September 19 2013 – We previously announced that Saskatoon rockers, One Bad Son, will join Crash Karma on tour this fall. The tour will make its way across Canada, beginning in Peterborough on September 24 and wrapping in Toronto on October 25. From their self-titled album, One Bad Son have made a name for themselves on the live scene and at Canadian rock radio – their single “Scarecrows” reached the Top 5 at Canadian Rock radio and “It Ain’t Right” peaked at number 11 on the BDS chart. Their next single “Retribution Blues was released to radio just a few days ago.
We have interviewed the band on a few occasions including a 30 minute video last time they were in town that you can check out here. Today we caught up with the band’s amazing bassist Adam Grant. Here is what Grant had to say to us.
1) Hey Adam your latest single Retribution Blues is just getting ready to be released. That is my personal favorite song on your album and I am gonna call it as your first top 3 single on the Canadian Rock Charts. When you play the song live in concert how do you feel the crowd reacts to it?
AG: Well we certainly hope you are right in your prediction T-MAK! Retribution Blues has always been a fun song to play live and seems to go over really well with audiences. Right off the bat, it has that groove and good vibe that makes people want to get up and dance.
Since its inception, its always kind of been a live staple for us. I think its safe to say there hasn’t been a show in a long time where we didn’t play Blues (as we refer to it).
2) You recently went off to the woods to work on some new material –tell us about that?
AG: That was a really special experience for the four of us. We played a show in Kenora, Ontario in the middle of August. The venue owner offered us this beautifully secluded cabin right on the Winnipeg River to stay at and jam in while we were there. So we set up all our gear in the middle of this huge living room that overlooked the river and just went to town for five days writing songs for the new record and fishing. It was amazing!
3) Do you have an ETA for the next album?
AG: Its always hard to say exactly, but I’m going to be optimistic and say Spring 2014…
4) You are about to kick off a Canadian tour with Crash Karma and this is your second such tour this year (the other being with Buckcherry). Aside from all the OBS fans that will be there to watch you guys, you have an opportunity to win over a ton of new fans. Do you approach these shows differently as opposed to your own headlining gigs?
AG: Not really. I mean set times are always different when opening vs. headlining. But we see every show as a huge opportunity to win over fans. Yes, the definite advantage of opening is that there are a whole slough of people that might not normally come to one of our shows. But as far as playing and prep goes, we approach every show the same way. We’re always going to go out there and put on a show.
5) Your shows always feature a killer cover song or two . Last time you were playing Led Zeppelin’s In The Evening – will you be bringing that back to this tour or do you have something new up your sleeves?
AG: We’re always trying new things out, so who knows what will make the set. And it tends to vary night to night, depending on how we feel. So you’ll just have to come see!
6) I have noticed that the band is always out on social media (Facebook, Twitter) and in direct communication with your fans. You thank people personally for coming to the shows or buying your CD, you ask your fan’s opinions on certain things. and you even give a steady stream of updates. How important is embracing social media for a band on the rise these days?
AG: Social media is a great tool for bands. It gives them a platform to interact with fans on a daily basis. And vice versa. We take great pride in the relationships that we forge with people and really enjoy reading peoples’ comments or hearing their opinions. Its really encouraging and fun for us.
On the other hand, I think bands can easily become obsessed with social media. So much so that it becomes more about how many ‘Retweets’ or ‘Likes’ you can get and less about the music. I think social media is good for what it is, but at the end of the day, the music is what really matters.
7) Last time we interviewed you guys you shared with us your all time favorite bands, what we didn’t ask you is what new material are you guys into? Is there any memorable releases for you that came out in 2013?
AG: The new Queens of the Stoneage album is pretty solid. Monster Truck’s new album ‘Furiosity’ is really good too. And, I guess it would be from 2012, but I really love ‘King Animal’ from Soundgarden.
8 ) The level of professionalism that all four of you guys in the band possess is something that has impressed us since we first met you. Music is certainly a business but Rock n Roll at it’s essence requires a hedonistic mentality. How did you find a balance between the two?
AG: That’s a good question. I would say a huge factor in our case is our work ethic. I think its a prairie thing. We all work extremely hard at music, whether its practicing, writing, touring or whatever. And we understand that nobody is going to just give us anything. Bands, and anybody for that matter, have to go out and get what they want.
But that being said, we are proud of what we have accomplished as a band and realize the importance of enjoying the ride. So I guess you could say by taking the business seriously, we afford ourselves a bit of fun.
9) How many dates are you playing with Crash Karma?
AG: I believe there are 21 shows in 30 days. We join Crash Karma in Peterborough on Sept. 24th and the tour wraps up on Oct. 25th in Toronto.
10) What’s up after this tour and for the rest of 2013?
AG: Well, the Crash Karma tour will take us to the end of October. After that, we’re going to continue to work on pre-production for the new album! I’m sure there will be a few shows sprinkled in and around that, but that will become the focus for the rest of 2013.
