High Valley, the country band composed of brothers Curtis and Brad Rempel, hail from just outside the hamlet of La Crete, Alberta, more than 700 kilometres north of Edmonton.
According to Curtis Rempel, as far back as 1996 he and his brothers made music together. He remembered his older brother Brad, then 12 years old, calling radio stations and festivals trying to land gigs.
鈥淎nd nobody said yes because honestly the music wasn鈥檛 very good,鈥� he said with a somewhat humiliated chuckle.
But that changed in 2001, when the boys traveled to Nashville鈥攖he hub of country music鈥攖o cut a record.
According to Rempel, a smooth talking producer from Nashville had come across the boys鈥� music and got Poppa Rempel on the phone, promising to make them famous if their father paid him enough.
He didn鈥檛 fall for the pitch, but it did start the wheels spinning in his brain. He made some phone calls, mortgaged part of his farm, and flew his boys down to Nashville to record, after which they took off across the country on tour.
And although Brad and Curtis haven鈥檛 looked back since. Their brother Brian did, leaving the band not long ago to raise his family back in La Crete.
Rempel said it was tough to see their brother go, but it did force him and Brad to 鈥渉it the reset button,鈥� and take a whole new look at their sound.
The band鈥檚 newest album is crisply produced, with a polished pop-country sound. It鈥檚 somewhat of a departure from their earlier efforts, but one that has vaulted them to a new level of popularity.
It鈥檚 a sound with more mainstream appeal, with well-known pop country chords soaring over simple mandolin and banjo riffs. And aside from the production, the whole feel of the album is really a direct result of the influence of the masses.
Deciding on the final track list, the band released about 50 demos to its fan club, and asked them to weigh in on their favourites. Rempel said the band tallied up votes for each song, and after some input from industry experts collected the most popular ones for the final cut of County Line.
It was an interesting experience for the guys: some songs they loved didn鈥檛 connect with the fans, and others they didn鈥檛 consider front-runners ended up the most popular.
鈥淪ometimes as a musician you expect certain songs to blow people鈥檚 minds, and they don鈥檛. And it鈥檚 helpful to have that feedback so that you don鈥檛 make a bad decision when you鈥檙e trying to pick singles and that kind of thing,鈥� Rempel said.
鈥淯ltimately when you鈥檙e making music as a musician you want to make music for yourself and for the fans. So that鈥檚 who helped decided.
鈥淲e want to make sure that we put our fans first, and ultimately without them we don鈥檛 have a career. We want to make them happy, we want them to love what we鈥檙e doing. So we will cater to their needs.鈥�
Commercially, that strategy has paid off. High Valley is currently headlining a tour across the country, and is now seeing more commercial success than ever before.
Rempel said it鈥檚 exciting to finally see people singing along at shows, and being more familiar with their music.
鈥淪ome people say it takes 13 years to become an overnight success, and in our case it鈥檚 more like 18 years. It鈥檚 been a long time, lots of hard work, and the last few years have definitely started to pay off, and it鈥檚 been amazing.鈥�
Trevor Nichols
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