In the dying days of 2004, the Canadian prairies slept beneath a blanket of fresh snow. Meanwhile, on a cold winter's night in Edmonton, four young men gathered in a warm, fire-lit pub on Whyte Avenue with an idea to form a musical co-operative. This initiative was to give voice to their rural obsessions and fierce penchant for dark country rock.

The result of that night was The Wheat Pool, whose influences draw from fellow Edmontonians Old Reliable, Winnipeg's the Weakerthans, Neil Young, Blue Rodeo, early Wilco and Whiskeytown.

The songs themselves stem from two brothers, who pen dark, driving country-rock songs that deal with timeless themes of death and good old-fashioned longing. These are songs that are best appreciated in your car, on a dirt road, late at night, chasing trains in the dark.