Canadian roots rock band The Sheepdogs released their eighth studio album, Keep Out of the Storm, in late February. The band began a Canadian tour in March and will perform in Winnipeg on April 16 and 17. “We want to create music that […] is positive,” bassist Ryan Gullen described. “Songs that make you feel cool or songs that empower you.”

He continued to say that listening to the classic rock music which inspired The Sheepdogs was a form of uplifting escapism for the band members as young adults, and that he hopes to facilitate the same escape for others who need it. 

The musicians now reside in different places, but they formed in Saskatoon in 2004. At the start of their career, they were reliant on taking trips to play in other cities for exposure. Notably, Winnipeg was the first city where they found receptive fans. Gullen even calls Winnipeg The Sheepdogs’s second home. He calculates that out of any non-Winnipeg-based bands, The Sheepdogs would likely hold the record for performing at the most venues in the city. 

“What was really interesting about when we started coming to Winnipeg and meeting different musicians and getting to play lots of different shows with different people is that we got to discover what other people were doing.” Gullen explained, “Saskatoon has a very strong music scene, but there [weren’t] a lot of people that played in rock bands, and so it felt a little bit insular for us. And so when we came to Winnipeg, we started meeting all these people at [Times Change(d) High and Lonesome Club], and all these different bands that we kind of became friends with. And it inspired us.”

The Sheepdogs have collaborated many times with local band Waking Eyes’ multi-instrumentalist Rusty Matyas. They first bonded when Matyas worked as the audio technician at The Cavern for The Sheepdogs’s first-ever show in Winnipeg. In addition, Boy Golden supported The Sheepdogs on their last tour.

However, The Sheepdogs were surprised and somewhat jealous seeing that many Winnipeg-based musical acts of the late 2000s were well-established in the music industry and still able to keep living here, like the Waking Eyes.

The founding members of The Sheepdogs grew up in the early stages of online music discovery through websites like Napster, which is how they became fans of classic rock, rather than the music of their own generation. When they first had their songs played on the radio, they were often criticized for playing an old-fashioned style of rock, rather than embracing the post-grunge music that was more popular at the time.

Gullen appreciates changes the internet has brought to the music industry. As demonstrated, younger people can enjoy older music. He noted that the internet also allows for more diversity in the industry and for fans to more easily find others who enjoy the same music.

The Sheepdogs are set to perform at the Burton Cummings Theatre on April 17. They will also play a sold-out show at the Times Change(d) High and Lonesome Club the night before, with all ticket sale proceeds going to the charity Home First Winnipeg.