Nice Horse 2018 Fall Tour Interview and Review

Nice Horse is currently touring across Canada and we caught up with them before their show in Kitchener, Ontario on Tuesday, where they were opening for The Washboard Union.

It’s been a while since Boots and Hearts 2017 when we chatted with Nice Horse last and there have been some changes. Most notably there’s been a lineup change on the guitar. Tara McLeod has stepped in for Kaley Debra. Tara brings some serious guitar chops to the band. She’s been shredding since the age of 12 and joined acclaimed metal band Kittie in 2005. Additional credits include studio work with Before the Damned, Shawn Desman, and Fefe Dobson.

We met up in the dressing room at Kitchener’s Centre in the Square but we were fortunate enough to be experiencing a beautiful, warm, late October day, and we took full advantage of it and suggested we head outside for our chat.

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We had a few distractions before getting started including a puppy visitor, a fan who spotted us, and asked if he could get a photo with the band. There was a lot of laughter, and we may have even been told by people passing by, that we were having too much fun. We were having a lot of fun.

I started off the official questions by asking about their YouTube video series “Bandsplainin“. If you’re a fan of Nice Horse, you’ll know that in March of this year, they released a super fun video for their song Mansplainin‘. It’s gorgeous and carries a great message. The definition of “mansplain” is: (of a man) explain (something) to someone, typically a woman, in a manner regarded as condescending or patronizing. They took it upon themselves, during the year to turn it around and explain some things to some of our favourite bands.

Nice Horse has bandsplained Paul Brandt, James Barker, Aaron Goodvin, Midland, Clayton Bellamy, Jeff Dalziel, but our favourite bandsplainin’ video may have been Brett Kissel. Take a moment, watch them all. I promise you won’t be disappointed.

I wanted to know if there’d be more bandsplainin’ videos coming and Katie reassured me that there would be. She let us know that bands have been asking to be bandsplained, and we’re very glad to hear it. There was even talk of possibly bandsplainin’ The Washboard Union!

At this point, I switched gears and asked about Coalition Music. Coalition Music mentored the band before to managing them, and they were always available to answer questions. If they didn’t know an answer, they found someone who did. Coalition runs Canada’s Music Incubator. “Canada’s Music Incubator (CMI) is a not-for-profit incubator based in Toronto with a mandate to help artists and artist managers evolve from starter companies into sustainable businesses through hands-on networking, mentoring and collaboration.”

Coalition helped to guide them towards taking the Nice Horse project more seriously, and while they always have a fun horse pun for us, they’re taking this business very seriously. They support all of their artists, but they also expressed that the artists support each other. It’s the story we hear over and over again in Canadian music, it’s like a family.

I managed to sneak a question about Johnson Crook, one of my favourite Toronto bands because I knew they had a relationship. Turns out Nice Horse had a relationship with Johnson Crook before their Coalition days, and one of the first shows Brandi did was with Noel Johnson, before his Johnson Crook days. Brandi talked about being in a band with Krista, and the two of them bringing Noel out on tour. There were some fun stories, but we’re going to make you ask Noel about the PlayStation.

Katie mentioned that she knew Eric at Coalition through Simple Plan. Simple Plan used to record at a recording studio where Katie worked, and Sebastian pointed Katie in Eric’s direction. Simple Plan continues to support Nice Horse through their journey.

Next on my list of “Must Asks” was, “Tell one thing that your fans don’t know about you.”.
Tara) “Everything! I have recently admitted to the world that I’m super domestic.”

Brandi) “I’m a way more open book. I’m a total tea fanatic and my favourite thing about being off of tour, is going home, and I have my special tea kettle that boils the water to the perfect temperature, and Krista got me this milk frother for Christmas one year, and I dream about going home and making myself the best matcha latte.”

Katie) “I can’t think of anything that people don’t know about me, let Krista go first.” After Krista answered, it came out that Katie is petrified of snakes and spiders and for that reasons, she’ll never go to Australia.

Krista) “Most of my home decor I purchase during Halloween and the week following. I have little skull shot glasses, little plates with tasteful skeletons on them and Brandi just got me a pillow that has skeletons doing yoga on it.”

I had to ask about new music. Nice Horse has a brand new single out for Six String Outlaw, and they’re calling this one The Sundown Remix. The remix sounds very different, and part of that’s because Tara’s put her own spin on the guitar parts. Have a listen.

Katie also told us that they were just in the studio two weeks ago working on brand new songs and that we expect to hear them in early next year. Hopefully February.

We wrapped up our interview, and Nice Horse got back to preparing for the show. Later that evening they took the stage by storm. Full out energy and enthusiasm. They told us during their set that one of their very first shows was in this venue when they opened for Tom Cochrane. It was good to have them back.

Their set included Six String Outlaw, Jim, Jack, Johnnie & Jose, Tonight and more. They closed out with Pony Up and energized the crowd. They did an amazing job of getting the audience ready for The Washboard Union. As their set ended the ladies behind me asked “What was their name, they were great.” I was happy to tell them.

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Nice Horse plays in Red Deer on November 1st with Meghan Patrick, Medicine Hat on November 2nd with Lindsay Ell, followed by four dates with The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and then they’ll finish up the tour with The Washboard Union. Look for dates in your city and get out and see this band. You won’t regret it.

Before we let them go, we got Nice Horse to do a round of 5 Quick Questions with us.

5 Quick Questions with Nice Horse

Q1) If you’re in charge of the music on a road trip, and can only pick one album to play on repeat, what album do you choose?
NH) “St. Vincent’s Actor.“

Q2) Do you have any pre-show rituals?
NH) “Taking a nap, in a dream world.”

Q3) What’s your favourite season?
NH) “Summer.”

Q4) Is there a band or artist you think people should be paying more attention to?
NH) “Dan Davidson, all the ladies, any woman.”

Q5) Is there anything else you want us to share with our readers that we haven’t touched on.
NH) “The tour is the thing because after that we might take a small break. But during that small break, we’ll be shooting a music video in Hawaii, so.” We found out that the video will be for one of their new songs!

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Trish Cassling

Writer/Photographer/Editor

Toronto Music Blogger