Government Town

Government Town's new album III was released May 20, 2016. The video for 'Home', the first release off III, is at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P93eu59mlv8 -

‘III’ received a favourable review by Canadian Beats. -

'Home' is included on SaskMusic's 2016 In Tune compilation album. In Tune showcases Saskatchewan's best new music. Check out the album here: https://www.saskmusic.org/programs/in-tune-compilations -

'Took a Train' off Government Town's latest album III was nominated in the Alt. Country Song category at the 15th Independent Music Awards. -

'III' made Great Dark Wonder's top 10 Sask Album list for 2016. - Great Dark Wonder

http://leaderpost.com/entertainment/local-arts/government-town-are-no-strangers-to-the-recording-studio - Leader Post

'III', Government Town's third album was released in May 2016. -

Government Town is nominated for 'Group of the Year' at the 27th annual Saskatchewan Country Music Awards. -

‘Home’ was added to both CBC 2’s Nightstream and CBC Music’s Adult Alternative channel. -

'Godforsaken Town' was a finalist in the Lyrics Only category of the 2016 U.S.A. Songwriting Competition. -

‘III’ appeared on a number of Earshot Top 30 album charts (including debuting at #1 on Thunder Bay's CILU the week ending June 7) -

Government Town's latest album 'III' voted #3 'Best Album' at Prairie Dog Magazine's 'Best of Regina 2016'. -

‘Lead On’, the second release off ‘III’, was #4 on the DMDS 'Most Active Indies' chart the week of November 7, 2016. -

‘III’ was featured in CBC’s ‘Music Matters’ publication the week of June 9, 2016. -

‘III’ landed on both Muzooka college radio charts for the weeks of June 15 and June 29, 2016. -

'III' made SaskMusic's 'Best Saskatchewan Albums Long List'. -

'Home', the first release off Government Town's latest album III, was #4 on the DMDS 'Most Active Indies' chart, the week of May 23, 2016. -

http://www.prairiedogmag.com/government-town/ - Prairie Dog

Government Town's 'Home' was 104.9 FM The Wolf's 'Home Grown Song of the Week' on Regina's Rock 20 Countdown the weekend of May 21/22, 2016. -

‘Home’ added to Stingray radio’s Canadian Indie channel programming. -

REGINA — Having double the band members of your average group has Regina’s Government Town working harder to get their music out there.

According to lead vocalist and primary songwriter Michael Harmel, any extra work it creates is worth the end result.

“With eight members in the band, all having very busy lives, it can be a challenge finding time to record or rehearse new material,” explained Harmel. “Fortunately, everyone in the band is very accommodating and we’ve always done everything at our own pace and what’s comfortable for the group. There are challenges that come with it but with everyone being accommodating it’s worked out well.”

Playing a musical style that’s been described as “Celtic-tinged, country-flavoured, alt rock, folk, pop and Canadiana,” the octet is presently working on its third album. Having gained some critical acclaim for their self-titled debut and its sophomore album II, Harmel is looking forward to seeing what the band will turn out for the finished product over the next few months.

“Every time we’ve gone into the studio it’s got a lot smoother because we’ve learned a lot each time,” said Harmel. “The first album we recorded, most of us had never done any studio recordings so it was a great experience but I think we’ve learned about the process and the expectations. There are certain things that we’ve learned we can get done in the studio that’s made things a lot easier each time.

“Being in the studio has definitely opened my eyes as to some of the things that can be done as well as how a song might come across on a recording. Things like providing more dynamics to a song or thinking about giving certain places of a song some space are definitely something that comes to mind now, which I probably wouldn’t have thought about before we had been in the studio a few times.”

Although Harmel hopes that the band will get an opportunity to tour at some point, he’s realistic about the logistical difficulties of being an eight-piece touring band.

“Considering the size of the group and with everyone being as busy as they are with their lives, we haven’t had an opportunity to do any significant touring,” Harmel said. “The majority of our shows have been in and around Regina. That’s treated us well and we’ve enjoyed the shows that we have done. To plan a big tour would be a challenge and to do anything significant with eight members would probably very difficult at this stage to organize.”

Along with Harmel, Government Town is comprised of Christopher Leier (guitar), Bradley Vance (bass), Miles Hoste (mandolin, banjo and guitar), Neil Kapoor (violin), Alan Valente (keyboards), Tashia Walters (backup vocals) and Jayson Brinkworth (drums).

For the foreseeable future, Harmel acknowledges reality has the group quite content to focus their energy on recording the best songs they possibly can and taking advantage of any local shows they’re fortunate to play, including their headline gig on Friday at The Exchange.

“I think the next year will really have us focusing on this third album for the next upcoming months,” he said. “We generally put on a show closer to Christmas, so depending on everyone’s schedules we’ll probably look at setting that up later this year. We’ll also try and play some other shows this fall as opportunities arise. Right now, our main focus is Friday’s show.

