The Stillhouse Poets

'We've both been known to drink more liquor than we should', says Brent Nielsen, 'plus we're both songwriters and songs are just poems put to music ... The name just seems to fit'. The Stillhouse Poets are a roots duo from Regina, Saskatchewan, the heart of the Canadian prairies. Their influences are drawn deep from the musical well waters of the Mississippi Delta and the Appalachian mountains. It's backwoods harmony with a kick drum heart. Kirk Hextall remembers the first time they got together musically, 'We both knew about Son House and Ralph Stanley so we had common ground ... we had a good starting point'. With songs about blood & dusty bibles, black crows & barbed wire, there's a 'prairie gothic' theme that runs through the music. 'We're drawn to songs about desperation', says Nielsen while Hextall adds 'we try to balance it with some hope but sometimes it's just a straight up murder ballad'.