shademusic

Shade is a Toronto-based pop-rock quartet. Their songs are simple, catchy and thoughtful. Their sound has been likened to bands such as The Velvet Underground and the Kinks. Shade is fronted by singer-songwriter-guitarist Jane Gowan, and features Mary Harmer (Weeping Tile) on bass, Cam Giroux (Weeping Tile, Oh Susannah, Violet Archers, Holly McNarland) on drums, and Tim Vesely (Rheostatics, Violet Archers) on drums, keyboards, and guitar. Their new album Highway is just completed and will be...

Shade is a Toronto-based pop-rock quartet. Their songs are simple, catchy and thoughtful. Their sound has been likened to bands such as The Velvet Underground and the Kinks. Shade is fronted by singer-songwriter-guitarist Jane Gowan, and features Mary Harmer (Weeping Tile) on bass, Cam Giroux (Weeping Tile, Oh Susannah, Violet Archers, Holly McNarland) on drums, and Tim Vesely (Rheostatics, Violet Archers) on drums, keyboards, and guitar. Their new album Highway is just completed and will be in stores soon. Offical release date is April 6, 2010. --------------------- 
Shade is the evolution of The Jane be Janes, a group that singer/songwriter Jane Gowan started in her home town of Vancouver, BC. 12 years after founding the 6-piece downtempo pop-rock group Spygirl with singer Koralee Tonack, and after many years as a sidewoman (keyboard, trumpet, accordion) in bands such as The Neins Circa, Belinda Bruce and the Tawny Stars, Little Wonder, and Fear of Drinking, Jane thought it would be good to drag out some of her songs that had never seen the light. She started playing with guitarist/songwriters Jon Wood (Flophouse Jr., Rodney deCroo, Little Wonder) and Belinda Bruce, along with bassist Ryen Froggatt (Rich Hope, Rodney deCroo). The Jane be Janes recorded an EP entitled Willing But Weak, and did some shows around town. It was a good time, but not a long time... 
Jane moved to Toronto in 2006. Not long after deciding to take off her hat and stay a while, she met bassist Mary Harmer. They re-kindled the group with a lo-fi rock trio in mind. Drummer Cam Giroux was recruited soon after, and Shade came to be. 
Tim Vesely saw the group's first live performance and agreed to help them record a demo, which turned into a full album, entitled Highway. Tim produced the album (recorded at the Tragically Hip's Bathouse Studio), and has since become a semi-regular member of the band, playing drums, guitar, and keyboards on any given night. The 10-song debut album Highway is a tribute to roads and journeys.