| Crown Lands | |
| Background: | group_or_band |
| Origin: | Oshawa, Ontario, Canada |
| Years Active: | 2015–present |
| Current Members: |
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Crown Lands is a Canadian rock music duo from Oshawa, Ontario.[1] The band consists of vocalist/drummer Cody Bowles, and guitarist/bassist/keyboardist Kevin Comeau.[2] With prog-rock influences, the duo compose music and lyrics inspired by Indigenous resistance to colonialism.[3] They have stated that their name, "Crown Lands", communicates a desire to disrupt the concept of Canadian "crown land", or government-held lands stolen from First Nations.[4]
Crown Lands won the Juno Award for Breakthrough Group of the Year at the Juno Awards of 2021.[5] The band were also nominated for Rock Album of the Year.[6] Their sophomore album Fearless was nominated for Rock Album of the Year at the 2024 Juno Awards.[7]
The band was formed in 2015 when Comeau and Bowles began jamming in a friend's barn. Comeau studied classical music at Western University in London, Ontario, and Bowles studied psychology and music at York University in Toronto. Their first EP, Mantra, was released on August 18, 2016.[8] They released their second EP Rise Over Run on September 8, 2017.[9] It includes the band's single "Mountain", about colonialism and the history of residential schools in Canada.[10] In 2018, the band opened for Jack White on the Canadian leg of his tour.[11] On June 11, 2020, they released the acoustic EP Wayward Flyers, Vol. 1 on Universal,[12] featuring a cover of Neil Young's "Birds".[13]
Their full-length self-titled debut album was released on August 13, 2020, and was produced in Nashville by Dave Cobb.[2] [12] The album was preceded by the single "End of the Road", a protest song about the issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women whose video features narration by Tanya Tagaq.[14]
Their March 2021 single "Context: Fearless Pt. 1" is a tribute to the band Rush, a 10-part song with sections referencing Rush's work. They made a demo of the song with Terry Brown, producer of Rush's first nine albums, and later worked on the track with Nick Raskulinecz, co-producer of two Rush albums, and Rush producer David Bottrill.[12]
In July 2021, the band released the single "White Buffalo", along with "The Oracle", both produced by David Bottrill.[15] Both songs were included on the band's four-track EP White Buffalo, released on September 16, 2021, on Spinefarm Records / Universal Music Canada.[16] The band describes "White Buffalo" as the third in a trilogy of songs about Indigenous resistance, including "Mountain" and "End of the Road".[15] [16]
In October and November 2022, the band opened for Greta Van Fleet on their U.S. Tour.[17] On February 24, 2023 they released the single "Lady of the Lake".[18] That song and the following single "Starlifter: Fearless Pt. II" were included on the band's second album, Fearless, released on March 31, 2023 and produced by David Bottrill.[19] The band toured across Canada in support of Fearless in the spring of 2023 alongside July Talk.[20] In the fall of 2023, Crown Lands toured with Kiss on their final tour.[21]
In December 2023 Bowles, who had been raised by a father who identified as Mi'kmaq, released a public statement revealing that genealogical research had found that they were not indigenous at all, but in fact was of Black Nova Scotian descent.[22] They apologized for any harm caused to indigenous communities by their erroneous beliefs about their heritage.[22]
| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Juno Award | Breakthrough Group of the Year | Crown Lands | |
| Juno Award | Rock Album of the Year | Crown Lands | ||
| Album details | ||
| Crown Lands |
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|---|---|---|
| Fearless |
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| Album details | ||
| Odyssey Vol. 1 |
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| Album details | ||
| Mantra |
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|---|---|---|
| Rise Over Run |
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| Wayward Flyers, Vol. 1 |
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| White Buffalo |