The Denim Daddies are preparing to play KDays this summer, but it won’t be their first time playing the Edmonton midway.
The Edmonton band, which consists of guitarist/vocalist Andrew Brostrom, bassist/vocalist Kurtis Cockerill, pedal steel guitarist Booker Diduck, keyboardist Sahil Chugh, and drummer/vocalist Matt King, took to the KDays stage in 2018.
“We opened for Cheap Trick,” says Cockerill. “We got to meet Rick Nielsen, and he showed us all his old guitars. It was pretty cool.”
“We play with a lot of great people,” says Bostrom, mentioning Amy Nelson and Mariel Buckley as friends who are well-known in the Alberta alt-country scene. “Sometimes we play with other artists, and then your audience will be people who know that kind of music. But when you play something like KDays, those people might hear us for the first time. It’s reaching new listeners.”
In addition to KDays, The Denim Daddies have other summer shows lined up, and they are particularly excited to be booked for the Canmore Folk Festival. “That’s a big one for us,” says Cockerill. They mention the Jasper Legion is a favourite venue, and they’ll play there in August. They’ll also play the inaugural “Down by the River” festival at Edmonton’s Louise McKinney Riverfront Park in September.
The band has one album, Northern Goods, and they hope to get back to recording soon. “We did our first album live off the floor, and maybe next we will get into tracking different parts, separately,” says Cockerill.
Before our visit ends, we note that Father’s Day is just around the corner. Who better to ask about Father’s Day Music than the daddies? The Denim Daddies, that is.
We put in front of them five famous songs about fathers, and we ask Bostrom and Cockerill to rank them. Here’s where they landed:
Kurtis:
1 “Cat’s in the Cradle” – Harry Chapin
2 “Papa Was a Rolling Stone” – The Temptations
3 “Daddy Sang Bass” – Johnny Cash
4 “My Father’s House” – Bruce Springsteen
5 “Papa Don’t Preach” – Madonna
Andrew:
1 “My Father’s House” – Bruce Springsteen
2 “Cat’s in the Cradle” – Harry Chapin
3 “Daddy Sang Bass” – Johnny Cash
4 “Papa Was a Rolling Stone” – The Temptations
5 “Papa Don’t Preach” – Madonna
Check out The Denim Daddies on the CKUA Stage at KDays on July 18. Find info here.
You can also see them at the Canmore Folk Festival, August 2 – 4. Find info here.
For info about other Denim Daddies gigs, go to thedenimdaddies.com.
