Crown Lands are a two-time Juno nominated duo based out of Oshawa, Ontario. In a short time, the lineup has received accolades from many of the music industries toughest critics..Rolling Stone Magazine had this to say; “The multi-part, three-years-in-the-making suite ‘Context: Fearless Pt. 1’ may well be one of the most overt Rush tributes ever, and last year’s self titled debut album from the hirsute young Canadian rock duo Crown Lands, is an accomplished, chops-heavy take on blues-rock, produced by roots mastermind Dave Cobb, which won them critical praise and two Juno nominations.”.Kerrang Magazine raved, “familiar musical motifs blended into something fresh and distinctive, delivered with a combination of indignation, intelligence and forest-dwelling spirituality. It’s also a hell of a debut.”.The list goes on and on, with Guitar World, the BBC, CBC, and Hockey Night in Canada, which we’ll get to later..The band consists of Kevin Comeau on guitar, bass, and keyboards while Two-Spirit (Cody Bowles) takes care of the vocals and drums..A friend of mine and one-time skeptic Mark Kniahnicki told me, “I was blown away when I saw them live a few years ago. I didn’t think you could get that kind of full sound out of just two guys.” .With three medium length plays (EPs) to their credit since they formed in 2015, they finally released their self-titled debut album in August of 2020..The obvious Rush and Zeppelin sound will make you look down at your bell bottoms while you are enjoying the psychedelic trip these two bring you on. .End of the Road is a deep song about the missing and murdered indigenous women along the infamous Highway of Tears (Yellowhead Hwy. 16 in British Columbia.) This song showcases their mature songwriting and intelligence, and the video for this track is downright haunting. Go and check it out via YouTube..Early last year, these (hopefully) soon-to-be Juno recipients teamed up with three former Rush producers (Terry Brown, Nick Raskulinecz, David Botrill) to record Context: Fearless Pt.1, which was released alongside Right Way Back, penned as a tribute to the late Neil Peart..Upon arrival in Nashville to cut and mix these songs, producer Raskulinecz stunned the band by bringing out the drum kit that the late Peart used on the 2007 Snakes and Arrows album for Cody to use..According to Cody, “This was one of the most spiritual experiences in our lives.” .Both songs can be listened /to back to back on YouTube. .I was lucky enough to chat with Kevin on Friday. He was down to earth and very humble for an up-and-coming international musician. .I mentioned that my favorite song of theirs was End of the Road and would be in the article..“Our band mission statement is about talking about these kinds of things and how the indigenous are being treated.”.I also asked them how they became affiliated with Hockey Night in Canada. .“Our label Universal Music Canada and our rep Allison Phillips, are so great and they have a tight relationship with the NHL. In the past they have played a couple of our songs during the intro of some playoff games.”.If you are curious about Kevin’s guitar style and main influences growing up, he offered this up. .“As a slide player, Duane Allman, he was the master. No one before or after him measures up; and then you have Lindsay Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac who is another hero of mine with his right hand technique.” .Instead of working on recording a full album, the duo is doing something I think will be catching on. .“We are going to focus on releasing a of couple songs at a time so we can really spend a lot of time making them masterpieces”, said Kevin. “These days, a lot of albums have three great tunes and the rest are just fillers. We want our fans to love everything we put out.”.Get ready Canada. These two from Southern Ontario are going to break out internationally through Universal Music Canada, and you’ll know why after listening to their new material. .Ernest Skinner is the Westrock Music Columnist for the Western Standard
