The Wooden Sky

The Wooden Sky are a Toronto, Canada-based group active since 2003. They begin as Friday Morning’s Regret before changing to their current name in 2007. The band’s core early lineup includes Gavin Gardiner, Andrew Wyatt and Chris Cocca, with Simon Walker, Anissa Heart and Andrew Kekewich later joining as full-time and moonlighting members.

Formation and early work

The band’s roots lie in the winter of 2003, when Gavin Gardiner brings a collection of songs and starts looking for collaborators to turn bedroom sketches into live material. After the first snowfall, Andrew Wyatt and Chris Cocca join him, and the three develop ideas for their first EP. They work first in a makeshift studio and later in Gardiner’s garage in downtown Toronto, where they build the project that becomes The Wooden Sky.

Albums and sound

Their debut album, When Lost at Sea, first appears in February 2007 and is later re-released by Black Box Recordings, a Toronto-area label distributed by Fontana North. The album is supported by a video for the title track and is noted for fragile folk songs placed in a context that draws comparison with acts such as Great Lake Swimmers, Neutral Milk Hotel and Okkervil River.

The band’s second album, If I Don't Come Home, You'll Know I'm Gone, is recorded in Montreal in late 2008 and early 2009 with producer Howard Bilerman, who has worked with Arcade Fire, Thee Silver Mt. Zion and Basia Bulat. Released in 2009, it extends the folk and country elements of the debut into a more layered sound, with heavier use of instrumentation.

Touring and collaborations

The Wooden Sky tour regularly across Southern Ontario and Quebec, and also play in Canada, Europe and the United States in support of their 2009 album. They share bills with artists including Pascale Picard, Meligrove Band, Cuff the Duke, Matthew Barber, ohbijou, Final Fantasy, Sebastien Grainger, Jim Jenny and the Pinetops, the Acorn, Howe Gelb and the Bicycles.

Style

The band are identified with alternative country, folk rock and indie rock, and their work also sits within Canadian indie rock and folk traditions.