“Anywhere you roam is far from home / Carry on, carry on / Don’t look back / Anywhere you go I’ll go with you / Carry on, carry on / To the ends of the earth.”
There’s just something magical about the summer months when it comes to encountering new music. Whether it be the latest tunes bursting from the car radio or the abundance of live music exposure when hitting our favorite festivals – with this relaxed summer pace comes a temporary dropping of those defenses deployed during the nine-to-five daily grind, thus accentuating our unfettered enjoyment of some great summer jams whilst in the company of friends and loved ones.
Talking of festivals, I’m very easily lured to the stages where melodic indie-pop tunes can be found – the music you hear from established acts such as The Head and the Heart (who I did catch locally al fresco last summer) and Mumford & Sons. Not that you need to rely solely on these big hitters to get your euphoric fix – no, as we have found out over the years, there are many great bands out there who simply raise their game to another level once on the festival stage.
Wind the clock back to a couple of summers ago, and we had the pleasure of discovering Kitchener-Waterloo, ON-based alt-folk band I, The Mountain at one of our favorite small music festivals. Comprised of Matthew Lamers (lead vocals/guitar), Rory McLachlin (guitar/vocals), Allison Dyjach (keyboards/vocals), and Matt Rappolt (percussion/vocals), while it was easy to draw similarities in sound and style to that of fellow Ontarians The Strumbellas, this lively quartet fostered a natural and immediate artist-audience connection that often takes several tunes for most bands to achieve.
Perfectly timed to cash in on those summer vibes once more, I, The Mountain recently released their latest single, “Carry On” – and boy, this brief-but-bodacious 120-second ditty checks every single box that defines an essential summer jam. “The song is about the adventure and exploration of touring Canada, coupled with some self-reflection about our musical aspirations as we grow older,” shares Matt Rappolt. “The song was recorded … in Kitchener, ON by the fine folks [Mitch McCloy and Stephan Tomala] at Canadian Daydream Studio and is the last single release for our upcoming collection, ‘Wildflowers’ due out in full this October.”
The British guy that crossed the ocean and crash landed in central Pennsylvania (to quote Greg Keelor, “And I wonder what am I doing here?”). As the youngest of four siblings, exposure to music from a very early age nurtured my passion and appreciation for many musical genres. Continuing to discover some amazingly diverse and talented musicians based in Canada, I gravitate to live music experiences and remain devoted to spreading the word about such a vibrant music scene.
