Feature Article: The Sadies - Polaris Music Prize

I was proud to present The Sadies at the 2010 Polaris Music Prize gala on September 21 at Toronto's historic Masonic Temple, where the group was short-listed for its stellar album Darker Circles. Here is my introduction to the band:

The Sadies. Guitar-slinging brothers Dallas and Travis Good, bassist Sean Dean and drummer Mike Belitsky. Artists—from Gord Downie and Neko Case to John Doe and Neil Young—are unanimous in their praise of these guys.
 
Critics, however, can’t seem to agree on how to describe the band. Are they alt-country mavericks or garage-rock revisionists? Space-rock cowboys or spaghetti-western revivalists?

Fact is, The Sadies defy categorization. They draw from a grab-bag of musical sources and recast the sounds in their inimitable style—not so much sturm und drang as strum and twang. And fuzz and reverb too.

They’re superb musicians who just keep on getting better with each recording. Currently, they’re riding high with an inspired collection of haunted songs about love, loss and stoned cold oblivion. They evoke the ghosts of early morning Lightfoot, miles high Byrds and late night psychotic reactions. Yet the chilling sound they make is unmistakably their own.
 
Ladies and gentlemen, your 2010 Polaris Music Prize short list nominees, for the album, Darker Circles: The Sadies.