Hey Romeo is ready to offer listeners its most recent efforts, with “Ride with Me,” a follow up to the 2014 EP
“I Got This,” being released out September 25.
The band, featuring Drumheller’s Rob Shapiro, continues to grow musically and with “Ride with Me,” they have taken more control in the production.
“What set this record apart from past efforts,” said Shapiro “was taking the vision in our own hands.”
“This time we were driving the ship more than in the past,” guitarist Darren Guznowsky adds. “People often say ‘We love your records but they don’t sound like the live show.’ The idea here was to get as close to what Hey Romeo sounds like live and I think we captured that.”
The album was written over the course of 2013 and 2014, with co-writers Brad Crisler (Brooks & Dunn, Trace Adkins), Carolyn Dawn Johnson, Jess Lee, Clay Mills (Darius Rucker, Trisha Yearwood) and Walt Aldridge (Bobby Wills, Kira Isabella, Sons of the Desert), and co-produced by Johnny Gasparic of Calgary’s MCC Studios.
“We spent a year writing in and out of Nashville but we actually recorded it in Calgary at MCC Studios. Really loved the experience as we produced it ourselves and made a record we’re really happy with,” Shapiro told The Mail.
While the album comes out September 25, the band released the single “Pushing up Daisies” in late August.
“Our friends Carolyn Dawn Johnson, Brad Crisler and MacKenzie Porter wrote it and we were surprised we got it as a single. It rocks and we have had great feedback so far!” said Shapiro.
Local listeners will not only recognize the music, but also the look of the new album, with photos showcasing the Drumheller valley.
“Once we finished the record the promotion part of it takes over and we needed new photos. Our photographer had this idea about shooting photos in her favourite place, Drumheller! I said no kidding, well, let’s do it!” said Shapiro.
They used social media to help with arrangements and made a call out on Facebook for a classic car.
“Fellow car lover Ray Tremblay responded with a beautiful shot of Dave Anderson’s classic Ford Galaxie, it was perfect. Big thank you to the Anderson family for lending us their sweet ride for the day, the photos will be used to promote the record this year.”
And a busy year it was, with a trip to the Big Valley Jamboree this summer.
“BVJ is the highlight of the summer for festivals, we haven’t been there for a few years so it was quite a good time to hit the stage. We had great weather and a standing ovation at the end of the set, we had a little home field advantage with us being an Edmonton band,” he said. “It’s been great as they offered us shows when we first started making records in 2006 which gave us confidence to a young band to write, record and just get down the road.”
