by Sarah Chauncey

Tribe: Pam Brennan (vocals, percussion, keyboards), Rory Dyck (vocals, guitars), Ari Tapiero (drums, percussion), Stuart Watkins (bass, vocals)
Tunes: super-groovy power pop with a twist
To Contact: To contact: P.O. Box 4824, Station E, Ottawa, ONT K1S 5H9 (613) 231-1295

If Ron McLean ever decides he’s tired of Hockey Night in Canada, he might consider taking up a job in A&R. Seems that Don Cherry’s sidekick took a liking to this Ottawa quartet and phoned up Kneal Mann, Music Director at 102.1 The Edge (CFNY) in Toronto. Mann thought the band had potential, and by mid-June, they had a spot on the CFNY New Music Search CD and a coveted Saturday night slot at NXNE.
Hennessey began as a duo with songwriter/guitarist Rory Dyck (September Child) and singer Pamela Brennan (Watercan). In 1996, the two recorded what they thought would be five demos with producer Trina Shoemaker (The Tragically Hip, Sheryl Crow, Midnight Oil). They returned to Ottawa, added drummer Ari Tapiero and bassist Stuart Watkins, and over the following year, recorded the rest of Dig it Up. “Whenever we got 50 bucks, we’d go in and do a vocal track, or spend a couple hours in the studio. We kind of finished it piecemeal like that, when we had a bit of money.” Dyck’s guitars (a Paul Reed Smith and “an old Ovation with really thick strings”) and a large part of the vocals were laid down at Sound of One Hand in the capital city.
The band then headed to London for a three-day mixing session with Dan Broadbeck, who Dyck had worked with and trusted. Broadbeck tweaked the band’s sound – which is not unlike a more melodic Letters to Cleo – And the rest is Music Night in Canada.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 9th, 1998 at 1:31 pm and is filed under Showcase. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.