by Stanton Swihart
Lush orchestral-pop sensation the Heavy Blinkers began as a 1998 solo project titled Hooray for Everything by Halifax, Nova Scotia-based songwriter Jason MacIsaac. When it came time to perform the record in a live capacity, he required a full band to help him. He enlisted friends Andrew Watt, Trevor Forbes, and Ruth Minnikin, each of whom had contributed to the first Heavy Blinkers album as, respectively, keyboardist, bassist, and vocalist. MacIsaac borrowed another friend, Greg Fry, from local band the Holiday Snaps to sit in the drummers chair. The album earned strong reviews throughout North America, and the live performances were equally well received, so the five-piece lineup decided to make the Heavy Blinkers an official band. They spent April 1999 in the recording studio recording the basic tracks for the second Heavy Blinkers opus. After months of overdubs and production touches, they emerged at the beginning of 2000 on Brobdingnagian Records with their self-titled sophomore release. A dramatic sonic progression from the first effort with most of the songwriting shared by MacIsaac and Watt, the album garnered raves, and the band played live dates in both Canada and the U.S. to promote the album. With their eponymous effort still fresh, the quintet began creative preparations for their third effort, an album promising to continue their Wilson/Bacharach leanings, with additional forays into jazz and Americana.