“Did you know that there are over 6,000 shipwrecks in the Great Lakes?” Foundry Town Survivors ask as we chat about their new single, Three Sisters.

By Graeme Smith

“Growing up we heard so many cool stories. It was only natural that a shipwreck song would wash up eventually. Back when we were putting this whole thing together, we were playing new tracks for each other when up came the early, unfinished version of Three Sisters. Tommy knew right away he wanted to work on this track. The guitar hook had a sort of nautical feel – and the snarl of the lap steel created the sound and vibe of a storm. That’s all it took.”

It’s quite the jaunt from an act who has been featuring on our pages since 2022 (a fact that hadn’t gone unnoticed by the band, who wanted to thank Jane for being an early supporter.) That hook really reels you in, urging you to get your groove on as the atmospheric instrumental builds. Once the simmering vocals come in, telling their tale of maritime disaster, there’s no escape – you’re trapped in the track’s riptide.

Completing the story is a spellbinding video that combines animation with performance.

“We’d been discussing doing a video that we could really sink our teeth into,” the band say about it. “Our not so silent partner Bruce started working on one but wasn’t getting anywhere. He shifted gears and began what is now Three Sisters and we knew this was gonna be something different.

“We worked together generating ideas for shots and details, learning a lot in the process. Bruce did a lot of the heavy lifting in the AI department. Mark is our editor and shares directing duty with Tommy. We give credit to our film-making alter ego, Flying Wedge Media, for the video, which is really an honorarium to one of our fallen compatriots who had been a big part of our early successes.”

The track and video’s narrative plays into a wider “universe” that the band have been building across all their releases. “It’s not planned out,” they admit. “We tried to plan things early on, once it became apparent that so many of our songs were inter-relatable, but it became obvious to us that its way more fun and inspirational to just let our subconscious control the show.

“It’s exciting to see what pops up on the radar. Each new song tumbles out with a life of its own. Sometimes they fit like a glove and other times we wonder where the hell did that come from.”

Foundry Town Survivors’ sound has been compared to some heavyweights of folk and rock, including The Decemberists and Fleet Foxes. “There’s an alchemy to combining acoustic and electric instruments with folklore and melody to create this haunting space,” they say. “Some have also said it conjures up some feeling of Led Zeppelin.”

Whomever you compare them too, it’s clear that Foundry Town Survivors have a unique outlook and point of view while keeping things classic and relatable.

So, what’s next for them?

“We have an annual show in our hometown [Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA] that we do in August,” they share. “It’s gonna be funky and fun and we can’t wait to do it! We’ve done one for the past two years. 

“Performing live for us is always such a joy ‘cause we don’t do it very often. It’s not that we don’t want to… we do! One reason is that we are all over the place, Tommy in Michigan, Mark in Las Vegas. Another is that we don’t have a permanent band behind us yet, so that has to be taken into consideration. Of course, if one of these releases were to ‘hit’ that could all change!

“We’re also hard at work putting together a full length ‘album’ for release next year. We’re taking our time because we want it to be the best of the best of what we can do. Maybe we’ll get lucky, and you’ll see us on a stage near you!”

I’m sure York would welcome them with open arms. Theirs is a sound that will play well in our city.

I’ll leave the last, cryptic words to the band themselves: “We want to thank all of our fans who have provided their continuing support and let them know to not lose their decoder ring because there’s more to come…”

Three Sisters is out now, and you can give it a listen below.

Supported by Musosoup #SustainableCurator