On Aug. 1, Saskatoon band the Sheepdogs were named the winners of Rolling Stone’s “Do You Wanna Be A Rock & Roll Star” contest and were awarded a prestige spot on the cover of the Aug. 18 issue (out Aug. 5) — the first time an unsigned band has ever graced the cover.

It’s a pretty meteoric success story and the band members are having the times of their lives. Aside from appearing on the cover of Rolling Stone, the week of Aug. 1 was filled with more joys than most bands can hope for in an entire career: they played for the second time on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, signed a record deal with Atlantic Records, partied it up with celebrities like Larry David and Alexander Skarsgard in Manhattan and their newest EP Five Easy Pieces made it to number one on the iTunes Canada sales charts.

“It’s been a fantastic week,” said frontman Ewan Currie, speaking to the Sheaf last week. But the Sheepdogs weren’t just idling about, partying it up in NYC. They were getting “right back into things,” said Currie en route to play a festival in Ontario over the weekend.

The band consisting of Currie, guitarist Leot Hanson, bassist Ryan Gullen and drummer Sam Corbett has come a long ways since formation in 2005. Back then they weren’t even called the Sheepdogs; they were the Breaks, and guitarist Leot Hanson had yet to join the band. Soon they added Hanson, changed their name to the Sheepdogs and started the long haul toward where they are today.

“A lot of things have changed,” said Currie. “Even before this competition we’d come a long way playing as many shows as we could, developing our sound”¦. [We] kept pushing our sound forward and getting better and adding new flavours to it.”

But the band hasn’t had it easy over the years. The wear and tear of constant touring, lack of money and the view that hitting it big was becoming increasingly unlikely were taking a toll on the band. They were even considering a hiatus before news of the Rolling Stone contest first broke early in the year.

“There was a bit of that feeling going on. Things were really tossing. It had been a long time of just keep pushing and pushing and no money and all that kind of stuff.”

However, winning the contest rejuvenated them as a band, giving them second life and a new zeal to share their music with fans across North America. The contest “picked us up when we were down,” said Currie.

Although some have seen the Sheepdogs’ newfound success as legitimizing the Saskatoon music scene, Currie doesn’t think Saskatoon bands need any legitimizing.

“There are some really good acts [in Saskatoon]. Immediately Deep Dark Woods comes to mind.”

Currie says that Saskatoon has a great music scene in its own right and hopes that the Sheepdogs’ new publicity will help draw attention to other, lesser-known Saskatoon bands.

The Sheepdogs will be back in Saskatoon at the end of the month to take it easy for a few days before starting their tour with Southern rockers Kings of Leon. “Before [Kings of Leon] broke through with their second album, I was already a huge fan of their first album,” Currie said. “We actually covered a lot of their songs. Maybe 75 per cent of [Youth and Young Manhood] we actually covered back in the day.”

Currie said that for Kings of Leon “to go and say ”˜We want these guys to open up,’ that’s a pretty awesome circle to have come around.” The chance to open for one of their past favourite bands is an opportunity the band is thrilled to have.

Although this contest has given them a chance few bands ever get, the Sheepdogs still have a long way to go before becoming eternal rock ‘n’ roll stars. It’s the question of keeping integrity in the face of overwhelming success — something these Saskatoon musicians will hopefully be up to. Regardless, it’ll be interesting to see how these homegrown boogie rockers mature over the next few years, and whether they take full advantage of the enormous opportunity they have been given.

The Sheepdogs open for Kings of Leon at Credit Union Centre on Oct. 3.

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image: Rolling Stone