Being born and raised on the East Coast of Canada, to me Alberta was where you went to pay off student loans or make cash money to send back to your defeatist-have-not fellow Nova Scotians. A concept album about rural Alberta sounded about as appealing as the latest Nickleback effort. Torontonian group, the Rural Alberta Advantage, have made such an album work with Hometowns. I haven’t managed to get a copy of it yet (it’s available on their website: www.theraa.com), but from what I’ve heard at their recent concert in Ottawa at Cafe Dekcuf and in the songs I have managed to track down, they manage to combine oil, wild roses and the Rockies with a good dose of heartbreak (and  drumming well beyond your average alt-country fare) to craft what I can only assume is an accurate portrayal of life in the Texas of the North.

The Rural Alberta Advantage – Don’t Haunt This Place

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The Rural Alberta Advantage – Frank, AB

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The Rural Alberta Advantage – Sleep All Day (Green Go Remix)

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