Headstones (band)

Headstones are a Canadian punk-influenced[1] rock band that began in 1987 in Kingston[2] and were active until 2003, subsequently reforming in 2011.[3] The band consists of vocalist Hugh Dillon, guitarist Trent Carr, and Tim White plus Rickferd Van Dyk. They frequently sold out at small and mid-sized venues and were known for their high energy live shows, particularly the antics of Dillon, who interacted with his audience in a variety of ways, 'more rock less super shock.'[4] Their songwriting tackled many serious and controversial topics. Between 1996 and 2016, Headstones was among the Top 150 selling Canadian artists in Canada and among the top 35 selling Canadian bands in Canada.[5]

Headstones
OriginKingston, Ontario, Canada
GenresHard rock, alternative rock, post-grunge
Years active1987 (1987)–2003 (2003)
2011 (2011)–present
LabelsCadence Music, Frostbyte Media, Maple Music, MCA
Associated actsHugh Dillon Redemption Choir
Websiteheadstonesband.com
MembersHugh Dillon
Trent Carr
Tim White
Steve Carr
Rickferd Van Dyk
Jesse Labovitz
Past membersMark Gibson
Dale Harrison

History

The band signed to MCA Records in 1993 and released their debut album that same year, Picture of Health.[6] with original drummer Mark Gibson; Gibson left the band after touring for Picture of Health was over. Dale Harrison was recruited for the follow-up Teeth and Tissue in 1995. To promote the album, the band went on a two-month, 44-city tour. In 1996, the Headstones received Juno Award nominations for Best Group and Best Rock Album. In 1997, the band released their next album, Smile and Wave. Three years later, Nickels for Your Nightmares was released, in which time Carr and Harrison became fathers and Dillon recovered from a drug addiction.[3]

The band released a compilation album, Greatest Fits, in 2001.[7] In 2002, the band signed with MapleMusic.[8] That same year, they released their next album, The Oracle of Hi-Fi.[9] In September 2003, the band announced on their website that they had broken up, citing personal and professional reasons.[10]

After the band broke up in 2003, Dillon started a new band, the Hugh Dillon Redemption Choir, whose debut album The High Co$t of Low Living was released in June 2005. Dillon has also found success in acting, appearing in several films, including Hard Core Logo, Dance Me Outside, Trailer Park Boys: The Movie, Assault on Precinct 13 and the TV series Durham County, Degrassi: The Next Generation and Flashpoint and Continuum. In addition, their song "Come On" was featured in the videogame Triple Play 2002, and was also the theme for the Canadian version of the sketch comedy show, Comedy Inc.

White went on to become a music producer and composer for television and film, working at Imprint Music.

Reunion

Three of the original band members (Dillon, Carr & White) reunited for four shows in February 2011 for a mini tour. The band also played eight shows in December 2011: two in Vancouver and one each in Edmonton, Calgary, Toronto,[11] London, Guelph, Peterborough and Niagara Falls, New York.

After reforming the band and getting back onstage, Dillon and the rest of the Headstones went back into the studio to record a new album. Released in 2013, Love + Fury was crowdfunded through PledgeMusic, before being released by Universal Music. The album garnered the band their first top 10 album, and the hit single "Long Way To Neverland." This was in followed in 2014 with another crowd-funded album, the acoustic covers collection One in the Chamber Music. The band's next album, Little Army, was released on June 2, 2017 on Cadence Music. It includes the #1 hit single "Devil's On Fire." With this release the band gave their fans an exclusive behind the scenes look into the making of the album, in real time.

A remastered edition of Picture of Health with bonus tracks was released in October of 2018. On March 15, 2019, the band released a cover of Gordon Lightfoot's "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald". Their latest album, PeopleSkills, was released by Cadence Music on Oct 25 2019, and is the band's first full album to be released on vinyl. The first single release "Leave It All Behind reached No.8 on the Billboard Canada Rock chart.

