WHO NAMED THE BAND: The Dungarees fit perfectly
Naming a country band is just as difficult as naming a rock band.
It’s like branding a cow – to use a simile country folk may be familiar with. The cow doesn’t want to be branded. It resists the branding iron, because it hurts. Yet once the scar has healed the cow barely notices the brand it’s stuck with for the rest of its life.
Much like a band.
A band name origin story can be as interesting or banal as the band wants it to be. In the case of the Edmonton country quartet The Dungarees – fresh from winning its second Country Recording of the Year at the Edmonton Music Awards, and set to play Canada Day at 8 pm at the Ledge – their name was a “contentious issue from Day 1,” according to singer-bassist James Murdoch. “I remember being the one who didn’t like it.” The name literally has “dung” in it. “Shit pants,” Murdoch jokes. They get asked about it all the time, even on a recent tour of Australia, where they thought locals knew what Dungarees were – but they didn’t. “They’re what your grandmother called blue jeans,” Murdoch explains.
Singer-guitarist Robb Angus is the one who came up with the name. He says, “Apparently, at one point many years ago, I mentioned to my girlfriend’s mother that if I was ever going to start up another band I was going to call it The Dungarees. I had completely forgotten about ever saying this or even thinking it. When we all got together as a group and started kicking around names she reminded me – quite persistently, I might add – about what I had said about The Dungarees. I of course had no recollection of it but thought that it was a fun name for what we were hoping was going to be a fun band. One out of two ain’t bad.“
At the time almost eight years ago, Angus had been playing with The Wheat Pool, Murdoch with his solo project. It was supposed to have been a cover band for fun and extra bucks, so the name wasn’t a big deal. Murdoch says, “Robb was quite adamant that this was the name, and when we started putting together the band, it was apparently in his mind predestined to be The Dungarees. My reluctance paled in comparison to his exuberance. So consequently I went with it.”
So there it is: We now know Who Named the Band.
It’s living with a name afterwards that can make the story interesting. How, for instance, does being called The Dungarees affect the sort of music they make? Hard to answer when you’re inside the work pants.
“I think in some way, it probably has affected what we do,” Murdoch says. “When we’re asked about it, first of all you explain what it is, but then you explain it’s a working class word. I think it’s a bit of a throwback to some of our roots, and origins as singer-songwriters.”
The result here is a refreshing Alberta country band that fits comfortably into the mainstream scene, CCMA nominations, gigs at the the Big Valley Jamboree, and so on, while sticking to a strict set of rules: No “horrific clichés” referencing pickup trucks, ice cold beer, or dirt roads. They’re like the “anti-bro country” band, known up to now for fast-paced country rockers, and showing more depth with the release of their latest single, an ode to maturity called Twenty Something. The Dungarees, Murdoch jokes, “Have been laundered.”
They thought about changing the name, about “re-branding,” but they never planned for The Dungarees to turn into a serious recording project – and it’s too late to change horses now.
“So we just decided to stick with it,” Murdoch says. “I think we’ve all kind of fallen in love with it. We’ve been worn down by it – but it fits the sound. Through it all it’s actually the perfect name for the band.”
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