Tupelo Honey reaping rewards

Tupelo Honey has always been about making music together, and now they are riding a wave of popularity that has been missing for a couple of years.

At times it seemed as if they disappeared in the shuffle, but the indie band is back stronger than ever with their latest chart-topping album Brave New World.

Tonight the St. Albert rockers play for the hometown crowd at O’Maille’s Pub, and on Friday, Feb. 28 Tupelo is officially releasing the eagerly anticipated Brave New World at the Pawnshop.

In addition, they are February’s Sonic Band of the Month, and the word just came down the pipe Tupelo garnered two nominations from the 2014 Edmonton Music Awards.

The band, comprised of Dan Davidson (lead vocals), Tyler Dianocky (guitar), Steve Vincent (bass), Greg Williamson (drums), and Brad Simons (guitar), spent close to 18 months on production for Brave New World.

Veterans of the rock scene, they were going for quality and wanted the necessary time to get it right, said Davidson.

And it paid off. On Feb. 5, the rock album shot to No. 6 rock album on iTunes and No. 2 overall across the country, Davidson said.

“It was awesome. It was hard work, but it was worth the rewards.”

And the musicians’ powerful chops were visible on Halo, the first video release. It reached the M3 (formerly MuchMoreMusic) Top 20 countdown.

“This never happens for an indie band. A lot just don’t have video quality.”

The highly rated director Mike Maxxis was the hired gun given the task of filming the award-nominated video. Known for his inventiveness and broad strokes, Maxxis has worked with a roster of national bands including Alexisonfire, Bedouin Sound Clash and Billy Talent.

Shot at winter locations in Golden, Revelstoke and Canmore, Maxxis capitalized on daredevil snowboarders flying over spectacular natural scenery interspersed with images of Tupelo performing on a mountain top.

Thanks to a major marketing deal with Cineplex theatres across Canada, fans get to see Halo on the 50-foot screens for close to three weeks.

“I’m pumped. It makes us look larger than life and that’s what we want to convey,” Davidson said.

The trailer will definitely help legitimize their music. But in the next sentence, he laughed saying, “I keep telling everyone, man, it takes a lot of money to look cool.”

As for the Edmonton Music Awards, Davidson added the band is thrilled to receive two nominations for Single of the Year and Music Video of the Year.

He heard about the nominations while still in bed.

“A couple people texted me to congratulate us. I jumped out of bed and turned on the computer to verify it.”

The intimate O’Maille’s gig tonight is an opportunity for fans to get up close and personal.

“It’s become a yearly thing for family and friends. It’s small capacity, but we always look forward to it. It’s like a friendly kitchen party.”