JOHNSON CROOK HAVE A NATURAL AUTHENTICITY,
Though formed in Toronto, rising roots-rock quartet Johnson Crook’s members originate from small towns across North America, lending the harmony-laden and musically proficient altcountry of their 2017 debut, “The Album,” a natural authenticity.
Bass player Jared Craig hails from Greensburg, Pa., while brothers Nathan (lead guitar and mandolin) and Trevor Crook (drums) are from Minnedosa, Man., and rhythm guitarist Noel Johnson (who, like all of the other members, also sings) was born in Cochrane, Alta.
The band’s latest single, “Mr. Nobody,” features Can-rock legend Tom Cochrane on vocals, a guest appearance that came about via Bill Bell, producer of “The Album,” and Cochrane’s longtime guitar player and musical director.
Perhaps fittingly, given the group’s small-town origins, the collaboration was made possible after the group issued a friendly invite to their producer to attend a band family dinner, which then led to an impromptu jam session that extended deep into the night.
“None of us are from Toronto, so we’ll pretty regularly have little get together, dinners and whatnot,” said Craig in a phone interview this week. “We were having a band family dinner, and had invited Bill along, and he said, ‘Oh, well actually I have a private gig with Tom, but I might swing by afterwards.’ And he did swing by, and brought Tom with him, and we ended up playing music and hanging out till late in the evening. And one of the songs that we played through was “Mr. Nobody,” and Tom really liked that song, it really stuck with him.’”
As well as helping to initiate their ongoing friendship with Cochrane, Craig said Bell understood the band’s musical vision right from the get-go.
“From square 1, we musically connected with him. We had told him, ‘We want our album to represent our live show, we want it to be as real as possible,’ ” he said. “He really knew how to get us immediately on the path to accomplish the sound we wanted. But also he is such a fabulous, fantastic musician that he didn’t let anything slide. If there was a harmony that was not quite right — I mean, in the studio we would tweak even if it was just one note within one person’s line — he would be on top of that.”
The leadoff track on “The Album” is called “Minnedosa,” a universal ode to life in a small town (“If I could only put the bottle down / I will escape this town”). Though the members of Johnson Crook grew up hundreds of miles apart, Craig said their similar upbringings helped them develop a bond.
“We all kind of understood what it’s like growing up in a town where there’s nothing to do on a Friday or Saturday night, or the best option you have to go see something cool is driving a halfhour to an hour away,” he said, adding that this has “really helped us become better friends, and that inherently helps make a band a little better and a little tighter.”
One of the most striking features of the band is the four-part harmonies that drive each song, something that Craig said the group began doing “almost the very first time that we got together.”
That was when the Crook brothers joined Johnson and Craig for what was initially a one-off collaboration at a weekly residency the latter two had secured at the Cameron House in Toronto.
“Instantly, everybody found their space,” Craig said, and Johnson Crook was born soon after. The band’s four-part singing and acclaimed live shows have helped set them apart, Craig said.
“Right now, we’re kind of considered a country band, and there’s not a lot of country bands active on the scene, especially in Canada right now, where everybody’s playing, everybody’s singing, and there’s no backup tracks, there’s no artificial anything, everything is live and real. Not that there’s anything wrong with backup tracks or whatever. That’s perfectly fine and an industry standard at this point, but we really prided ourselves on, ‘No, let’s do this for real,’ and we work to make sure that the harmonies are tight,” he said, adding that even the group’s pre-show preparations maintain a familyband vibe.
“I mean, we’ll sing together in the car on the way to a gig. Usually before every live performance, even if it’s at a bar like playing The Boathouse in Kitchener, we’ll find a little place to squirrel away just before going on stage, and we’ll sing through an a capella number that we do, just to reel everybody in and (to say), ‘OK, here we go, about to do a show, let’s do good.’ ”