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Aside from the fact they're playing today at Shediac Can-Am Speedway at Parlee Beach, N.B. as part of this weekend's Summersault rockfest alongside Our Lady Peace and Sloan, the four-piece band is taking advantage of this summer's shows to introduce its new frontman, Newfoundlander Brian Byrne. The replacement for the now-solo singer Edwin, Byrne is a native of Steadybrook, outside Cornerbrook, and grew up, as he puts it, "at the foothills of Marble Mountain."
Byrne gave up medical studies to try his luck in the music biz in Toronto, a gamble that paid off when I Mother Earth selected his demo tape from the hundreds that were sent in during a highly-touted search for a new vocalist. The chemistry was right, and Byrne says the band will be going into the studio this fall to record a new disc for release in the spring.
Although he'd been in a couple of bands before, Byrne admits none of his previous ventures came close to the stature of I Mother Earth, whose free-flowing, psychedelic sound has earned them a devoted following nationwide and cult status south of the border.
He's played a handful of shows with the band so far this summer, and Byrne says his head is still spinning from the experience. For one thing, he'd never been in a band that was signed to a major label before, and just before heading out on the road, I Mother Earth inked a new deal with Mercury/PolyGram.
"Can you imagine? My first record deal, I was so excited!" Byrne says with genuine zeal.
"I wanted to keep the pen, but apparently it was an expensive one so I couldn't," he chuckles.
"It's an absolute thrill for a young person who's looking forward to this. It means I can record an album and go tour after it, and that, to me, is incredibly exciting, it's what I've been wanting to do."
The first big adjustment for Byrne has been the shows. No amount of rehearsal can adequately prepare you for singing in front of over 25,000 people after your last band only played a handful of gigs in Toronto clubs.
"I just take tons of lithium," he laughs. "I don't, actually. We did these smaller shows in Kingston and North Bay, and people were so incredibly receptive of what was going on. I had like a minor heart attack or something, but I took a bunch of deep breaths and we just did it.
"A crowd of 500 doesn't compare with a crowd of 25,000. I guess something can always go wrong, but the guys' confidence in me really helped with this. It wasn't just me going out there to display all my wares to the world. I'm with a bunch of players who have been doing this for a long time and they think I can do it, so let's go."
On Thursday, they played on Byrne's home turf in Newfoundland, at Bowring Park. The blonde, tattooed belter said earlier this week he could barely contain his excitement.
"I cannot wait for St. John's. I've got about 14,000 people on the guest list right now. It's just going to be incredible to go back home. Probably everybody in the front is going to be friends and family, that's going to be something else. I don't really know what to expect, but I have a feeling it's going to be a really great day."
And it was. Despite 10 degree Celsius temperatures and heavy drizzle, more than 15,000 people showed up to welcome Byrne home.