Cannons is a Canadian band that consists of Shaun Francisco, Mike Hogg, Marty Sobb, Nick Beaton and Mark Laforest.
Their new EP, Written on the Wall, was released last month and includes the single “Toy House.”
If you haven’t discovered Cannons, here’s a little about the band and its members.
- Cannons is based in Ottawa and a pair of songs on the new EP were recorded at Raven Street Studios in the nation’s capital.
- The band was originally named Autumns Cannon because it was formed in the fall and they felt their sound was explosive.
- In 2010, the band won $150,000 in an Ottawa radio station’s contest.
- The band’s 2013 album Open Letter was recorded at The Tragically Hip’s studio near Kingston, Ont.
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- The band has opened for acts like ZZ Top and The Goo Goo Dolls. “When you walk into an arena and you’re opening for ZZ Top you put on your big boy pants and provide the kind of show worthy of a band like that and their fans,” Sobb recalled. “I grew up with both ZZ Top and the Goo Goo Dolls and it’s something special and career changing to share the stage with them, have dinner in the same room with them, and hearing that they really appreciated what we did.”
- Autumns Cannon also shared stages with Canadian music veterans Bryan Adams, Tom Cochrane and 54-40.
- The band lost momentum after it lost its deal with 604 Records and manager, Jonathan Simkim. Francisco told Ottawa Beat the experience was paralyzing and “depressing.”
- The band changed its name on the advice of legendary rock producer Bob Ezrin, who told them Autumns Cannon was “the worst band name ever!”
- Cannons shares a name with an indie band in California. The two bands have very different sounds, though.
- Francisco, a native of Maple Ridge, B.C., was a Top 24 competitor on Canadian Idol in 2008.
- Sobb rescued a dog he and his girlfriend found in the middle of a road in Turks and Caicos (they named it Gracie) and a dog they found living under a car in the Bahamas (they named it Carli).
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- Laforest, Cannons’ bass player, lists Megadeth, Metallica, Led Zeppelin and Canadian acts Matthew Good and Arkells among his musical influences.
- For Written on the Wall, Cannons called in some big guns: producer/songwriter Gavin Brown (The Tragically Hip, The Trews and Billy Talent); producer John Angus MacDonald, co-founder of The Trews; and Juno-winning engineer Ken Friesen (The Tragically Hip, Blue Rodeo, Great Big Sea).
- There are six songs on the EP, which is available at iTunes.
- According to Hogg, if you think Cannons sounds good on your iPod, you need to catch them live. “We sound pretty damn good on record, but live is where you really need to experience us at our best,” he said. “We leave everything up on that stage.”
- Cannons will play Dec. 12 in Arnprior with The Trews but if you don’t already have a ticket, you’re out of luck. The show is sold out.
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