Get moving to the driving rhythm of ‘East Dooley’ from Canada’s Liquor Mountain. Led by frontman Danny Vescarelli, the band surges through the song, with compelling performances from a team of gifted players, including Steven Rozitis on lead guitar, singer Jennifer Crighton and acoustic guitar-player Nathan Godfrey. Propulsive drums and bass from Clayton Smith and Adam Kamis give the song a real sense of drama and energy. Along the way, there are gorgeous pedal steel flourishes from Matty McKay, a five-time CCMA Guitar Player of the Year winner who has toured with Garth Brooks.
Vescarelli was born and raised in Drumheller’s East Coulee region and he clearly has a real affinity with the land there. He also grew up a ‘CMT Kid’ and in ‘East Dooley’ he marries his love of the area with his love of country music. Of course, it’s really the people who inhabit the region that make it special to Vescarelli. During his childhood, he struck up a firm friendship with John Dooley, whose family owned Millarfield Farms and were well-known locally. Amongst other things, the family allowed the land to be used for the filming of Shangai Noon and the landscapes of East Coulee featured in the video are, indeed, wonderful. Also, that is an amazing and very memorable hat, gleaming under the sun and the glare of the car headlights at the end. Sebastian Buzzalino’s video captures both the beauty of Millarfield Farms and the band’s good humour.
‘East Dooley’, of course, has a strong sense of place and connection to the badlands of Alberta. However, perhaps more importantly, it’s about the people who populate the area. Vescarelli says: “The crux of the song is that the area is amazing. It’s beautiful and you can watch the sunset there, but they’ve got the Dooleys, and that’s really why I love it. The lyrics almost become a people over place sentiment, but at the end I have a bit of a wink when I sing ‘and I’ll be seeing you soon.’ That means I’ll be back in East Coulee no matter what.” The song is the title track from Liquor Mountain’s brand new EP, which is out now. Uplifting sounds and great musicianship – enjoy.
