Wide Mouth Mason

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Wide Mouth Mason
Image:Http://www.widemouthmason.com/images/triptych-band.jpg Wide Mouth Mason
Background information
Origin	Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
Genre(s)	Hard rock, blues-rock, jam band
Years active	1995 - present
Website	www.widemouthmason.com
Members
Shaun Verreault (vocals, guitar) Safwan Javed (percussion, vocals) Earl Pereira (bass, vocals)

Wide Mouth Mason is a Canadian blues-based pop/rock band, consisting of Shaun Verreault (vocals, guitar), Safwan Javed (percussion, vocals), and Earl Pereira (bass, vocals). The band hails from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and has been active since 1995.

1 Career
2 Discography
3 Singles
4 See also
5 External links
6 References

[edit] Career

Wide Mouth Mason took its name from the jar of the same name^[1], and independently released its first album, The Nazarene in 1996. Although only 2,500 copies were pressed, it still drew interest from the major labels^[2]. The band signed with Warner Music Canada and re-recorded much of The Nazarene with some new material. The new album would be the band's eponymous major-label debut; it was released in 1997 in Canada and the U.S., and a year later in Japan. It established the group's fusion of pop/rock/blues, and yielded the hit singles "Midnight Rain", "My Old Self", and "This Mourning". The album went Gold in Canada^[3], and the band was nominated for Best New Group at the 1998 Juno Awards^[4].

Wide Mouth Mason released a new album in 1999 with Where I Started, a continuance of its prior sound, but adding elements of jazz and world music. It's lead single, "Why", was a major hit in Canada, and was followed by two other hits, "Companion (Lay Me Down)" and "Sugarcane". The album, like its predecessor, attained Gold status in Canada^[5].

In 2000, the band quickly followed up with the album Stew. It was more pop-oriented than the band's previous efforts, but also eclectic, hence the title of the album^[6]. The singles "Smile" and "Change" were chart-toppers in Canada, and the album was nominated for Best Rock Album at the 2001 Junos^[7].

Wide Mouth Mason returned in 2002 with two albums. The first, Rained Out Parade, featured a heavier emphasis on the blues, a deliberate lo-fi production style, and the hit title track. It received a 2003 Juno nomination for Rock Album of the Year^[8]. The second album, Greatest Hits, was released exclusively in China.

When its contract with Warner expired, the band signed a license agreement with Curve Music in 2004. The following year, the band would again release two albums, this time on the same day. One was The Essentials, a greatest-hits album, and the other was Shot Down Satellites, a new studio release featuring a hard rock-centred style and the single "I Love Not Loving You".

In 2006, Shaun Verreault released his solo debut, The Daggerlip Sketches, focussing on acoustic-guitar-based material. It featured new songs and stripped-down versions of familiar material from his band. In early 2008, the Wide Mouth Mason's official website announced that Verrault was releasing a second solo album, titled Two Steel Strings, and that the full band was writing new material for a future release^[9]