Solving the ConunDrum

Last night we had our first rehearsal with drummer Owen Tennyson, who's taking over behind the kit for departed wunderkind Zack Mykula. Owen's a whiz. He's played with Blue Peter and countless others, got a million stories and such an effusive guy. Really looking forward to doing the next show with him.

Running through our set for Friday with Owen, it really hit me how important a top-notch drummer is to a band. Zack's very creative in his approach, fusing an almost jazz sensibility with a hard-rock style. And Owen's superb, settling into a brand new (for him) nine-song set with confidence and aplomb.

The other thing about our three-month quest to find a replacement for Zack is it's shown me that our songs are surprisingly tough for a lot of people. They're hardly the most technical stuff out there, but there's a lot of structure. Amazing how many musicians aren't interested in structure. "There's a lot of parts," one guy would mumble, before crashing through the condensed epic-osity of "Young Love" like a bulldozer stuck in first gear. But to me all of our songs are very organic. Just listening to "Young Love", you don't notice the myriad time-shifts taking place. I've always love bands that can do that, like Pink Floyd's "Money" or the Beatles "Good Morning" or Them Crooked Vultures, where the song's time is complicated, but it just flows.

It's great to find another drummer who gets that. The stories about The Police infighting on tour are pretty hilarious, too.

IndieSolo Band of the Day - September 22nd

Charge of the Light Brigade is the featured band tomorrow, Wednesday, September 22nd, at IndieSolo.com. Like us, you know the band's great. But there's a lot of people that don't. So on Wednesday, pop over to IndieSolo, vote for the band, add your comments and download our free tracks. It'll give us a boost in the annual rankings as people surf the site in the weeks to come. Thanks for the support!

Live at Lee's Palace, Friday, October 1st

Charge of the Light Brigade is going to be playing Lee's Palace Friday, October 1st. Really looking forward to this show. Sitting in with us on drums will be Owen Tennyson (no relation to "Charge of the Light Brigade" poet Lord Alfred), long-time drummer for Toronto legends Blue Peter.

Also on the bill are Militis Rue, Reckless Disposition and This Mad Desire. Doors are at 9pm, and cover's $8 in advance, $10 at the door. Pick up five tickets ahead of time, and get 'em even cheaper, for $7 each. Advance tickets will be held at the door for you under your name.

Get tickets now - email us at info@cotlb.com with how many you want, and we'll arrange it pronto. You'll get a payment notice from PayPal, but you won't need a PayPal account, just a credit card for the secure transaction.

We're plugging hard to finish up the recording of our debut full-length, so this is probably the last Toronto gig of the year for us. Don't miss it, brigadoons!

Press Watch

In case you didn't catch them on Twitter or Facebook, there were a couple of good reviews/interviews for Charge of the Light Brigade last week.

Chicago/New York music blog Consequence of Sound touted the band's debut EP We Haven't Been Properly Introduced, calling the band's sound "familiar yet experimental, different and polished." There were a couple of good in-depth interviews with yours truly, too, in Vancouver's The Delete Bin and at Georgia online mag Junior's Cave. I get to talk about the band's influences, our writing and recording process and the plight of freedom for the independent artist. Check 'em out.