Getting Sleepy

We all know that sometimes we are our own worst critics.

There are so many wonderful musicians in New Brunswick, but sometimes I find myself failing to appreciate the richness of New Brunswick artists.

Consider:

• Josh Bravener

• Kylie Fox

• Nate and the Busy Boys

• Baie

• Jacob Rose

• Zack Ingles

• Dillon Ryan & The Dream Romantic

• Kendra Gale

• Tomato/Tomato

• Owen Steel

• Superfluous U

• Motherhood

• Abby McCartney

• Chris Colepaugh

• My Black Ram

• The Hello Crows

• The Merci Buckets

• Catherine Kennedy

• Penny Blacks

• Jason Haywood

• Les Hay Babies

• Connor Fox

• Justine Richardson

• The Hypochondriacs

• Les Chantrelles

• Colin Fowlie

• Joshua Osborne

• Evan LeBlanc

• Matt Andersen

• Poets and Liars

• Jacob Chevarie

• Chickahominy Mountain Band

• Pretty Western

• Doctor Mother Father

• Earthbound

And that is merely off the top of my head. An embarrassment of riches here in New Brunswick. I’m not sure people are necessarily aware. I’m not sure I was necessarily aware.

Last week I had the opportunity to share a stage with Sleepy Driver. They have been active in the New Brunswick music scene for years. I’m not saying they’re old, but I think they started around the same time as my band, Tuckersfield.

First off, I had the opportunity to meet the whole crew - Peter, John, Mike, Ethan, Chris, and Jason. They are sweet. Like, nice people. I like to be a fan of nice people.

But in reflecting on the band, I had a mini epiphany. This is a band with a catalogue. A discography. A bloody discography, for cripes sake.

As a person with a total discography of 6 songs, I tip my hat to these hard-working New Brunswick musicians. This list doesn’t even include their singles and their Christmas release, and they have been so prolific over the years that I may have missed some LP’s.

Sleepy Driver is a New Brunswick artist to celebrate. Part of our cultural history for nearly 2 decades. This is something we should all be proud of.

We know the value of eating local and buying local, and it’s probably past time we think about ways that we can support local music, because in many ways it has never been more challenging to sustain a local band or cultivate a career in music here. I say this knowing full well that many good people have been working tirelessly on this very thing for years in NB (more on that in future Substacks) We should thank them. It is heroic work. Fostering music, art, culture and community. Thank you.

For my part, I have no time to be sleepy. I’ve got a lot of catching up to do.

Peter Hicks, the frontman for Sleepy Driver, once told me that, “I just do what Shawn Corey does”. While I admire his humility, there is a reason why I recruited Peter to produce my new music. I’m hoping that some of his sleepy work-ethic might rub off on me. In the meantime, I enjoy watching Peter record guitar tracks for my solo recordings. Keep it up, Peter. I love to watch other people work.