For booking inquires email: kentmcalister at gmail dot com
Spanish-flavoured tales of nautical slavery, witty beer-soaked laments, and the temptation of murderous revenge all mark How I'll Remain, the third release by Kent McAlister & The Iron Choir. Songwriter and front man Kent McAlister captures the grit and honesty of traditional country music, all the while intertwining his music with a progressive mix of rock and jazz.
Recorded by Jesse Gander(The Pack A.D., Black Mountain, Buttless Chaps) at Hive Creative Labs in Burnaby, BC., How I’ll Remain features for the first time, two songs by drummer Brendan Krieg, who joined The Iron Choir in 2007. Add to this a band of the highest-calibre talent Vancouver has to offer, and it's easy to see why they have enthralled audiences coast to coast while gaining a tour van and trailer’s worth of glowing reviews across North America.
Since their humble beginnings in Vancouver, BC in 2004, Kent McAlister & The Iron Choir have continued on a steady upward trajectory. An incessant work ethic has made them one of the busiest touring bands out of Vancouver, and this almost religious devotion to the road has paid off as they have become word-of-mouth favourites across Canada.
After gaining the opening slot on several dates of a western Canadian tour with Corb Lund back in 2004, the band has since played their own sellout shows in Vancouver, Calgary, Winnipeg, and Toronto. They have also landed prime spots playing to thousands at The North Country Fair, Calgary Stampede, and Big Valley Jamboree, and have shared the stage with the likes of The Tennessee Three, Magnolia Electric Co. and Fred Eaglesmith.
Kent McAlister & The Iron Choir show no signs of slowing down as they hit the road in October and onward bringing How I’ll Remain to a town near you.
What they said about the sophomore album, The Way It Rolls:
"...a step in the right direction for anyone looking for a little rustic country amidst their current library...McAlister uses his jazz influences to put a different spin on play-it-again country music. Along with pedal steel and trumpet, McAlister’s smooth vocals give a solid foundation to The Way It Rolls’ more elaborate elements: time changes, breaks, and a mariachi feel that wanders in and out of the melodies." - The Manitoban, 2008
" McAlister and his band The Iron Choir have locked into a spicy play-it-again alchemy on their new album." - FFWD Magazine, 2007
"I would say these guys are writing some of the best Texas swing/country North of Austin, with a little Canuck mixed in for decent measure." - NineBullets.Net, 2007
"The Way It Rolls is fresh, vibrant and sophisticated postmodern country music." - TheRecord.Com, 2007
"The Way it Rolls left me wanting more, not because it lacked anything, rather because it is such a diverse treat. This second release from Kent McAlister & the Iron Choir is packed to the brim with superb, emotion-filled songwriting, excellent arrangements, and outstanding musicianship." - OldBlueBus.Com, 2007
"...Kent McAlister brings a fantastic twist on roots music...(he)showcases a diverse palette and a mature style." - HeroHill.com, 2007
"Sometimes, I wonder why bands from other countries play better Americana than Americans....These Vancouverites know their way around a good song title, a great cover and a heart-wrenching ballad." - staergetaleht.com, 2007
"Live they are blistering hot. They have been together a mere four years but they play like family... instinctive and intuitively." - Scene and Heard, durhamregion.com, 2007
"While there's a definite hard-edge Roots feel to much of McAlister's music, he delivers the material with enough grit and twang to attract country listeners' attention." - Country Music News, 2007
"The Way It Rolls sympathetically captures a love of pre-Urban Cowboy country music, but updates the sound for a modern audience...(it is) an
immanently listenable country album..."- The Red Deer Advocate, 2007
"If this isn’t “The year Kent McAlister gets known”, it’s only because further ahead in time, he breaks even bigger with an album even better than The Way It Rolls. And that’s gonna be tough. McAlister’s voice has developed an earthy luster that lends itself to all the heartache and melancholy his neatly-written twangers can muster. Sometimes pining, sometimes narrating, sometimes confiding, McAlister speaks the true language of country music with a band to match."
-Rick Overwater, BeatRoute Magazine, 2007
"Kent McAlister can definitely croon, and the Iron Choir are masters of some catchy soundscapes..." - The Edmonton Journal, 2007
What They Said about the debut album Memory Replacer:
"A clever wordsmith with a well-wrought, light sense of humour." - The Vancouver Province, 2004
"McAlister's stuff is fresh and inventive, especially the new record, and the band rocked every night on tour with us." - Corb Lund, 2005
"Kent McAlister has enough of a grasp of traditional roots and country music to not be enslaved by it - he can bend the rules to suit his own purposes...so this is yet another Canadian to look out for" - Americana UK, 2006
"...a great mix of old school Country music with an old fashioned urban sensibility to it as well. It's like that perfect pair of boots that you can go hiking in, and still polish up for a night on the town." - Red Cat Records, 2005
"...music that goes down like the easy-smoked flavour of expensive bourbon." - FFWD Magazine, 2005
"...a boot-stompin', tobacco spittin', heart-hurtin' affair...there's no room for filler here; every song stands up to further listening." - VUE Weekly, 2005
For booking inquires email: kentmcalister at gmail dot com
The Way It Rolls is available at CD Baby or for download at KERF Music.
Secure Downloads on KERFMUSIC
Kent McAlister & The Iron Choir's Friend Space (Top 28)
Hey Kent...I see the Re-mains are looking for you...we just did 12 great shows togheter there. Was great partying on the love boat there with ya's, wish I had your disk for my radio show. Keep in touch, cheers..joey
damn i wish i checked my myspace in the last month...too bad It's nice to see some lifesigns! But alas, the coffee shop and rec centre i've been playing at don't run shows anymore. So I am out of the job. I've been playing at open mic in Port Moody and this place in Surrey I hope everything is going great with you, you deserve it. It's nice to see that even when you're famous you take the time to check in with your protege! haha :)
Hey Kent we're trying to round up a few of the locals for our show @ The Anza Club tonight...if you're lookin for somethin to do ..that's where we'll be.....actually i just remembered you're in Calgary now...never mind hope all is well regardless cheers Brian
Very cool new tunes man! Eclectic, dramatic, intelligent. I really enjoy the juxtaposition in the arrangements- asymmetrical yet fluid. And of course, I'm a big fan of the harmonies too.
Can't believe I never saw one of your shows and now you don't live here. Please let me know if you're coming to Van anytime.
Nah it's 9am Friday morning. We got 4 shows this weekend and I got a cracked rib from subduing a rowdy punter last weekend. Can't walk, talk, breathe or sleep. Playin gittar oughta be a hoot. What are you upta?
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