Dr. Friday!!
Local original Band!!
I really love this Band and their story!!
Thanks to Michael Owens for all the Info!!
Dr Friday was formed on June 30, 2004. There have been a few changes since then, but two of the founding members (guitarist and harmonica player James Malec and drummer Danny Ray “Stooky” Stocknow) are still with the band today. Guitarist Allan Garrett joined the band in 2010 after years of performing with top-tier country artists. The highlight of his career prior to joining Dr Friday came in 2006 when he performed with an all-star band at the CCMA Awards. The most recent change occurred in 2019 when bassist Drew Ringstrom and vocalist Michael Owens joined the band. Drew’s primary musical interest is the blues.
Michael has performed a wide range of music genres including the blues, blues-based rock, and heavy metal. He studied vocals with Van Louis (the original vocalist of The Stampeders) and at the Canadian Academy of Vocal Music with Ian Garratt (who is famous for training country superstar Shania Twain and had a lengthy tenure as the lead tenor of the Metropolitan Opera). Michael was also mentored by Canadian Music Industry legend Mel Shaw who was the manager of The Stampeders, the founding President of the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Science (CARAS), and inducted into the CARAS Music Hall of Fame in 1991. Prior to 2019, the band released two CDs.
One of these was self-titled, and the other was entitled “Cruisin”. Immediately after Drew and Michael joined the band Dr Friday went to work writing new material and recording an album. Since this represented the start of a fresh new era for the band, the album was entitled “RE-BOOT”. Early in 2020, the band was putting the finishing touches on the album when COVID struck, and the ensuing restrictions prevented any chance of getting together for rehearsals.
Nonhttps://open.spotify.com/album/4tGJvJDutIoz3KAN5Hq42J?fbclid=IwAR1wCWxxeQJ5-4BNeUeV2475O0tTZh9fu3lejKBjyKE3Tcv8QRg_pNhNhjQ
nevertheless, the creative juices were flowing, and each member used the break to write new material for future albums. Finally, in March 2021, although COVID restrictions ruled out any chance of hosting an official CD release party, the band released the RE-BOOT album. The album included new versions of five songs that had been previously released on the Cruisin’ album. One of the re-mixed songs from the Cruisin’ album was its title track. This song was released to Canadian commercial FM radio, and airplay has been confirmed on at least 15 stations.
It has been speculated that the Re-boot album may have at least partially inspired Olds Classic Rock 104.5 FM to start showcasing local talent from the Calgary area with their “Homebrew” radio show. Since this show’s inception, numerous songs from the RE-BOOT album have received airplay. Additionally, six songs from the album were showcased on Sarnia’s Cool 106.3 FM’s Beyond Mainstream radio show on Sunday, August 29, 2021.
Dr Friday released yet another album entitled “Soul Tonic”, on April 30, 2022. The music on this album is best described as good time rock’n’roll. The first song on the album, entitled “Good Time” was released to Canadian commercial FM radio on the album’s release date. Early feedback from radio stations across the nation indicates this is the best material to date and numerous radio stations in smaller towns have already added this song to their playlists.
Additionally, the song was recently added to the playlist of Calgary’s X92.9 and aired on their Xposure radio show. The initial feedback also indicates that another 14 major (Mediabase) stations are considering adding it to their playlists if/when it starts garnering numbers on the Mediabase charts. Once again, 5 or 6 songs from Soul Tonic will be showcased on Sarnia’s Cool 10.3 FM’s Beyond Mainstream radio show on the evening of Sunday, July 10 around 8 pm Eastern Time.
Perhaps the greatest opportunity to transpire as a result of the “Reboot” release is that Dr Friday will be the opening act at the inaugural Monashee Music Festival in Sicamous, BC, July 22 – 23, 2022, where 5440 will be headlining. The band also looks forward to performing at The Badlands Boogie fundraiser near Drumheller, Alberta, during the Labor Day long weekend.
Contact Information Phone (Michael): (587) 889-2748
Email: DrFridayRocks@hotmail.com
Social Media Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drfridayca Website: https://drfriday.ca/home
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0Q2vX19cOV93I2gYqykJ3Q?si=NFfNtst4SBaRpX6QE_0Avg
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcPufxg6nxk
Thanks for reading!! Cheers!! BSK.