Discography

Studio albums
Year Title Peak chart positions Certifications
CAN
[12]		 CAN
[13]
1993 Picture of Health — Platinum
1995 Teeth and Tissue 62 Gold
1997 Smile and Wave 36 Gold
2000 Nickels for Your Nightmares 34
2002 The Oracle of Hi-Fi 47
2013 Love + Fury 7
2014 One in the Chamber Music —
2017 Little Army 26
2019 PeopleSkills 45

Compilation albums
Year Title Chart positions Certifications
CAN
 CAN
[13]
2001 The Greatest Fits 43

Singles
Year Title Peak Chart Position Certifications
CAN		 Album
CAN
[14][15]		 CAN
Rock/Alt
[16][17]		 CAN Content (Cancon)
[18]
1993 "When Something Stands for Nothing" 71 — — Platinum[13] Picture of Health
"It's All Over" — — 1
1994 "Tweeter and the Monkey Man" — — —
"Cemetery" — — —
"Three Angels" — — 3
1995 "Unsound" 58 — — Teeth and Tissue
"Hearts, Love & Honour" — — —
1997 "Cubically Contained" 20 13 — Smile and Wave
"Smile and Wave" 57 14 —
"And" — — —
2000 "Settle" — 4 — Nickels for Your Nightmares
"Blonde and Blue" — 8 —
2001 "Blowtorch" — — — The Greatest Fits
"Come On" — — —
2002 "Reframed (Every Single Failure)" — — — The Oracle of Hi-Fi
2003 "Tiny Teddy" — — —
2013 "Long Way To Neverland" 87 2 — Love + Fury
"Far Away from Here" — 6 —
2014 "Colourless" — 37 — One in the Chamber Music
2017 "Devil's On Fire" — 6 — Little Army
"Broken" — 30 —
2019 "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" — — — Non album-single
"Leave It All Behind" — 8 — PeopleSkills
2020 "Horses" — 22 —

See also

References
  1. McEwan, Paul (2011). Bruce McDonald's 'Hard Core Logo'. University of Toronto Press, Scholarly Publishing Division. p. 31. ISBN 978-1442612730.
  2. LeBlanc, Larry (5 February 1994). "The Next Sounds... You'll Hear". Billboard. 106 (6): 50.
  3. "The Headstones". The Canadian Pop Encyclopedia, jam.canoe.ca
  4. "Hugh Dillon changes direction" Archived 2017-03-31 at the Wayback Machine. MIKE ROSS, Edmonton Sun, Sep 9, 2005
  5. "NIELSEN MUSIC & BILLBOARD PRESENT CANADA 150 CHARTS" (PDF). bdsradio.com. p. 28. Retrieved January 2, 2020.
  6. " Hard-rocking Headstones driven by soft spot". Barrie Advance, Nov 13, 2015. By Laurie Watt
  7. "CD REVIEWS: Bush, Headstones, Incubus, Rheostatics and many more". Chart Attack, October 23, 2001 By: Debbie Bento
  8. "Headstones Sign On With Maple Music". Chart Attack. Archived from the original on June 24, 2003. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
  9. "Straight man" Archived 2017-03-31 at the Wayback Machine. Canoe: Showbiz, DARRYL STERDAN. Nov 30, 2004
  10. "The Headstones Call It Quits". Chart Attack. Archived from the original on September 28, 2003. Retrieved February 5, 2019.
  11. "REVIEWS: Headstones – [Live]". Ground Control. Archived from the original on 21 August 2016. Retrieved 3 January 2012.
  12. Peak positions for Headstones' albums on Canadian Albums Chart:
  13. "Gold/Platinum". Music Canada. Retrieved 2011-07-09.
  14. "Headstones Top Singles positions". RPM. Archived from the original on 2012-10-21. Retrieved 2010-02-01.
  15. "Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
  16. "Headstones Rock/Alternative positions". RPM. Archived from the original on 2012-10-21. Retrieved 2010-02-01.
  17. "Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved December 5, 2018.
  18. "Headstones Canadian Content positions". RPM. Archived from the original on 2012-10-21. Retrieved 2010-02-01.
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