biographical info
In a basement bar made of barnboard and dusk, candles
keep quiet vigil on the uneasy tables, and the floorboards maintain
last night’s souvenirs of booze, boots, and bedlam. A band trickles down
the stairs to set up on a stage that is adorned with the skull of a
steer on the wall. It is a Sunday night—God’s day, some would say—but in
exactly one hour the room will be filled with sound, sweat, and bodies,
and the eager crowd will be taken to a different kind of church owned
by the howling and swaggering amplifiers of The Beauties.
The Beauties were formed in 2006 at a tavern in
the west end of Toronto. A Sunday night residency (which was initially
intended as an informal jam) soon blossomed into sold out shows, week
after week. Darin McConnell and Shawn Creamer share guitar and vocal
duties, Jud Ruhl streams the lead guitar while Paul Pfisterer and Derek
Downham keep time as the unapologetically stoic rhythm section. A
four-song, self-titled EP quickly established The Beauties as a band to
watch out for, earning them coveted support slots with acts such as
Broken Social Scene and Alejandro Escovedo. They have also backed up
such noteworthy songwriters as Ron Sexsmith, Jim Cuddy, and Serena
Ryder. Three years later, they continue to remind the crowds of the
tightly-knit seams that stem from rock and roll, as well as confirming
the often overlooked truth that there isn’t a single person who will
love us like the devil does.
As the most recent signing to Six Shooter
Records, The Beauties represent the darker and louder places where songs
reside. There is a sober truth in their songs. We now raise a glass to
this truth against the barnboard and dusk, wishing the sobriety away.