Canary in a coal mine: 

“An allusion to caged canaries that miners would carry down into the mine tunnels with them. If dangerous gases such as carbon monoxide collected in the mine, the gases would kill the canary before killing the miners, thus providing a warning to exit the tunnels immediately.”

My last year at school I became obsessed with this concept. The idea that these rugged, enduring men relied on a small, helpless and pure creature for their own survival. 

I started writing about it and before I knew it I had a body of songs that could fit together on an album. If I was going to make an album I needed musicians to help fill it. So, we formed Pioneer. 

The name Pioneer is also inspired by this canary concept. I think of the pioneers, those first families to travel and settle west, the same way I see the caged canary. They established a safe way and provided advice that allowed others to settle. 

I’ve been playing these songs for about four years. I have a completely different opinion about them and myself as a musician now. I’ve lost my appetite a bit for music. These songs sat on my desktop for months and months. My stomach would churn with insecurity at the thought of releasing these songs. I started to despise them. My performance on this thing is far from perfect. Even as I listen through one last time before releasing it I cringe at the pitchy-ness in my singing. 

Fuck it. 

Here it is. Stream for free or buy it for yourself. 

Thanks for coming to our shows. We hope to have more soon.  

https://pioneerband.bandcamp.com/album/pioneer