Wintersleep has been keeping things quiet on the home front, choosing to take its show on the road for most of 2006 with only a handful of gigs in the Metro area. But a handful’s all you needed to bestow the inaugural (if awkwardly named) “Band to Be Blown Away By” award on the fab four (-ish). “It’s nice to know people haven’t passed us over, or forgotten about us folks,” writes drummer Loel Campbell from the lobby of a Houston hotel as his mates load up at a nearby buffet. “Best Canadian Band is a little overwhelming, jeez...but I guess Halifax might be a bit biased.” The band, which has just returned from a US jaunt with The Slip and this little upstart outfit The Tragically Hip, will begin work on its third full-length in mere weeks. “Definitely excited about the new record, it seems like it’s been awhile?” says Campbell. “We’ve been lucky in that we keep getting second and third winds that keep us moving.”
1st runner-up: In-Flight Safety, 2nd runner-up: Tragically Hip