Our proclivity for Canadian music has slowly taken us by surprise over the years, and continues to do so.

One of our favorite acts north of the border is The Sadies. We've reviewed and interviewed them throughout our history, and hope to capture them in a video interview sometime, as we did recently with their paisanos Blackie and the Rodeo Kings.

For one thing, we never get to talk with bassist Sean Dean or drummer Mike Belitsky, which we'll have to remedy the next time around. The Good brothers, Dallas and Travis, are each fascinating and diverse characters that front the band. Travis is the kind of consumed and consummate guitarist that seems rarely to set the thing down, at home or on the road. Dallas is also a great player, but plays keys sometimes and gets more wrapped up in the lyric side of things as well. They are five years apart, and different to talk to, which makes the conversations interesting.

After a rather monumental 2 disc Live record that featured a long list of luminary friends, The Sadies embarked on a soundtrack for the movie Tales Of The Rat Fink, about the life and times of the outrageous cartoonist Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, whose work swept through 60's culture. The Sadies were perfect for this film, since their breakneck instrumentals and genre bending attitudes ran parallel to the subject himself. Surf, Country, Psychedelia, Spaghetti Western, Punk, Bluegrass, Folk, Rock--it's all there in the Sadies music, and much more.

The latest release, New Seasons, is a return to the studio; it's a great batch of new tunes that run their fabulous gamut, produced this time by Jayhawks icon Gary Louris, half in Canada at Greg Keelor's (Blue Rodeo) place and the other half in the new heart of audio bohemia, Paco Loco's studio in Cadiz, Spain. Cameos include their talented parents and uncles, known in the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame as the Good Brothers. They sometimes gig together as The Good Family. However you cut or combine it, it's some of the finest music out there, as many stars they've backed up (Kris Kristofferson and Neko Case among them) will attest. And now, in turn, conversations with Travis and Dallas Good, of The Sadies.

                            continue to the interview with Travis