“I think with number of musicians we have onstage there’s definitely a lot going on. We incorporate a variety of instruments into the performance so there’s electric guitars, mandolin, violin, piano, banjo, harmonica and a lot more. We try our best to bring the songs to life and to keep it interesting for the listeners, and hopefully keep them entertained with all the instruments and the energy from the stage.”

Government Town

with Josh Gonzales

June 19

The Exchange - Regina Leader-Post

'Seeds', track #4 off 'II', was #7 on the DMDS 'Top Downloads' chart, and #4 on the DMDS 'Most Active Indies' chart, the week of June 29th, 2015. - DMDS

Government Town is a first ballot nominee in the following categories:

-Group of the Year
-Emerging Artist Award - Saskatchewan Country Music Awards (2016)

'II' was voted 4th Best Album of 2015. - Prairie Dog Magazine

'Drag You Away', track #1 off Government Town's album II, was #7 on the DMDS 'Most Active Indies' chart the week of March 23rd, 2015. - DMDS

Government Town's sophomore album II was named to the following "Best Albums of 2014" lists:

Brad Prosko (#2 Best Album of 2014):

http://www.leaderpost.com/entertainment/Regina+entertainment+gurus+pick+their+albums+2014/10682090/story.html

Taron Cochrane (#5 Best Album of 2014):

http://www.leaderpost.com/entertainment/Regina+entertainment+gurus+pick+their+albums+2014/10682090/story.html - Leader-Post (Regina)

Government Town was awarded $10,000 through Rawlco Radio's 10k20 commercial recording funding project. -

'This War', track #9 off 'II', was #10 on the DMDS 'Most Active Indies' chart the week of October 5th, 2015. - DMDS

Government Town performed at the 10th Annual Gateway Festival in Bengough, Saskatchewan (July 25-27, 2014).

The festival line-up includes: THE SHEEPDOGS, TIM HICKS, THE DEEP DARK WOODS, JUSTIN TOWNES EARLE, LIBRARY VOICES, DANIEL ROMANO, and many more. -

'I Believe', Government Town's first release off its second album II, was #8 on the DMDS 'Most Active Indies' chart the week of January 5th, 2015 (http://blog.dmds.com/?cat=10), and #9 the week of January 19th, 2015 (http://blog.dmds.com/?p=4846). - DMDS

'II' debuted at #19 on CFBU 103.7 FM's (St. Catherine, Ontario) Top 30 Album Chart for the week ending February 3rd, 2015. - Earshot_Online

Government Town was nominated for 99.1 FM CKXS’s Emerging Artist of the Month in March, 2015 and September, 2015. - 99.1 FM CKXS

'Wrong Side of the Gun' off 'II' has been selected as a semi-finalist in the 'AAA' category at the 2015 International Songwriting Competition. This year's competition had over 18,000 entries worldwide. See www.songwritingcompetition.com for a list of all the semi-finalists. - International Songwriting Competition - 2015

'II' debuted at #26 on CJSF 90.1 FM's (Burnaby, British Columbia) Top 30 Album Chart for the week ending March 3rd, 2015. - Earshot

Government Town's 'Christmas Song' can be heard on Regina's My92.1 during the holiday season. -

http://jjremone.com/2014/12/17/jjs-top-40-albums-of-2014/ - J.J. Remone

. . .

2. Government Town, Government Town. A Queen City celtic influenced alternative rock band of eight business professionals going against the grain and making music purely for fun (and doing it exceptionally well!). - Leader Post (Regina)

Best Band - Government Town (4th)

Best Album Released in the Last 12 Months - Government Town (Self-titled) (3rd)

Best Concert - Government Town (3rd) - Prairie Dog Magazine

Canada has caught my tongue. Even Saskatchewan is hustling harder than most. Here’s Government Town, an indie rock band from Regina, that totally got me staring off into the distance, pondering the meaning of happiness and life. When is the last time any music made you feel like that? - Eastvan

March 11, 2014 – Music Resource Group (MRG) today announced the Nominees of The 13th Independent Music Awards (The IMAs), the influential awards program for independent artists and fans.

The nominations in more than 80 Album, Song, EP, Music Producer, Music Video and Design categories were culled from thousands of submissions from North America, South America, Asia, Africa, Australia, Greenland and Europe.

Government Town is nominated for 2 Independent Music Awards. One of the nominations is in the "Holiday Song" category (http://www.independentmusicawards.com/imanominee/13th/Song/Holiday-Song), the other is in the "Story Song" category (http://www.independentmusicawards.com/imanominee/13th/Song/Story-Song). - Independent Music Awards

BRAD PROSKO (Top 10 Albums of 2013)

B-Rad Studio

. . . .

