The Sheepdogs

Can true Southern rock come from the north? The Sheepdogs have certainly been making the case since forming in Saskatoon in 2004. Anchored by the soulful, down-home vocals of singer/guitarist Ewan Currie, The Sheepdogs had their sound and vision dialed in from day one, loading up on bell-bottomed ’70s signifiers—punchy Skynyrd swagger, hip-swiveling Allman Brothers boogie, The Band’s life-is-a-carnival bonhomie—as if filling up a bag at a by-the-pound thrift store. But The Sheepdogs largely steer clear of Southern rock’s jammy excesses in favor of huge chorus hooks and sky-high harmonies that recall the power-pop prowess of their fellow Canadians in Sloan. Since their 2011 breakthrough third album, Learn & Burn, The Sheepdogs have expanded their aesthetic without straying from their chosen dirt-road path, whether adding some fuzz-toned Black Keys bounce courtesy of producer Patrick Carney on 2012’s self-titled release or recruiting multi-instrumentalist Jimmy Bowskill to add banjo, mandolin, and pedal-steel textures to 2018’s Changing Colours. The Sheepdogs launched their own Right on Records imprint in 2024 with music that leaned into the classic country-rock sounds of the early Eagles.