After a weekend rampant with speculation, Joel Plaskett has confirmed that his beloved former band, Thrush Hermit, will indeed be reuniting for a short string of dates in 2010.
Among the most respected and emulated artists to emerge during the mid-'90s Halifax pop explosion, bolstered by Sloan's Murderecords, Thrush Hermit featured Plaskett, Rob Benvie, Ian McGettigan and Cliff Gibb. When Gibb departed in 1999, drummer Benn Ross joined the Hermit to tour behind what was arguably their best record, Clayton Park.
Since the band's demise, Plaskett has gone on to a storied solo career, Benvie has dabbled in music, but is mostly immersed in writing as a novelist, and McGettigan has been playing on and producing records by others, most notably those of the Joel Plaskett Emergency.
In an Exclaim! exclusive, Plaskett answered questions about the reunion in an email interview this morning:
So, is there a Thrush Hermit reunion of any kind happening? If so, where and when will this take place?
Joel Plaskett: Yep! In March. Not sure if the dates are totally locked down yet but it's looking like Moncton, two nights in Halifax, Ottawa and two nights in Toronto. Maybe one more somewhere else in Ontario. Wish we could go out west but we gotta keep it brief.
What exactly prompted this particular reunion show/tour? Who initiated it?
JP: Rob may have brought it up first. We'd been batting it around casually for about a year, but we wanted to make sure the timing made sense.
Is this a one-off or is there any possibility that a tour or further collaboration might happen?
JP: As it stands, this is a one-off tour. We're all busy with our own agendas and we wanted to do this, so we are all pressing pause on our other lives to make it happen in March.
How do you feel about getting the band back together to play again?
JP: I'm super-excited to rock out with the boys again... and to play some serious riffs.
Here are all the Thrush Hermit reunion tour dates announced so far:
3/19 Halifax, NS - Paragon Theatre
3/20 Halifax, NS - Paragon Theatre
3/24 Peterborough, ON - The Historic Red Dog
3/25 Ottawa, ON - New Capital Music Hall
3/26 Toronto, ON - Lee's Palace
3/27 Toronto, ON - Lee's Palace
Among the most respected and emulated artists to emerge during the mid-'90s Halifax pop explosion, bolstered by Sloan's Murderecords, Thrush Hermit featured Plaskett, Rob Benvie, Ian McGettigan and Cliff Gibb. When Gibb departed in 1999, drummer Benn Ross joined the Hermit to tour behind what was arguably their best record, Clayton Park.
Since the band's demise, Plaskett has gone on to a storied solo career, Benvie has dabbled in music, but is mostly immersed in writing as a novelist, and McGettigan has been playing on and producing records by others, most notably those of the Joel Plaskett Emergency.
In an Exclaim! exclusive, Plaskett answered questions about the reunion in an email interview this morning:
So, is there a Thrush Hermit reunion of any kind happening? If so, where and when will this take place?
Joel Plaskett: Yep! In March. Not sure if the dates are totally locked down yet but it's looking like Moncton, two nights in Halifax, Ottawa and two nights in Toronto. Maybe one more somewhere else in Ontario. Wish we could go out west but we gotta keep it brief.
What exactly prompted this particular reunion show/tour? Who initiated it?
JP: Rob may have brought it up first. We'd been batting it around casually for about a year, but we wanted to make sure the timing made sense.
Is this a one-off or is there any possibility that a tour or further collaboration might happen?
JP: As it stands, this is a one-off tour. We're all busy with our own agendas and we wanted to do this, so we are all pressing pause on our other lives to make it happen in March.
How do you feel about getting the band back together to play again?
JP: I'm super-excited to rock out with the boys again... and to play some serious riffs.
Here are all the Thrush Hermit reunion tour dates announced so far:
3/19 Halifax, NS - Paragon Theatre
3/20 Halifax, NS - Paragon Theatre
3/24 Peterborough, ON - The Historic Red Dog
3/25 Ottawa, ON - New Capital Music Hall
3/26 Toronto, ON - Lee's Palace
3/27 Toronto, ON - Lee's Palace