Although Lac La Biche-area musicians Tim Plamondon and Brendan McGonigle are in a band called Tanner Gordon & The Unfortunates, it doesn’t mean they’re having bad luck. In fact, after two years of writing songs, recording music, and playing shows to appreciative audiences, they’ve scored the coveted Band of the Month honour from Edmonton radio station Sonic 102.9.
The two formed Stick Figure while they were going to JAWS, which remained a popular band in Lac La Biche until they called it quits in 2008. While Plamondon, 24, was working in Edmonton in 2009, he started jamming with his co-worker Tanner Gordon – a young folk musician who was looking for a guitar player to round out his live show. After volunteering his guitar services for a couple shows, Plamondon introduced his drummer-friend McGonigle. When they added Bryce Thornton on lead guitar, Plamondon picked up the bass and Tanner Gordon & The Unfortunates were born.
“We’ve been playing shows non-stop,” Plamondon said. “And our album is coming out next month, it’s called: We Talked of Shadows.”
He describes the band’s sound as folk with a modern-rock edge.
“Its alternative rock but it’s got Tanner’s traditional, folk tones underlying,” Plamondon said. “It’s hard to describe – maybe I’d call it aggressive-soft.”
Despite being tough to define, their band has been gaining momentum. Being Sonic’s Band of the Month means for all of November tens of thousands of people are listening to their music on a daily basis. It also means they get to play a feature show at the Pawn Shop, a leading live-music venue on Whyte Avenue, and they’ll be profiled in the Edmonton Journal and Vue Weekly – all amounting to great exposure for an up-and-coming band.
“Basically, we brought [our demo] to Sonic’s music director,” Plamondon said. “After listening to it, he basically asked us: ‘what month would you like to be?’”
When asked if they have a strategy to capitalize on the BOTM bump, he said all he knows is that Tanner Gordon & The Unfortunates will be playing and writing a lot of music.
“It’s not like we have a five-year plan – we don’t even have a five-week plan,” Plamondon laughed. “We just want to play a lot of shows.”
After playing together for 11 years now, Plamondon and McGonigle can probably almost read each other’s minds on stage – a perfect combo for a rhythm section. He said their live show is rock n’ roll, which means what they lack in polish they make up for in energy.
“It’s good, honest rock n’ roll,” he said. “We don’t sound formulated, pre-recorded, like we’re a metronome. You’re going to hear us working stuff out on stage – but it works somehow.”
And the band has brought that honest sound to Lac La Biche. Their new single ‘Hurt no More’ is getting airtime on local radio and they played a show at Portage College two months ago. By constantly honing their craft by staying in front of an audience, the band has had their share of interesting shows.
“We played a battle of the bands where we ended up showing a lot of the younger bands how to perform live,” Plamondon said. “So if a band didn’t have a drummer, Brendan would sit in; if they needed someone on bass, then I’d play. Then we played the headlining show after that.”
To support the local boys and hear Tanner Gordon & The Unfortunates play their BOTM showcase, head to the Pawn Shop at 8 p.m. on Nov. 25. Tickets are $5 at the door.