Monday, August 9, 2010

Artist: Strato-Chief, Album: Turbines For Speed, Song: Freight Train

"Wish I was a freight train baby.  Wish I was a diesel locomotive.  I'd come whistlin' down your track.  Crashin' through your door."  Fred Eaglesmith penned it and Strato-Chief turned into a dark and gritty country song.  This track should be in a Quentin Tarantino movie.  This six piece was somewhat of an indie supergroup in Toronto.  Toronto has always had a strong country/rockabilly scene that has produced a number of great bands over the years.  Greg McConnell, Vaughn Passmore and Johnny Trash were all previous members of a band called the Absolute Whores in the 80's.  Vaughn was known as Blind Pig Neuton and Greg was Ugly Dick.  Throw in Scott B. Sympathy, a well known soloist, Hurtin' Al Piggins and Derek Downham and you had Strato-Chief.  The album is solid featuring songs of other local musician's like Eaglesmith, Bob Snider and Scott B.Sympathy as well as a cover of the Moody Blues' classic, Nights in White Satin.  The band's founder and bassist, Greg McConnell passed away a year after it's release.  The band continued playing and released one more album dedicated to his memory.  Unfortunately, this release isn't available for download on Itunes or Amazon.com.  You can buy new copies of the Cd at Amazon.ca for $11.99.  There was also one vendor on ebay selling a copy for $17.99.  Thanks for reading and enjoy!