It's been a year of changes for Canadian rockers Arkells.
Since releasing their debut full-length album Jackson Square last autumn, the Hamilton quintet has gone from playing sporadic hometown shows to touring coast-to-coast, sharing the stage with such acts as Matt Mays, Pearl Jam and the Black Crowes.
They were also on this year's Polaris Music Prize long list and were Artist of the Year and Album of the Year finalists at the $25,000 Verge Music Awards, held in Toronto this past September.
Last month, the band walked away with the best new artist gong at the 2009 CASBY Awards.
"It's been a really exciting year for us," says Arkells vocalist Max Kerman.
"We've seen a lot of people get into the record and we've been fortunate enough to have some great shows."
Arkells are currently in the middle of their first headlining national tour, which brings them to Calgary tomorrow night for a show downtown at the Royal Canadian Legion No.1 (116 - 7 Ave. S.E.)
Kerman says the band has benefitted from healthy radio play in Canada.
So far, Jackson Square has spawned the catchy modern rock hits Oh, The Boss is Coming, Ballad of Hugo Chavez and Pullin' Punches.
While not ubiquitous, the singles have allowed the album to gain and maintain momentum and certainly helped attract more fans to Arkells' rousing live shows.
"The way the record's grown feels really natural to us," says Kerman.
"It didn't feel like everything changed in one night and we were this huge band.
"The way our fanbase has grown, it still feels like a family. It's cool to play a show with 300 of our closest friends there."
The band's music is a tasty mix of Springsteen-esque working-class cool and Lennon-style melodicism and their lyrics are colourful vignettes of everyday life in The Hammer.
But Arkells' biggest hit so far, Ballad of Hugo Chavez, was written after Kerman read about the Venezuelan president's time in prison in the early '90s.
"He's an interesting guy," Kerman explains.
"I was interested in his background and how he became president. His time in jail was actually spent quite productively. Being thrown in jail can be demoralizing for anyone, but he used the time really, really wisely and I thought that concept was an interesting one."
Kerman admits he and his bandmates -- guitarist Mike DeAngelis, bassist Nick Dika, drummer Tim Oxford and keyboardist/vocalist Dan Griffin -- have joked about the fact they may have pulled a fast one on Canadian radio stations.
"We have this song about a socialist leader in South America, but nobody knows it yet because they're just singing 'Hey, Hey, Hey!' (in the chorus.)"
Arkells have no plans to head into the studio anytime soon as Kerman says the band is hoping to release Jackson Square in Europe and the U.S.
It will be interesting to see how the Americans take to Ballad of Hugo Chavez or the rootsy No Champagne Socialist.
"We'll see when the record is released in the States if they'll even allow it on the album," Kerman says with a laugh.
Here's to hopin'.
