Song of the Day: The Rural Alberta Advantage - Rush Apart

Joe Fuda

Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part our Song of the Day podcast subscription. This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unreleased songs, and recordings from independent artists that our DJs think you should hear. Today’s featured selection, chosen by Afternoon Show host Kevin Cole, is “Rush Apart” by The Rural Alberta Advantage from the group’s 2009 album, Hometowns, on Saddle Creek.

The idea of foot-stomping fun rarely crosses the minds of many Americans, who associate the wide open spaces of Canada to be of few people and many trees -- an epic version of Montana. To those with little grasp, the idea of rural Alberta conjures up vast sprawls of land and creature with few people to be seen but just one note from “Rush Apart,” and perhaps our views of Canada can be shaped by its people rather than our preconceived notions.

Of course, the fine folks who make up The Rural Alberta Advantage didn’t take up their band flag in, near, or anywhere around Calgary and its outskirts -- rather they found each other in Toronto. Yet “Rush Apart” is more about stampedes, rodeos, and rustling than CN Towers and good, clean city livin’. It’s the stomp and clap classic that keeps the crowd huddled around the campfire warm as the embers grow cold -- it won’t replace “Bron-Y-Aur Stomp” but it’s quick, catchy, and always a pick me up, whether you need a bit of warmth from the cold brought on by vast wilderness or you just need a boost after a long, hard day of working in the big city.

The group’s MySpace page informs us of impending Canadian/USA criss-crossing that finds the band traveling the Northeast and Midwest, leaving Seattle and the Pacific Northwest out in the cold. How about the video for “In the Summertime” to warm you up?