the NORTHERN LEADERSHIP began in a southern Ontario
town full of blues bars
and factory workers. Amidst, a happening alternative music scene and a
plethora
of vintage guitars Brother Josef (vocals, guitar) called on a few of his
pals
from the areas other bands to jam and the idea was simple. dont just
play the
music, but create the music, explode the music, play it from your soul
music,
like the MC5 did, count-it-in and play.
call it improv, call it
blues, jazz or art rock. call it about
variations on a theme, the early theme songs were by the likes of
Lightnin Hopkins, Buddy Guy, Eddie Hazel along with healthy doses of
Rocket From the Tombs, Mudhoney and Metallica thrown in. Brother Joe’s
guitar was
raging on 10 most of the time, the head down drummer was in another
world
losing it and the bass player was desperately holding it all together.
it came
out a whole lot different sounding than you might think. they played the
blues
bars, the country bars, frat parties and the alternative clubs, all the
while
forging and morphing their sound into what it is today, unadulterated,
pure American-style
rock n roll. Sloan once told the LEADERSHIP that they have got some
serious
soul. The Deadly Snakes asked, where the hell did you guys come from?
and the
Matadors sighted them as their main competition.
the current bass player
(Shane Son, the Furys) was also in one of
the earlier versions of the band in Ontario.
the
drummer (JC Myers, White Umbrella) in the Leadership has always held a
special
place in Brother Joe's heart (his first instrument was drums) and he
usually
sticks with the same ones for a while. i like it when guitar players
play the drums says Brother Joe, i can relate to a guy who can play the
drums like ringin a bell.
Brother Joe is the
song-writer of the group and when he's not
jamming with the guys he usually likes to just play guitar by himself or
go to
shows and heckle guitar players for not soloing enough. Bro. Joe has
written
these songs yes but the whole band puts a little bit of their rock n
roll heart
n soul into them each time they play them, creating truly inspired
versions
every time. it's an old cliché i guess but the proof really is in the
pudding
with the NORTHERN LEADERSHIP. just listen to the music and you'll get
the idea.
it's an appreciation of music, a love to play music that's deep down and
the
ability to rock-on at all costs. it is that something special that makes
these guys who they are. these guys lead the
lifestyle, playing in bands, working, girlfriends, drinking, smoking.
it's
exciting, it's volatile and sometimes it breaks you down but it's also
the thing that gets you back
up to do it again and again. no matter what happens, the music brings
this band
back together every week to rock n roll their asses off for seemingly no
reason. that's what's called
life to the NORTHERN LEADERSHIP, plain and simple.