A Glorious milestone for Kingston’s Sons
Once upon a time, The Glorious Sons were another hard working rock band from blue collar Kingston, winners of a radio station contest with dreams of stardom.
Now that band is topping the Billboard charts, not just in Canada but in the U.S.
The second single off the band’s second full-length album, the multi-layered “Sawed Off Shotgun,” sanitized in title to “S.O.S.” on most radios and car stereo displays, has landed the Sons atop the Mainstream Rock chart, making them the first band to have their first entry top the chart since last year, when Bad Wolves’ cover of “Zombie” did the same.
No pun intended, it’s a killer track, with one of the best lyrics in recent memory (“I’d rather be crazy than to take these pills/I’m sick of being okay against my will”), delivered by the Brothers Emmons on vocals and guitar, Chris Koster on guitar (brother himself to The Hip’s Billy Ray), Adam Paquette on drums and Chris Huot on bass.
If you haven’t seen the Sons yet, make it a point to do so. Soon. The sooner the better.
Anyway.
S.O.S. is also sitting at number 28 on the Alternative Songs chart, marking the band’s first top 30 slot, earning two positions higher than “Everything is Alright,” the first single off “Young Beauties and Fools.”
Last year, these gents from Kingston won the Juno for Album of the Year for the same release.
The band kicks off the U.S. leg of their S.O.S. Tour in a few weeks, including sold-out dates in Buffalo, Philadelphia, St. Paul and Chicago before hitting some festivals in late spring.
As someone who has been hooked on the Sons since “Mama” was released as their entry to HTZ’s Rock Search contest in 2013, this is all well-deserved praise and attention for some of the nicest guys in rock. They’re getting a foothold in stations on both sides of the Great Lakes, earning fans and making a stellar impression with their “leave it all on the stage” performances. How Brett Emmons, the long-haired and charismatic lead singer, manages to sing like that and thrash around without giving himself a concussion is slightly miraculous.
How good are they? How much of an impression have they made on their hometown?
They were the headliner in the K-ROCK Centre’s 10th anniversary show last February, inviting fellow Kingston band Kasador to join in the fun. When the arena opened, The Hip were the main attraction.
It’s been good year for The Glorious Sons, yet it feels like the good times are just beginning to roll.
Praying they will be in Belleville this summer, their 4th in a row. Cheers