At the time when the guys asked me to come home and be part of the band, I told them to go ‘f’ themselves and was stubborn. But then I went home for Christmas and realized how good they were…after two months of bumming around I asked if their offer still stood, and that’s when it all started.”

Their sophomore album, Young Beauties and Fools, took its sweet time to make, and after three years of botched studio time, the band’s first-run was chalked up as anything but pleasant.

“The mixing stage in this album was horrendous,” says Emmons. “We had to put it away for a month, there were just too many listens and not enough communication between the people we worked with…it was a different process than our other album [The Union].”

“It’s not meat potatoes rock, we’re doing a lot of different things on the songs,” he adds.

Coming out with a finished product and 10 songs that the band “actually believed in” was a “miracle in itself,” says Emmons, whose original voice notes were used as the starting point for what you now hear on the album.

“Sometimes if I’m dropping off, I’ll leave the bar and walk into an alley and if something pops into my head, I’ll start singing it by myself, into my phone. I feel kind of naked,” says Emmons. “And then the next morning I’ll listen back and hear if it was actually good…most of the time it’s not really good.”

Yet enough of it was good to roll with and the album was written in 12 days and subsequently recorded in 14. The songs focus on the meanderings and observations of Emmons (“Josie”), (“Blood”) as well as his own insecurities (“Thank You For Saying Goodbye”), and then songs like “Sawed Off Shotgun” combine all the above.

The already released “Everything is Alright” rattles nicely with Emmons vocals rasping much in the same tune as that of John McCaluley’s from Deer Tick, a comparison quite welcomed by the 25-year-old.

“When I was younger I actually listened to a lot of Deer Tick—I think I kind of forced my voice to do that rasp and as I got older I drew away from it, but ya, I think it’s kind of stuck in there.”

Emmons says he’s a “songwriter guy” pointing to artists like Jason Isbell and Springsteen among his idled favourites.

But, make no mistake, The Glorious Sons aren’t trying to be the next Springsteen band, in fact Emmons just wants to be a band that “sounds like a rock band from 2017, not from the 1970’s and not like it was made after Nirvana.”

“I don’t think you should have to sound like Lynyrd Skynyrd to have fans,” he says. “So many people are afraid to call rock bands rock bands, they call them alternative…I think if rock n’ roll is going to be great and relevant again—I don’t think it has been in the past 20 years—it’s got to change with the times. We’re playing rock music that is meant for 2017.”

Emmons “a born entertainer” may “always want the attention” but he’s quick to note that the makeup of the band works because each member knows how to play together.

“I think what we do so well is that nobody is selfish with their parts“ he notes. “You can have a great guitar part but if it doesn’t serve the song, then it’s getting cut and that’s how we run with things.”

“And, you really don’t know what we’re growing to throw out each night, you gotta just come.”

The Glorious Sons kick off their two-month tour across Canada and the U.S. starting with two sold-out shows in Toronto (Oct. 19, 20), and will be making stops in Kamloops (Oct. 26), Vancouver (Oct. 27), Kelowna (Oct.28), Grande Prairie (Oct. 30) and Calgary (Nov. 4), among others. They then head across the border to play a slew of dates with Greta Van Fleet.

Canadian Fall Headlining Tour Dates

  • Oct 19 - Toronto, ON at The Phoenix SOLD OUT
  • Oct 20 - Toronto, ON at The Phoenix    SOLD OUT
  • Oct 26 - Kamloops, BC at CJ’s Nightclub
  • Oct 27 - Vancouver, BC at Vogue Theatre
  • Oct 28 - Kelowna, BC at Level Nightclub
  • Oct 30 - Grande Prairie, AB at Better Than Fred’s
  • Nov 1 - Red Deer, AB at Red Deer Memorial Centre
  • Nov 2 - Edmonton, AB at Starlite Room
  • Nov 3 - Edmonton, AB at Starlite Room
  • Nov 4 - Calgary, AB at The Palace Theatre
  • Nov 7 - Medicine Hat, AB at Esplanade Arts & Heritage Centre
  • Nov 9 - Saskatoon, SK at Louis’ Pub
  • Nov 10 - Regina, SK at Turvey Centre
  • Nov 11 - Winnipeg, MB at The Garrick

Young Beauties and Fools is out now.

Photo: Black Box/Universal Music Canada

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