blog post Meet Q&A: CCMA winners Hey Romeo

These days, country music is considered a competitive sport in Alberta. A band has to really stand out from the pack. So consider Hey Romeo, an exciting band that recently won the CCMA (Canadian Country Music Award) for top country group of the year and is set to release a third studio album, Twist of Fate on Royalty Records, Tuesday, June 26, 2012.

 The band’s inspirations are varied, running from Nashville to Texas country, and from the Rolling Stones to Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. Hey Romeo is comprised of vocalist Stacie Roper, keyboardist Rob Shapiro and guitarist Darren Gusnowsky, and together they have been honing a sound and a look since 2002. 

"They are my best friends, family, and business partners all rolled into one,” Roper muses, reflecting on the band's close relationship over the years. “I love them and what we are doing, and it seems that a lot of other people are loving what we’re doing to."  

You can catch Hey Romeo on June 28 at The Ranch in Edmonton, after which they start a mammoth summer tour across the western provinces. But before they set off on the road, we asked Roper to answer our Meet Q&A.

Q: Describe the music you make in five words or less.  
A: Happy, real, honest, fun, heartfelt.

Q: What is the last movie each of you saw – and if you wrote a song about it, what would it be called?  
A: The latest movie that I saw was The Avengers. If I wrote a song about it I think it would be called “The Guy Behind Me,” and it would be all about the guy that sat behind me in the theatre and decided to drink about five gallons of beer before he came to the movie…. Although he did provide some amusement  with his commentary of what the Black Widow was wearing. 

Q: What is your favourite thing to do on a Saturday night?  
A: My Saturday nights are usually filled with playing our music to people somewhere in Canada, which I love. If I wasn’t playing my favourite thing to do is hanging out with my fiancé Norm and friends, just relaxing over good food and good wine. 

Q: How about on a Sunday morning?  
A: Sunday mornings are usually spent driving home from wherever we played the night before but if I actually get to wake up in my own bed on Sunday morning, I love just staying in my PJs having a coffee, reading the paper and watching Coronation Street. God bless British television!

Q: If  the band could record with any other Canadian artist, who would you pick? And who would produce it?  
A: I think all of us would have a different answer on this. If I were to choose a female it would be Carolyn Dawn Johnson, she is such an exceptional artist and songwriter. She is also a very gifted producer and would be the producer that I would love to work with. Girl power! If it were a male artist I would have to say Gord Bamford. He is pretty much the reason why we are together as a band and he is a great person and artist. Now if it were another band to perform with it would have to be either the Stellas or Doc Walker. They are my favourite bands in Canada and I love their passion for songwriting and performing. 

Q: Describe the oddest thing to happen to you at a show.
A: Well last year we actually had someone bring a full grown, unsheered sheep into the theatre that we were playing at. Right to the front of the stage! I couldn’t stop laughing. Very odd, yet it’s Alberta so maybe not that unusual.

Q: Describe what you keep on your bedside table?
A: Well my fiancé is a little OCD when it comes to not having clutter in the house, he won’t be happy that I said that [laughs], so I really don’t have too much on my bedside table, usually just my computer so I can listen to the latest audio book that I am listening to. But inside my bedside table… what don’t I have? I call it my little junk drawer, full of things I can’t throw away. 

Related:

Meet Q&A: Del Barber 

Meet Q&A: Dala 

Meet Q&A: Oh My Darling