Brad, Bryan and Curtis Rempel – High Valley on the Ranch!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZTmv1UMebc
Boy, you never know who’s going to show up here on the range!
I just had a lovely visit with five brothers whose band has been on the Billboard charts since February. Brad Rempel, who along with his brothers Bryan and Curtis comprises the country band, High Valley, and they overnighted at the ranch because TONIGHT they are onstage in the down home, friendly community of Leslieville, Alta., located about an hour west of Red Deer off Highway 11. The band will be headlining the Canadian Country Music Awards in a few weeks.
“It’s easy to hit the big cities and call it a year,” says Brad, “but we tend to play the smaller centers as often as the cities – especially a place like Cochrane, which is just outside of Calgary, or Rimbey, Leslieville…
By the way, Brad says Leslieville is a city compared to their hometown of LaCrete, Alta. (Which, by the way, has an award-winning rodeo and rodeo committee.)
Their latest CD, self titled High Valley, will be released in September and distributed by Universal.
“We describe our music as country; we sing about God, about family – and a lot about farming,” says Brad, grinning. I asked what drew this trio of young, good looking brothers to this genre of music.
“What draws us to this type of music is the way we were raised,” Brad explains. “Both our parents were born ‘horse and buggy’ Mennonite in Mexico – no electricity or anything. Our grandpa bought a ’53 GMC grain truck, and they got kicked out of the colony and excommunicated from the church…because they owned a truck. So he packed up his wife and kids in the box of the grain truck and they drove to Canada – long story short; that’s our family history,” says Brad.
“So we were raised in a real conservative environment and grew up singing harmony in church – because we’re brothers it’s easy to sing three-part harmony – and because we grew up on a farm (LaCrete, Alta.,) we don’t sing that real pop-country harmony. But we’re young so we still have the influence from Keith Urban and all those guys,” says Brad.
He pauses then grins; “We’re more like…if Alabama was young today – that type of sound. We’re taking three-part harmony and telling stories of family.”
High Valley has been a 14-year ‘overnight success’ in the making; “Brian was 9 and I was twelve,” explains Brad, “Curtis was still in diapers.”
Brad and his wife recently moved to Nashville.
High Valley’s latest single is On The Combine and their previous single; Stand By You, hit the top 20 on Billboard and it has been on the charts since February. The video accompanying On the Combine was shot with World Harvest for Kids – literally a grassroots (grainroots?) movement of direct charity. Their latest release, On the Combine plays over the Guinness World Book of Records record-breaking combine run. Imagine 200 combines all cutting at the same time and all the grain being donated to feed the hungry children.
Not only are these young men exceptionally talented, but they’re also the kind of guys you’d want as neighbours.
You can catch their performance tonight, Monday, Aug 9th at 7 p.m., in Leslieville at the Leslieville Hall (it’s not hard to find) – or you can wait and catch their performance at the Canadian Country Music Awards.
Trust me; these boys are worth the drive! For more info, especially photos – visit www.highvalleymusic.com or www.centricitymusic.com. To see them on You Tube, visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZTmv1UMebc