The brothers of High Valley, Brad Rempel and Curtis Rempel, are looking forward to getting back on stage and looking ahead to how they will release new songs – all while riding high thanks to the success of their nostalgic single “Grew Up On That.”
On the title track of their latest EP, they sing: “Big dreams on a dirt road with the small town sun sinkin’ / Barbed wire, bonfires, one red light blinkin’ / Home team, blue jeans, let her wear your jacket / Had it so good, didn't know how good we had it.”
The song was co-written by Brad with Ben Stennis and Jaron Boyer and came with a video that features snapshots of the Canadian country duo’s past.
Fans already know Brad and Curtis are two of six children (their parents were born on a Mennonite colony in Mexico) who were raised on a sprawling farm in La Crête, a hamlet of less than 2,500 people located about 700 km north of Edmonton.
After nearly a decade of performing and recording, High Valley made its major label debut with 2016’s Dear Life, which included the No. 1 hit “I Be U Be.”
The Rempel boys have spent the COVID-19 lockdown at their Tennessee homes with their families – Brad and wife Rebekah have two children and Curtis and wife Myranda recently welcomed their third – but emerged this week to shoot a music video. In a tweet on Tuesday, Curtis showcased a particularly bushy beard.
Working on some live videos of songs for you this week! Hope that makes you as happy as it makes us! pic.twitter.com/N4GQ2ACa9e
— HIGH VALLEY (@HIGHVALLEY) August 18, 2020
iHeartRadio.ca caught up with Brad and Curtis via Zoom on Wednesday.
I don’t want to start with controversy but we have to talk about your beard, Curtis.
Curtis: I call it neglect but some people call it men’s fashion, self-grooming. I don’t know, I’ve just been neglecting myself. Definitely it started with the whole quarantine. I haven’t trimmed the length since our "Grew Up On That" video shoot. So, I don’t know, maybe it’s like a music video thing. Maybe I’ll shave it for our next music video.
Speaking of “Grew Up On That,” congratulations on topping the Canadian country radio airplay chart. How does it feel to be No. 1 at home?
Brad: It feels great but it would feel better if we could go home and play shows. We usually look at each other on stage and say ‘Oh wow, this song must have been played a lot.’ You know, when you kind of realize that a song became a hit. So, I’m definitely missing that opportunity right now for sure but we’re so thankful that it happened and it will just make it so much sweeter next time we get to go play.
What do you think it is about the song that is resonating with people?
Curtis: Man, I mean, it’s just an honest song about what our small town was like and I think a lot of people kind of feel that nostalgic thing when they hear us singing about our hometown. I know they are because people have been commenting a lot on the song. It’s the hometown, kind of going-back-in-time type of thing.
Is there anything that you guys grew up on that you miss?
Curtis: One thing I miss is having campfires on a regular basis. It’s a little bit too warm in Tennessee to have a campfire in the summer. That being said, it’s also way too cold in Alberta to have a campfire in the middle of the winter – although I’m sure there are some hardcore Canadians that will argue that one.
Brad: I miss our family. I miss the low-maintenance lifestyle of hey, we were born here, we’re going to die here, in between let’s stay alive. It’s pretty simple. There’s something beautiful about that.
Singing about family is something that’s clearly important to you.
Brad: Yeah, I figure for every song that a different country artist can write about beer, we’re allowed one for our family. So, until they quit doing that we’ll probably stick with our method.
How often do you get back home to see your family?
Curtis: We’ve probably averaged once a year.
Brad: I usually just get there at Christmas
Is it different when you go back? Are you treated like stars or are you just treated like Brad and Curtis?
Curtis: Depends who you talk to. Even within our family. There was this one time we pulled into our sister’s yard and our nieces were like, “High Valley is here!” and they ran inside to tell their mom and dad that Uncle Brad and Uncle Curtis were here. But they were calling us High Valley.
Brad: There was one time when I left the grocery store, it’s called Super J Foods, and I went outside and this lady stops me and says would you be able to come and say “hi” to my kids? They’re in the minivan and they’d like to meet you. So I go out to the minivan and the kids didn’t want to meet me, their mom just kind of did. So there I am doing this undesired meet-and-greet and unfortunately while I’m there a different mom walks up to me and says “My kids are also in the minivan” and I’m like oh boy is this the minivan tour. I didn’t go back for any groceries again that trip.
Are you guys learning something about your own families or yourself since you’ve been stuck together at home?
Brad: I don’t know if I’m learning this about myself … I’m the most impatient person in the world and I’m not good at waiting or sitting still. So, I’m learning that I’ve spent so many years travelling that being home was always a luxury. Now that I can be home whenever I want I’m really noticing my amount of time that I like to spend at home in a row is like one hour. If I’ve bene home for over an hour I’m probably going somewhere. For a drive or something.
Curtis: It takes me more like a week to go stir crazy. We’ve had one show since the end of February so my daughter’s three years old. She doesn’t even remember what February was like or anything before that so now if I go to town for a couple of hours she gets all sentimental and wondering when I’m going to get home and making sure I come give her a kiss even she’s fallen asleep by the time I get back. It’s different because my son, who’s six, I’ve toured a lot and he remembers how much I was gone. My daughter, all she knows is me being home.
How long do you think it’s going to be before you’re on stage again?
Brad: I’m starting to hear about these backyard concerts. It’s becoming the new normal. I do expect by this fall there will quite a bit of those kind of things going on and then by 2021 it will either be back to normal or the new normal but I can’t see artists sitting at home for another year.
What kind of music are you listening to?
Curtis: Have you heard the Frozen 2 soundtrack? That’s pretty much all we’ve been listening to. Don’t knock it until you try it. What I’ve been listening to lately is just a bunch of Ron Block. He plays banjo and sings backup vocals for Alison Krauss. Just a great player, great songwriter, great vocalist. Love his stuff.
Brad: The main song that I’ve had stuck in my head is that “Coffee for Your Head” song [by Canadian musician Powfu ft. Beabadoobee]. At first I thought it was a cool lullaby and now I just think it’s a really cool song.
Curtis: I don’t know if I’ve heard it. I guess if I only spent one hour a week at home maybe I would have heard it.
There have been two EPs since 2016’s Dear Life but no full-length album. Can we expect a new album or are you going to keep putting out EPs and singles?
Brad: I personally hope that we keep doing EPs. I don’t care if they get packaged as albums, that’s fine. If we put out 12 songs in one day people are going to choose three or four of them and the other eight will just kind of not really get heard very much. There’s always going to be hardcore fans that listen to the whole thing, that’s awesome, but I’d rather put out the four or five or six best things we have, wait six months or a year and do it again and keep doing that. If I had it my way we’d put out a new song every single month, period. I have so many demos. I write songs all the time. I’d way rather keep the music coming than do an album every two years.
When did you first hear yourself on the radio?
Curtis: High Valley was on the radio locally before I even joined the band. That would have been in ninety… when was… what was that song, Brad?
Brad: I’m trying to remember. We had a single that got played on like five country stations back in… it was called “Someday” and it was ’99 maybe. Something like that. You were nine years old but you weren’t singing on that one. That was before Curtis.
Curtis: I guess the first time I heard myself it would have been “Stand By You” and I think it was in Cochrane, Alberta.
Brad: We were waiting for the school bus and our town had just got FM radio repeater so there was a town about 70 miles away that had a station. We got it and Jim Witter sang a song called “Stolen Moments” and right after that they played High Valley for the first time that I remember. Those were some exciting, exciting times.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.