Band of the Week: One Hundred Dollars

It’s fair to say that the songs contained on One Hundred DollarsSongs of Man are written from the perspective of male characters, but there’s more to it than that. Lead singer Simone Schmidt’s lyrics embody the working-class ethic frequently associated with roots music — these are men at turning points in their lives, who work as hard as they live.

But those same lyrics exude a maturity and breadth that goes far beyond what one normally associates with the genre. It’s a trait shared by the musical side of the One Hundred Dollar equation: take an age-old formula and gently mould it into something unique, golden, personal. One Hundred Dollars have been garnering attention and praise for their unique brand of roots music since their inception.

We sat down with Schmidt to talk about the evolution of the band and what it’s like to play with punk bands.

First, can you just give us a brief history of the band?
[Guitarist] Ian Russell and I started singing and playing guitar together back in 2007. Stew Crookes approached us after seeing us play, and he offered to play pedal steel with us. We put out an EP, Hold It Together, and then were playing around. Rick White saw us play a show that we opened for him, and he offered to make a record with us. So we brought along some friends from Ian’s old band, Jon-Rae and the River: Jonathan Adjemian, who doesn’t play with us anymore, on organ; Paul Mortimer who was on bass, and now plays lead [guitar]; and David Clarke on drums. The record we made was Forest of Tears, and we all wanted to keep playing together so we became a band. Our musical relationships kept evolving, and eventually Paul took over lead guitar, Jonathan left, and Kyle Porter entered on bass. We made Songs of Man at the end of 2010 and released it last May.

From what I’ve noticed, you seem to associate with a lot of non-country bands (seeing you play the Toronto Reference Library with F*cked Up awhile back comes to mind). Is it important to try and reach out to people that might not normally check out your style of music?
It’s not a pointed strategy. We just play with bands who we know who play music we like. They’re not all country musicians. We attract a broader range of people as fans than most country music because we don’t rely on the more tired tropes of country music that tend to alienate people. Truth be told, most people like the best parts of country music — the stories, the licks, the wild singing. They just don’t like the pap, or clichés, or the stereotypes, or the racism, or the disgusting guitar tones that are of the day. 

Songs of Man has been out for a while now. Have you been pleased with the reception its gotten?
When people write to me and tell me this or that song spoke to them, I’m glad I put it out. But it’s a hard time to be a songwriter. Seems like nowadays there’s little appreciation for song craft on a lyrical level, and that’s where I’ve focused much of my attention in this project — story telling, word play and the triple entendres. I always remind myself I have it easier than writers who publish poetry in books. But I hope to write songs that grow in meaning as people listen to them over years, and the culture of the music industry hardly even encourages repeat listens. As for the record’s reception in the press, I stopped reading the articles about it because I wasn’t learning anything; people were misinterpreting the basic concept — Songs of Man wasn’t about a bunch of males, it was about men. 

Was it exciting to be nominated for an Indie?
It’s always nice to get nominated for something. We lost to the nicest guys: Elliott Brood.

You’ve been working on a project where you release a different seven-inch on record labels from different regions of the country. What prompted that project and when can we expect the next one?
People were throwing around the term “Canadiana” in reference to our music. I write within the balladic tradition, not the Canadian one, but since it was being said anyway, I thought it would fair to tell some Canadian stories about the oil economy, cancer, about colonialism and this kind of Canadian stuff.

What’s next for One Hundred Dollars?
We’re gonna roll with time.

One Hundred Dollars are:
Simone Schmidt —  vocals
Ian Russell — guitar
Stew Crookes — pedal steel guitar
Dave Clarkedrums
Paul Mortimer — lead guitar
Kyle Porter — bass

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