2. Government Town, Government Town - Leader Post (Regina)

Government Town's 'Christmas Song' was added to Galaxy Radio's Folk Roots Channel's holiday programming. -

Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada might be one of the coldest places in the world this week, but eight-piece Alt-Country-Celtic band Government Town is doing what it can to keep things warm with carefully-crafted arrangements and lush harmonies. Recently we spoke with the group’s vocalist Michael Harmel.

What is your own background/ethnic heritage?
I don’t come from Celtic ancestry, however my mother was born and raised in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and I have always felt a strong connection with Maritime music. A number of the band members also have Celtic roots.

When and why did you start playing music?
I picked up my first guitar when I was 19. A few friends of mine were teaching themselves how to play with the intent of starting a band. As a music fan, the idea of making music with good friends appealed to me.

Are they the same reasons you do it today?
In a lot of ways they are. I am lucky to be making music with close friends. I also enjoy the creative process.

When and how did the band come together?
The band formed in 2011. I was looking to start a band and approached 2 friends of mine, Chris (lead guitar) and Brad (bass). Fortunately they were interested and we slowly started recruiting other friends of ours to join in.

How would you describe your sound?
I have heard the music described many ways: folk, rock, alt-country, Celtic, alternative, and even pop. The songs are generally acoustic guitar driven, but incorporate a variety of instruments (electric guitar, violin, piano, mandolin, harmonica, banjo).

What have been some of the band’s career highlights?
We are relatively new to the music scene, but highlights thus far include the release of our debut cd and Christmas single, the radio airplay we have received and the positive response to our live shows.

What inspired the new recording?
There is not one particular event that inspired the debut album. Each song carries its own inspiration and story.

What were the challenges of putting it together?
With 8 members in the band, all with very busy lives, it can be challenging to arrange times to rehearse for recording sessions. Fortunately everyone in the band is very accommodating.

What were the rewards?
Spending time working on original music with friends is extremely rewarding. The positive response to the album has also been very satisfying.

What has the response been like so far?
The response to both the album and our live performances has been incredibly positive. Audiences and listeners have been very supportive.

What makes a good song?
I think a good song is one that connects with people, has a good melody, and tells a story.

Is your creative process more ‘inspirational’ or ‘perspirational’?
I would say it is about 50/50. There are moments when inspiration and creativity come easy, often when you least expect it. At other times songwriting requires hard work and persistence.

Where do you typically perform?
As we all have full time jobs, families and other responsibilities we generally play in and around our hometown of Regina, Saskatchewan. O’Hanlon’s Irish Pub in the heart of Regina is one of our favorite places to play.

What is the response like from audiences?
The audience response has been extremely positive. We have had the fortunate opportunity to perform original music to full venues with engaged listeners.

What does the band have on tap for 2014?
We plan to release the follow-up to our debut album in the summer of 2014. We also hope to participate in a number of summer music festivals. - Celtic Life International Magazine

'Four Chords' off Government Town's debut album is a finalist in the Lyrics Only category of the 2014 U.S.A. Songwriting Competition. -

Holy crap do I wish this group was a full time band; Simply amazing!

The talent meshed together in this group is nothing short of spectacular. A bit of rock, a bit of folk, smatterings of classical throughout along with warm, relaxing, yet powerful vocals make listening to Government Town both relaxing and fun. - Music Regina

Government Town is an eclectic Canadian band from Regina, Saskatchewan, that captures the Celtic-tinged, Country-flavored sound of the Canadian Prairies with their music. Lead by singer-songwriter Mike Harmel, Government Town smartly mixes things up with different instruments than your standard four-piece rock band. In fact, the band counts eight members, and even includes a violinist and mandolin player. - Mark Weber

Music off Government Town's upcoming album II was featured on 'Saskatchewan Weekend with Dan Reynish' ( July, 2014). -

Government Town's 'Enough Light' was selected as a semi-finalist in the 'Americana' category at the 2013 International Songwriting Competition. This year's competition had over 20,000 entries from 119 countries worldwide. -

Government Town was featured in a Holiday Music interview in December's issue of Flow Magazine: http://issuu.com/flow_magazine_saskatoon/docs/flow_dec_2013_all -

Government Town was featured in "The Buzz" section of the summer 2013 issue of The Session magazine published by SaskMusic. -

Dublin's ABC Christmas added 'Christmas Song' to its online station programming. -

Government Town has been added to 2013 the 'Skate to Saskatchewan Soundtrack'. -

Government Town's 'Breathe Again' was 104.9 FM The Wolf's 'Home Grown Song of the Week' on Regina's Rock 20 Countdown the weekend of November 30/December 1, 2013. -

'Stand and Fall (Part 1)' was a finalist in the Lyrics Only category of the 2015 U.S.A. Songwriting Competition. -