Sleepy Driver - ProfilesArchive

About Me

SLEEPY DRIVER performs what is best described as alternative roots rock. This tag may not seem obvious at first because Sleepy Driver covers such diverse territory. But when you drain the swamp you'll find a tangled heap of influences: college rock, blues, and old school country. It's like Tom Waits and Johnny Cash enlisting members of Pixies and Wilco for a weekend revival.
Sleepy Driver debuted in July 2005. Since then they have gained notable praise for their modest but substantial music. Their songs are dark yet optimistic, gritty and honest with a healthy respect for tradition, exploring themes of hard lessons, life and death, love and leaving, murder and betrayal. Though their core is a guitar-bass-drums combination, textures of organ, piano, or harmonica are not uncommon. Like any crime-scene photo, however, Sleepy Drivers studio recordings tell only part of the tale.
Their live performance is where their influences distill into Canadian Americana with a decidedly experimental bent, giving an approving nod to many genres. They love dynamics, subtlety and noise: quiet enough you can hear them breath or too loud for you to think.
Covering every emotional state, their music is the perfect soundtrack to any long-distance haul, whether for getting away or the humble drive home.

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 12/17/2005
Band Website: sleepydriver.ca
Band Members: John Heinstein - keys

Peter Hicks - vocals, guitar

Barry Hughes - drums, keys, vocals

Mike Hatheway - bass

Ethan Young-Lai - guitar

Influences: The list is long and the list is strong. Who do we dig?

Frank Black, Jeff Tweedy, Johnny Cash, Hank Sr., Pixies, Wilco, Okkervil River, Kathleen Edwards, Rolling Stones, DCFC, Tom Waits, Talking Heads, John Hiatt, Tom Petty, Lucinda Williams, My Morning Jacket, Golden Smog, Radiohead, Loose Fur, Calexico, Bonnie Prince Billy, Iron & Wine, Spoon, The National, Julie Doiron, Tragically Hip, etc.
Sounds Like: "Peter Hicks has a solid grasp on the turn of a phrase and lyrically he displays a knack that leaves most songwriters laying in his dusty wake."

--- "Uncle" Rob Pinnock, Music Director, CFXY The Fox
Type of Label: None

My Blog

For the record ...

So it’s been a while ... my, how things change.Since the last blog entry we’ve added a couple of new members: Ethan Young-Lai on guitar and Mike Hatheway on bass.AND we are still kicking a...
Posted by Sleepy Driver on Wed, 09 Apr 2008 06:14:00 PST

Album Song List - Stop the Presses!

Brothers & Sisters,Long time no talk. Just wanted to throw you all a bone about our recent recording sessions. We've worked with Outreach Productions and Ethan Young-Lai to get the drums down on a...
Posted by Sleepy Driver on Mon, 30 Jul 2007 03:09:00 PST

MusicNB Performance Video

Check it out. From the fine folks at Radio UPEI, we have a video of "Ring The Black Bell" and "Like a Weapon" from our MusicNB showcase back in May. Video link here! Enjoy ......
Posted by Sleepy Driver on Fri, 08 Jun 2007 08:48:00 PST

East Coast Music Show & Sleepy de Mayo

Oh yeah ... almost forgot ... Barry and I will be on Mark Robert's East Coast Music Show today (Sunday April 29) on Fredericton's Capital FM at 9am/9pm AST to promote next weekend's hometown show, wha...
Posted by Sleepy Driver on Sun, 29 Apr 2007 05:51:00 PST

Live @ The James Joyce - Saturday May 5

We're excited to announce an upcoming hometown gig:To celebrate Spring and the coming Summer, SLEEPY DRIVER is live on Saturday May 5th at The James Joyce (Crowne Plaza Hotel) in Fredericton, NB, for ...
Posted by Sleepy Driver on Tue, 10 Apr 2007 04:54:00 PST

ECMA Weekend Pics

Brothers & Sisters,It's a little overdue but here are some pics from our weekend performance at the ECMA conference in Halifax Feb 16. It was a great time and just what I needed at that very momen...
Posted by Sleepy Driver on Sat, 24 Feb 2007 07:33:00 PST

Recording & Playing the ECMAs

Brothers & Sisters,Some exciting news of late.We put in a full day at Outreach Studios on Sunday January 28th, laying down the bed tracks of two songs for what will eventually be the first Sleepy ...
Posted by Sleepy Driver on Tue, 06 Feb 2007 07:36:00 PST

Outstanding in a Field

Brothers & Sisters,How are you? It's been a while. We've been busy as hell, and sadly, not all with music. But who's making excuses? There are some exciting things coming up this Fall as we play a...
Posted by Sleepy Driver on Sat, 04 Nov 2006 07:29:00 PST

Thursday on The Fox 105.3 & CKTP 95.7 FM

Brothers & Sisters, We've been invited by Uncle Rob Pinnock over at The Fox 105.3 to drop in on Thursday August 3rd for an interview and session, leading up to this weekend's NB Rocks show in Monc...
Posted by Sleepy Driver on Wed, 02 Aug 2006 05:55:00 PST

Watch out - Sleepy Driver on the road!

Brothers & Sisters,It's been a while. We've been well. You? We are almost through July and about to dive headfirst into August with a heap of shows that will keep us hopping all around our fair provin...
Posted by Sleepy Driver on Tue, 25 Jul 2006 02:16:00 PST