SaskMusic

SaskMusic congratulates Regina’s Rah Rah, who has made The 40 Long List of albums for the 2013 Polaris Music Prize for their album The Poet's Dead. Hosted by SiriusXM, the 40 Long List albums were unveiled June 13 at the Phi Centre in Old Montreal.

This is very exciting news for both Rah Rah and SaskMusic, as Rah Rah is only the second Saskatchewan artist to have made the Polaris 40 Long List. The previous was Saskatoon’s Shooting Guns, who made the list in 2012.

Rah Rah was awarded a SaskMusic Investment Program grant for Marketing Initiatives for publicity, in the November 2012 Intake – the first Intake of the funding pilot project. The grant allowed the band to hire Julie Booth of Freshly Pressed PR, as well as a radio tracker, to promote the band’s album The Poet’s Dead.

“We're truly honoured to have been selected to the Polaris Prize long list, “ said Joel Passmore of Rah Rah. “We'd like to thank SaskMusic for their continued support of The Poets Dead. The IP program and marketing grants have given us the ability to expose our music to a broader audience which has been crucial to the successes of the album. The marketing grant allowed us to hire a publicist and radio plugger, which no doubt, helped to get our music heard by members of the Polaris committee and the general public at large.”

The Short List will be announced on July 16 and the Polaris Gala will be held on September 23 in Toronto.

About Rah Rah:
From Regina SK, this sextet is Erin Passmore (vocals, drums, keys, guitar), Marshall Burns (vocals, guitar), Kristina Hedlund (violin, keys, accordion, vocals), Joel Passmore (bass), Leif Thorseth (guitar) and Jeff Romanyk (drums, keys, guitar).The members of Rah Rah share a collective mentality, taking turns taking the lead, both in songwriting and while on stage. The melodic male/female vocals and shared instrumentation traded off seamlessly (Erin Passmore and Jeff Romanyk both play drums, keyboards and guitar, while Kristina Hedlund plays violin, keyboards and accordion), plus a true level of fun throughout ensures that a Rah Rah show will not disappoint. Rah Rah was crowned “Best New Canadian Band” and “Best New Alternative Band” by iTunes Canada in 2009. The band’s songs have also been featured as iTunes Single of the Week and Starbucks Pick of the Week in Canada. The band has toured incessantly behind their previous two albums, sharing tours with the likes of Minus The Bear in Canada and USA, Wintersleep in Europe and Canada, and label-mates Said The Whale.

About The Poet’s Dead:
Released in the autumn of 2012, The Poet’s Dead, is the third and most accomplished album to date by. Building on the strong foundation of their last release, the critically acclaimed and iTunes Canada championed Breaking Hearts, this new ten song effort effectively captures a band at the peak of their abilities doing what they do best. Recorded in late 2011 under the production guidance of indie-rock recording geniuses Gus Van Go and Werner F (The Stills, Hollerado, Priestess), clearly displays that Rah Rah has truly fine-tuned the essence of the band and refined the maturity of their sound. These are songs handcrafted to make you think, to create dreams and to break your heart.

For more information about Polaris, visit www.polarismusicprize.ca.