Eric Brombacher, the acoustic guitar and vocals of Toronto based roots-rock outfit Eric & The Soo, found ‘Great Northern Road‘ on Tim Ryan’s debut album ‘The Runner‘ which came out in 1970. Tim Ryan hailed from the same hometown as Eric Brombacher – Sault Ste. Marie (aka ‘The Soo‘) – and as someone who had recently returned to the area to live the album, and this song in particular, really chimed with Eric – so much so that he added ‘Great Northern Road‘ to the band’s repertoire.
It’s a song that’s informed by a nostalgic homeward bound theme, Eric Brombacher puts it this way: “This song really spoke to me as it tells a story that parallels my own life, and the pull that I have always felt towards the beauty of Sault Ste. Marie despite having been away for so long.”
Eric and the Soo formed in 2015 and have two albums to their name, debut album ‘Small Town Dreamer‘ and the follow up ‘Modern Dystopia‘.
