Hey Romeo lead singer Stacie Roper is as bubbly and upbeat on the phone as her band is on record.
“On the first CD, all of the songs are really sad, on the last CD they are a lot happier,” said Roper from her Calgary home where she lives with her fiancee. The rest of Hey Romeo, pianist Rob Shapiro and guitarist Darren Gusnowsky, live in Edmonton.
Hey Romeo’s singles ‘Snap My Fingers,’ ‘ He Still Calls Me Baby,’ ‘Searchin’ For You’ and ‘That’s What I Am’ plus their cover of Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Second Hand News’ being played all over the radio. Plus the group won CCMA’s new group of the year award.
“I’m a very happy, smiley person, so it got to the point where I said ‘ I can’t sing these songs, they’re too sad,’ so we decided this CD, ‘That’s What I Am,’ would be happier.
Plus, when we went down to Nashville to write them, it was -35 here and +18 down there, so it was very easy to step up and write happier songs. We’re a cute, fun, happy band,” she said adding the next CD may be a bit edgier. She is looking forward to the band’s April 9 show at Average Joes.
“We’ve never played Lethbridge before, though we have done some corporate parties. But this is our first official gig there,” Roper continued.
They are well known in Alberta and can make a living playing music just in Alberta and B.C., though they have had one pretty high profile U.S. gig.
“We played the National Finals Rodeo (Dec. 7-9). So for American gigs that’s a pretty big one,” she said adding they’d like to do more in the United States and are expecting to play again this year, but are happy to play Alberta in the meantime.
“It’s actually pretty easy to make a living playing music in Alberta alone as well as B.C. and Saskatchewan. There’s corporate events and casinos, festivals and rodeos. It depends on the genre. It helps that we play country music,” she continued.
“Alberta is like the Texas of Canada. Texas musicians can make a living just playing Texas,” she observed adding she appreciates all of the fans who come out to the shows, especially when they come bearing gifts.
“We love our fans. We love them like family and sometimes they bring goodies. We have girls who bring us jujubes and the guys sometimes get flowers,” she said adding living in two different cities doesn’t affect the band — much.
“I have family up there and a lot of our gigs are north of Leduc, so I’m always driving up there. And we’ve been playing together so long, we know the songs. This time they get to drive down here, ” she said.
Having two guys in the band has affected her songwriting compared to a lot of other “edgier” female singers.
“A lot of them have a real edge, their songs are about guy hating and about woman power, but with two guys in the band we have to write songs they feel comfortable singing because they’ve got to sing back-up. So our songs are a little more down the middle,” she said.
After their April 9 show at Average Joes, they will head straight to the airport to catch a plane to Nashville to write with Byron Hill in Nashville for about nine days.
“Everyday except the weekend. That’s what they do there. It’s like a day job for them. They write two songs a day and take the weekends off, so it’s tough to find someone to write with on weekends. But it helps to give the brain a rest,” she continued.
“It works 50-50. We’ll bring half a song down there and he’ll give us a half a song back.”
She met band mates Rob Shapiro and Darren Gusnowsky when they were playing in Gord Bamford’s band.
“And the rest speaks for itself,” she said. They have a hit single being played on country radio ‘That’s Who I Am,’ and will film a video for the next single, either ‘Hello ’ or ‘Feels like Yesterday.’ They haven’t decided which one will be released as the next single.
“ I’m not a big rock singer. I’ve always enjoyed traditional country,” she said adding their live shows include the hits for the CD , of course, as well as a few covers and sometimes even some AC DC.
“ Piano is my instrument. I grew up playing piano and my mom played piano in church, but I don’t play on stage because Rob is two time CCMA’s keyboardist of the year,” she said adding she is pleased with the way Hey Romeo’s career has taken off.
“It’s hard to think of yourself as a success. I’m still just a little farm girl from Hay Lakes,” she said adding while growing up she dated a lot of farm boys and helped out on their farms.
“I was more of an acreage girl,” she said adding Hey Romeo, which also includes touring bassist Curtis Edner and drummer Brad Kettle, already have the makings of a busy summer booked including performances at the Dauphin Country Music Festival and another festival in Havelock, Ontario.
The show at Average Joes starts at 9 p.m.. Tickets are $20. Alyssa McQuaid will be opening.
A version of this story appears in the April 6 edition of the Lethbridge Sun Times
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