Music Profile: The Snake Oil Salesmen

“We’ve taken small town sensibilities, infused them with loss and pain, shaken the mixture over tears both joyous and desperate, boiled it furiously in an extract of love and lust, and then bottled it all. The result is a passionate, delicious blend of rockin, groovin, story-tellin’, and musicking that bites like a prairie rattler, goes down like a fine wine and tosses your inhibitions to the wind” –  Shane Bellegarde.

Regina rock/country band, The Snake Oil Salesmen grew up in the small towns and First Nations around Southern Saskatchewan, each band member coming from long lines of storytellers, musicians and healers. They had traveled their own paths, chasing adventure, all while walking that same line between country and rock and roll, partying in those crowded kitchens where Johnny Cash was played along side Guns and Roses. They settled in The Queen City (Regina) and lay roots as tradesmen, paying with their backs, the cost of living.

Life went on this way, and might have forever, had it not been for the blues. Each of the future Salesmen (Shane Bellegarde, Vocals/Guitars, Danny Blondeau, Vocals/ Lead Guitar, Sterling Brass, Bass Guitar) found the blues in it’s most potent; drop you to the floor hues. Loss and pain aren’t too easy to explain and each case was unique but they found common relief in sobbing their stories, screaming their tales and finally singing their songs from whichever part of them hurt the most. Realizing that some strange combination of emotion and song had briefly cured what ailed them, they craved more. The Snake Oil Salesmen drank deep the elixir of music and found one another at the bottom of the bottle.

Since Feb 2011, The Snake Oil Salesmen have been sharing their remedy in saloons, taverns, shindigs, barns, bars and bedrooms, developing their potency and flavor along the way. They will be arriving in cities across Canada soon with a 10 song album…and a powerful stage show that will lift the souls of the down-trodden and relieve the worries of the listener if only for a night… or until they play the CD they just bought.

UPDATE:

The Snake Oil Salesmen will be performing Friday, December 13th @ Painted Hand Casino in Yorkton, SK!

CHECK THEM OUT ON-LINE:

www.reverbnation.com/thesnakeoilsalesmen

www.facebook.com/thesnakeoilsalesmen

Story originally published in RezX Summer Premier Edition, July, 2013