“Rise Together” band to release new album

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This article was published 04/06/2018 (2144 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Steinbach band that brought us the Winnipeg Jets playoff song “Rise Together” will soon release their first album, and it’s a far cry from hockey songs.

The band is one of the local acts that will take to the stage at Summer in the City in 10 days’ time.

The Boy & The Sea is composed of frontman Mike Burnard, guitarist Jason Reddecopp, bassist Luke Thiessen, and drummer and producer Alan Penner. The indie pop-rock squad formed in 2016 and gained traction this winter when the Jets played “Rise Together” during playoff games.

Common Ghosts is the band’s first full-length album, and has allowed them to define their sound. The album draws on their musical backgrounds, ranging from polished pop to classic rock. Its topic: the story of Jesus through the eyes of people he met during his life.

“It was basically me trying to tap into the emotions of all these different people who were impacted by Jesus,” said Burnard, listing John the Baptist, King Herod and even Lucifer himself as characters on the album.

He’d written from the viewpoint of others before and said it allowed him to “feel in a brand-new way.”

While driving home from an Easter service, Burnard was listening to a guitar riff his bandmates had sent him, and mulling over the actions of Judas Iscariot (who is known for betraying Jesus).

“How could Judas do that to Jesus after meeting him?” Burnard said. “What was in his heart that was so full of hate that he wanted to do this act?” Lyrics came to him as he drove and he recorded them, via Siri, to his phone.

The same day, he brought the lyrics to his band and set them to the music they’d written earlier. An idea clicked. He asked the band—what if they wrote a whole album on the same theme?

Burnard insists Common Ghosts isn’t a “Christian album,” and is aware some of the emotions and thoughts in the lyrics could be offensive to some. They were written from a place of authenticity, he said.

“If people are offended by that then they shouldn’t be reading the Bible either,” Burnard said.

Burnard thinks the transformative power of Jesus’ life shines throughout the record, but acknowledges anyone who listens to a song will hear just plain good rock music.

The Boy & The Sea will play Saturday night, June 16, on the main stage at Summer in the City. They will digitally release the first three songs from Common Ghosts June 15, with the full album to follow at the end of June.