Now that the Whisky and Women song from Joshua’s Habit is all over the radio, the group’s drummer can say “told you so.”
Adam Gooch (known as “The Gooch”) said he’d always had a sixth sense that Joshua’s Habit would become a break-out band.
“I knew. I get deja vu all the time, and I had a shiver up my spine the first time we played together,” some eight years ago, he added. “ I never lost faith. I always knew we were going somewhere.”
The Gooch was born and raised in Calgary, but is now living near Olds and working at a window tinting shop in Red Deer. It’s a job he’s about to temporarily ditch, when Joshua’s Habit begins on an eastern tour from Ontario to the Maritimes in August. The western leg starts in September. Drumming full time is going to seem like a vacation, the 38-year-old added with a laugh.
Before heading east, the four-man alt-rock band performs on Friday and Saturday, June 26 and 27, at Wild Bill’s Sports Bar in the North Hill Inn.
The Gooch, along with fellow band members, singer Travis Pankiw of Saskatoon, guitarist Eddy Whiskey of High River, and bassist Brad Taylor of Calgary, are encountering a growing audience at each gig. New fans are being drawn by the hard-driving rock song, Whiskey and Women, which has jumped to No. 65 on the Canadian Top 100 from the 73rd spot three weeks ago.
Joshua’s Habit began getting regular radio play as far afield as Kitchener, Ont., and even Australia and Japan, after winning the $100,000 grand prize in Calgary’s Vibe 98.5 Radio Star Search Competition a year ago. The money was used to fund a new album, Torn, and a video for Whiskey and Women.
Astral Media, the prize sponsor, later threw in another $50,000 to help finance the band’s coast-to-coast tour, which is designed to make Joshua’s Habit better known throughout Canada.
The Gooch said he can always stand more fans and fame.
Torn is the group’s fourth CD. It follows up the 2007 album Wash the Filth, which produced the radio-friendly single, Pointing Fingers.
Joshua’s Habit has shared the stage with The Trews, State of Shock and Collective Soul, and counts among its many influences Soundgarden and Motley Crue.
The band plays Wild Bill’s at 9 p.m. on Friday (doors open at 8 p.m.) and 11 p.m. on Saturday (doors open at 10:30 p.m.). Tickets for each night are $10 in advance or $15 at the door.
lmichelin@www.reddeeradvocate.com