EVIL
FARM CHILDREN
Taking their name from a synopsis of the B-grade, horror
flick, Blood on Satan’s Claw……
This raw and raunchy trio
from Canada’s capital has been
gathering a growing legion of fans, and a reputation for intense stage
shows. Their sound is real rock’n’roll,
with a roots-rock flavour. The band can easily do a rocking surf instrumental
with the fervor of Dick Dale, and, in a heartbeat, shift gears to roll right
into a rockin’ rockabilly rave up, or a Stooges influenced, feedback infused,
pounding rock’n’roll song.
Since forming in the summer of 2005, this trio has
been regularly playing many of Ottawa’s live music venues, as
well as traveling to play various clubs in Toronto, Montreal, London, Hamilton, Peterborough, and several other towns
in Southern
Ontario. They performed at the 2008
Ottawa Blues Festival, one of the most popular music festivals in North America. Their original material, as
captured in their recordings (see below) matters most, but for their live
shows, the band likes to have fun by whipping out some heavily “Evil-ized”
versions of songs by the likes of Max Webster, Dick Dale, Black Sabbath, Tom
Waits, Deke Dickerson, Conway Twitty & Loretta Lynn, Link Wray, and, even
Alice Cooper.
Evil Farm Children are:
Dave
Kerr Guitar and
lead vocals; Former bands: DeadBeatDads,
WizzleTeeth.
Janice Fitzsimmons Bass, lead and backing vocals; Former bands: The Ambassadors, Revv Engine.
Jeb Bond Drums, background vocals; Former bands: The Restless Virgins, Screaming
Bamboo, Fenton Brothers, Purple, Evil Kneivel, Tall (Baton Rouge, LA), Freudhammer.
In
the fall of 2006, Evil Farm Children (EFC) released Knuckle Duster. The 5 original songs on the CD demonstrate
the band’s range from surf, to country, to psychobilly. The CD charted on both
CKCU and CHUO in Ottawa, and was selected as one of the best local releases of 2006 by several
CKCU DJs. The Knuckle Duster CD
has received airplay on Hoboken’s independent radio station, WFMU, which broadcasts throughout the New York City
area. The title song, Knuckle Duster,
was included in the soundtrack to the independently produced documentary Project
Canada (http://projectcanada.org).
EFC’s second release, Evil
Farm Children II: The Evilling, was officially released in September 2008. It includes 8 original songs (3 of which are
instrumentals), and one cover song, a surf-rock version of Hangover, by Canada’s legends of the 70’s, Max
Webster. The album has charted on both
CKCU and CHUO in Ottawa, and made the !earshot
top 50 chart for March 2009, by receiving spins from radio stations like CHRW (London), CHRY (Toronto), and CJAM
(Windsor). It also received
airplay on WFMU (Hoboken NJ) and KSER (Everett,
WA).
Just in time for
Halloween, 2009, Evil Farm Children
premiered the video for their zombie love song from The Evilling, called Brain
Buffet. Shot in Toronto in August ‘09, the video was
directed by Geoff Whitman of Favours
for Friends Pictures in Toronto, who also directed the zombie short
film Bum of the Dead, which features
EFC on the closing credits soundtrack.
Evil Farm Children have just released 2 new songs, Three Orange Whips b/w Outer Limits Bride, on May 1, 2010, on a 45 RPM, 7” piece of coloured vinyl. Three Orange Whips, is also included in the soundtrack to a documentary called 10 Days Across Canada, which was released nationally in April 2010. The Evilling CD is available to retailers in Canada through JMac Distribution (Ottawa). The Three Orange Whips / Outer Limits Bride 7" single is available to retailers in Canada through both F.A.B. Distribution (Montreal) and JMac Distribution (Ottawa). The Evilling CD can be purchased from CD Baby. Or, ask for it in one of your favourite record stores, the ones that matter!
You
can discover the unadulterated twangy rock’ n’ roll of EVIL FARM CHILDREN
at: www.myspace.com/evilfarmchildren , CBC Radio3 (http://radio3.cbc.ca)
, or CD Baby (http://cdbaby.com/cd/evilfarmchildren).
Email: evilfarmchildren@magma.ca
Web: www.myspace.com/evilfarmchildren
"It's a 45, coloured vinyl, folks, to add to EFC’s collection of music that Rocks.
Three Orange Whips/Outer Limits Bride....
Got to give it to the Evil Farm Children; not only do they come out with this year’s best single so far, but it is a must for any true lover of all things surf.
Three Orange Whips: it's straight up, pure vintage and not over the top surf.
On the B side: Outer Limits Bride is a real Kool Little Rocker with great Harmonica licks...
What's not to like. " Johhnyslam's blog, May 11, 2010
“How often can you listen to Max
Webster before getting sick of the tunes? Trick question, dude - you can never
get sick of Max Webster. That's why baby boomers recall their drunken high
school gym concerts with such fondness and continue to pack the Ex for Kim
Mitchell's annual (toupé optional) soirée. It's a wonder so few dare cover the
legends, and a nice surprise when they do. Evil Farm Children may be a
contemporary rough-and-tumble outfit relatively fresh on the local scene, but
they show their vintage rum and coke roots with a crankin' version of Hangover.
Yeah! Power trio muscle with some surfy twang, Evil Farm Children unleash their
sequel monster, and it's a goodun. Part Gretsch whammy instro wailin', part
ragged vocal locomotive mayhem, The Evilling is the perfect fuel for your
Saturday bar brawl.” John
Sekerka, Ottawa Xpress, September 11, 2008
“I was thrilled when Evil Farm
Children cranked up the volume and detuned the strings for their deliciously
raunchy tunes Knuckle Duster, Your Time is Up and Border Blaster.” “Kerr showed
he was an intense performer who could pick a guitar with the best of
them.” Denis Armstrong, Ottawa Sun, July 5, 2008
(reviewing Blues-Fest set)
“A trio of experienced
garage-rock aficionados…(they) rock like Beelzebub's very own rottweilers are
snapping at their heels." Whisperin’
and Hollerin’, March 2009
“What we're talking about here is
some quality rock'n'roll from a band with one of the coolest names in the
business. Surf rock instrumentals aside, the tracks on this album are
energetic, well-played and should have enough cross sub-genre appeal to give
most x-Billies a kick. WARNING: do not play The Evilling in your car, you'll
end up with your foot to the floor and the blue noses zapping you with their
little fun detectors.” Rink, CD Baby
Review
“Ottawa based trio…that draws
influences from such notables as Link Wray, Evan Johns, early LeRoi Brothers
and any other like minded combo to produce some pure nitro driven rock’n’roll!
Would love to see this band play out as they probably destroy live!” (Dave
O’Halloran, Mongrel Zine #4, Dec. 2008)