Starpainter decided to DIY when they decided to make their second full length album.

“ Rattlesnake Dreams,” which is officially released Friday, June 2, just in time for an album release party, June 3 at the Owl Acoustic Lounge with Amy Nelson.
The album is the local alt country folk rock band’s first for Edmonton based record label Neon Moon Records.
“ They’ve been extremely beneficial for us for supporting us and for PR. They have a project management, which has been extremely helpful,” said Starpainter frontman Joel Stretch, noting he produced the album himself and recorded it at his home with bandmates— lead guitarist Joel Gray, bassist Colby Stolson and drummer Mickey Hayward.
When they start playing live again, they will welcome new bassist Dylan Wagner to the fold as Stolson has been driving in from Edmonton to play with them.
They are also joined by Bailey Kate and Tyler Stewart playing organ when they play live.
Stretch played all the keyboard parts on the album himself as well as rhythm guitar and vocals.
They had the luxury of taking more time to write and develop the songs because of Covid.
“ We recorded it at my home, and we were able to meet in the same room because it was a little bit looser. We weren’t locked down,” he said.
“It was challenging. But we did lots of pre-production. We chipped away at them on weekends,” he said.
“Usually we like to road test the songs before we record them but weren’t able to do that this time, he said.
“ We did less road testing for this album but we took more time to work on areas of improvement . This album captures a more homey sound,” he continued, adding live he translates all the piano parts to guitar.
“ I like it when I go to a show and the band has a different sound than on the Cd,” he said.