Reuben and the Dark are a Canadian indie folk band originally from Calgary, Alberta. Frontman Reuben Bullock, now based on Vancouver Island, took some time to tell us about performing, life on the road, and how the group’s music was part of a huge Hollywood blockbuster.
He’s particularly excited to be playing three big shows in Alberta this summer. The band will be at Hinton’s Wild Mountain Music Festival in July, and at the Edmonton Folk Music Festival in August. A show in Drumheller at summer’s end might be the one Bullock is looking forward to the most.
“We played the Badlands Amphitheatre last year, opening for The Dead South,” he says. “Now they’ve asked us to come back as headliners.”
A North American tour, planned for October, will take Reuben and the Dark all over the continent. Like many musicians, Bullock looks forward to performing live, even though travel can be tiring. “I love touring. Every single night makes the travel worthwhile. When the show comes to an end, I’m not thinking about how long the travel day was. And when the tour is done, I feel the same way. You remember the beautiful stuff when you look back on a tour.”
One recent collaboration has made Bullock particularly grateful. Since 2020, Reuben and the Dark and Bullhorn Singers have made music together. Bullhorn Singers are traditional powwow musicians from the Blood Tribe, Kainai Nation of the Blackfoot Confederacy. This collaboration led to their music being included in Martin Scorsese’s 2023 film Killers of the Flower Moon
Killers of the Flower Moon tells the true story of oil discovered on tribal land in 1920s Oklahoma, and the murder of numerous members of the Osage Nation.
“I saw a trailer from Killers of the Flower Moon before it was released,” says Bullock. “I said right away that we need to do something with this.” A trip to LA with Bullhorn Singers allowed them to be in the recording studio together. That led to a surreal phone call, in which Martin Scorsese and his people asked if they could use the music. Bullock works regularly to promote his music in the film industry and write songs specifically for movies. He credits this turn of events to “some luck, and a strong team.”
Bullhorn Singers will be with Reuben and the Dark at two summer gigs this year: Edmonton Folk Music Festival and the Badlands Amphitheatre show in Drumheller. Says Bullock, “We love performing, and I always feel good when I’m playing for people.”
Find tour dates and more info about Reuben and the Dark at reubenandthedark.com
Programming Note: On July 8’s Catch and Release, host Kerry Clarke shone the spotlight on Hinton’s Wild Mountain Music Festival. She spoke with Reuben and the Dark and other festival guests. Find the program OnDemand.
“Midnight Sun” performed by Reuben and The Dark and Bullhorn Singers
