artist Rheostatics

The Rheostatics released eleven albums since 1987. They played their final show in March, 2007 at Massey Hall, Toronto. Inspired by such national treasures as the Group of Seven, Stompin' Tom Connors, the divinatory -- not divine -- government of Mackenzie King, rolling prairies, Canada's national game, les couriers du bois and more, the Rheos have plundered the Canadian mythos to become a kind of bedrock myth themselves. In a millennial survey of Canadian music critics, the Rheostatics placed two albums - Melville and Whale Music - in the top ten Canadian records of all time, a feat duplicated only by the legendary Guess Who. "Canada Listens," sponsored by CBC's Saturday afternoon magazine Definitely Not the Opera, mirrored the search for the great Canadian novels undertaken by "Canada Reads" and chose Whale Music as the single rock album with which all Canadians had to be familiar. The Rheos' live shows were legendary among fans; they once played 14 consecutive nights at Toronto's Horseshoe tavern, establishing a modern benchmark. Songwriting duties and lead vocals were shared between bandmates Dave Bidini, Martin Tielli and Tim Vesely. This unstintingly democratic commitment made the band doubly difficult to pigeonhole as the particular talents of each member were often showcased in rapid succession.