-
10 Questions with ... High Valley
March 17, 2013
Have an opinion? Add your comment below. -
BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:
High Valley is Curtis, Brad & Bryan Rempel
1) High Valley, you are a sibling trio! What is it like working with your family performing and making music?
It's kind of like you'd expect. Pretty awesome to hang with your bros all the time, but you also need to make sure you give each other space. We've done a pretty job of finding that balance.
2) What are each of your roles in the trio, and how did they come to evolve over time?
Bryan is the harmony king. He understands the technical side of music the best. He loves the studio and creating cool harmony parts that no one else would think of. Curtis is great at creating hilarious comments, pics, and videos for our online outlets. He also loves "jamming" more than the rest of us and is the best at learning new licks on the mando, banjo or guitar. Brad is kind of a business and marketing nerd and loves the whole networking side of the business, as well as performing and connecting with the crowd live.
3) You guys were born and raised in La Crete, Alberta, Canada, and have recently made the career move to the United States. What made you all decide to head south for the music, and are you all here permanently?
Brad moved here a few years ago. Curtis moved here yesterday :) Bryan primarily still lives in Canada but does spend tons of time here. We came here for the music, the Mexican food and the warm weather.
4) Your current single right now is "Love You For A Long Time." What type of response are you getting from fans and new listeners on its release?
It's been quite amazing and surprising! The main way we can keep tabs on the impact is via iTunes and watching our Twitter and Facebook response! The other day we opened for Phil Vassar in Bristol, VA and the crowd was singing our single back to us! Pretty sweet!
5) Your upcoming album "Love Is A Long Road," is expected out in 2013, and it is your first U.S. album release. Has it been any different creating an album that is expected to release in the U.S. rather than in Canada alone?
Our main concern with each album is to stay true and real and honest to what High Valley is all about. Our second concern is to make sure it sounds and feels better than our previous work! We want people in every country in the world to love it, so we don't really think too much about that aspect.
6) Many songs on the upcoming album are written with songwriters such as Rivers Rutherford, Phil O'Donnell and Jeremy Spillman. What is it like working with these men?
The most amazing thing we've found about Nashville is that almost all majorly successful Country artists and writers are still very humble and easy to work with. It's been so fun working with so many people whos work has impacted our lives!
7) You all have been touring together for 16 years and have opened for many people. However, I have to ask. Were there any good pranks pulled when you were on tour with Arista Nashville artist Brad Paisley?
Brad Paisley has only played Festivals with us. He never played pranks on us. It could be for two reasons. 1. He's scared of us, or 2. He had no idea who we were or why we were there.
8) You all grew up on a 1,400 acre farm in Le Crete, Alberta. Could you tell us what that was like, and how growing up there has shaped your career choice, lifestyle and even work ethic?
We grew up working pretty hard, but so did all our friends, so we never felt like it was a big deal. Growing up on a farm gives you so much desire to be creative since there's really nothing going on unless you create something to do. Our next door neighbor literally was half a mile down a dirt road so we naturally hung out mainly as brothers which helped the band evolve naturally.
9) I understand that back in Le Crete, you guys would have to drive 500 miles just to reach an international airport. That must've taken a great amount of planning when traveling to tour. Do you have any good stories of barely making or even missing a flight since it was so far?
Our stories of almost missing flights mainly have to do with arguing with airline staff about being allowed to carry on our precious cargo of guitars. However, we did pull over to sleep half way to Edmonton one time and slept 2 hrs longer than we expected. We may or may not have pushed the speed limit pretty hard for the final 200 miles!
10) High Valley was recently named 2013's "Ones To Watch" in Billboard and Country Weekly. Could you give us a little insight on what we can expect from the trio in 2013?
We were blown away with the mention from Billboard and Country Weekly! Such good company and definitely something we're really proud of! We'll be on tour with Little Big Town, as well as Alan Jackson this spring! We're also gonna have a new single out to Country Radio this spring before we hit the Summer Festivals all across North America!
Bonus Questions
1) Many siblings have games they played together frequently as children. What was a game or a favorite past time you all would play or do while growing up?
We're pretty good at hockey, monopoly and a weird old school board game us German folks call Knipsdash (in English it's called Crokinole)
2) Want kind of snacks would we find stashed away while you all are out on tour?
We eat tons of chocolate. Biggest weight gain mistake was putting "chocolate covered almonds" on our rider for our last Christmas tour. We also love Ice Cream and Chocolate Ice Cream and Chocolate.
3) Which one of you is the "parents' favorite"?
Curtis is the youngest and lived in Mom and Dad's basement the longest. He probably wins.
-
-