A Large Small-Town Band

Halifax, the capital of Nova Scotia, is the closest big city to St. John’s, the capital of Newfoundland and home of Tim Baker’s seven-piece indie-rock band Hey Rosetta! But in this case, close still means a 24-hour journey by land and sea, and big means almost double St. John’s population—at a whopping 390,000 people. Suffice to say, Hey Rosetta! are fairly isolated from the big music-industry grind, which suits them just fine. “I really need solitude and time to write, to let the voice come to you and tune in to it,” explains Baker. That said, “It’s pretty hard to deny the feeling of being onstage and having a big crowd sing along,” so Baker finds himself on the road for much of the year in the company of the other six musicians that currently comprise Hey Rosetta! While Baker laments that “the road sucks for creativity,” he adds that “there’s a fair bit of material to mine for writing.” As with many Canadian bands, Hey Rosetta! navigate a wide disparity in the size of their audience on either side of the border. While they play for thousands in arenas up north, they struggle to fit all of the band onstage in smaller rooms like Rockwood Music Hall in New York City. But the reality is: “That’s how we get any income—through touring.” The constant road work is paying off though, as the band finds themselves playing to larger audiences across more of the States, including regular summer festival appearances. They’ll be supporting their fourth studio full-length, Second Sight, which debuted at No. 6 on the Canadian Albums Chart, and continuing to spread their distinctive songwriting magic across North America.