Skydiggers
| Skydiggers | |
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Skydiggers, July 2009
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Genres | Roots rock |
| Years active | 1987–present |
| Labels | Enigma, FRE, DROG, Latent Recordings |
| Associated acts | Finlayson/Maize, The Cash Brothers |
| Website | skydiggers |
| Members |
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| Past members |
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Skydiggers are a Canadian roots rock band from Toronto.
The band was originally formed by singer Andy Maize, previously of Direktive 17, and lead guitarist Josh Finlayson, formerly of The Ramblers, as a duo called West Montrose. The band later added rhythm guitarist Peter Cash, drummer Wayne Stokes and bassist Ron Macey to their lineup after becoming regular performers at Acoustic Meltdown, a weekly concert series at Toronto's Spadina Hotel organized by Cash's brother, singer-songwriter Andrew Cash. The expanded line up settled on the name Skydiggers, a name which Andrew Cash had previously considered for his own band.
In 1989, the band became the first Canadian signing to Enigma Records, who released their self-titled debut album the following year. It spawned the singles "Monday Morning" and "I Will Give You Everything". However, the label soon went bankrupt, and the album was never properly promoted.
Some of Enigma's Canadian staff created FRE Records in 1992, and released the band's second (and most popular) album, Restless, that year. At the same time, Stokes left the band. Drummers Mike Sloski and Steve Pitkin filled in on drums until the band recruited Joel Anderson as its new permanent drummer. "A Penny More", the lead single from Restless, became the band's biggest hit, produced by John Oliveira and the band at Hamilton's Grant Avenue Studios.
Capitol Records, the distributor for both Enigma and FRE, also rereleased the band's debut album that year.
In 1993, the band's third album, Just Over This Mountain, was released. It consolidated the band's status by winning a number of music awards, including the Juno Award for Most Promising Group. Following that album, Anderson left the band and was replaced by Peter von Althen.
In 1995, the band signed to Warner Canada and released Road Radio. However, at this time, FRE went bankrupt, meaning that the band's earlier albums were no longer widely available. After the tour to support that album, Cash left the band. He was replaced by Paul MacLeod. The band subsequently left Warner, after which von Althen also left the band.
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