glenroy

glenroy is a singer-songwriter/guitarist out of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. 'glenroy' is the adopted moniker of Glen Erickson, a steady fixture in the Alberta music community. Following a successful tenure as a member of the alt-country band The Wheat Pool, Erickson is returning to the studio and the stage with a collection of songs steeped in his indie-rock and Canadiana-roots influences, scheduled for release in early 2019.

Erickson spent most of the 2000s not only as a guitarist for numerous local artists, but as a hearty contributor to his local scene, as an indie label owner and publicist. Upon the demise of the The Wheat Pool (TWP) in 2012, Erickson dove into greater support roles — becoming a leader in music activism as a member of multiple arts boards, and a regular contributor to national influencers such as FACTOR and the JUNOs.

Yet, at the heart of Erickson is an artist, and no amount of peripheral activity in the music scene could make up for the hole that was left when TWP broke up — a hole which only increased with time. Life became a vacuum of experiences and inspirations without an outlet. Following a reunion show for TWP, the itch became too much, and in late 2017 he picked up the guitar again to begin actively writing.

Two 'glenroy standards' persist through all these roles and transitions:  a hat, and the color black. As a writer glenroy is constantly examining the balance of light and darkness in the human experience as means for inspiration. The songs began exploring deep heartbreak and loss, as well as his own battles with anxiety, wrapping his themes in the most relatable of experiences — broken relationships. Erickson frequently juxtaposes the tension between love and pain over the exploration of tensions between stark, vulnerable acoustic deliveries mixed with layered, melancholic arrangements.

Armed with the beliefs that starting over is a daily discipline and that you’re never too old to find yourself, glenroy is out to connect with a few or many, around words and sounds that come from the most honest places.

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title: Heart On My Black Sleeve ep
release date
: April 2019

label: self-released
Edmonton, AB, Canada

track listing

  1. English Bay
  2. This Could Be
  3. Lost In A Dream
  4. She Has No Idea
  5. Leather Jacket
  6. Time