Vile Richard

Vile Richard is comprised of singer/songwriters Olaf Alders and Andrew Vanhorn, joined by a quirky collective of musical friends and neighbours. Alders and Vanhorn have been seen and heard across Eastern Canada, performing live on TV and radio from Hamilton to Halifax. Notable venues include Toronto's CityTV, ATV/CTV in Atlantic Canada and Ottawa's "The New RO". Overseas radio play includes BBC Radio 2's Bob Harris Country and Bryan Burnett's Brand New Country on BBC Scotland. The band has also written and performed music for indie film and stage productions as well as performing improvised pieces for live theatre at Second City.

Having met as Humanities students at McMaster University, Alders and Vanhorn soon started performing regularly at venues around the Hamilton, Ontario area. Vile Richard started off by releasing, "Lucky Me", a rock album which owes a great debt to Matthew Sweet, Elliot Smith and the Lemonheads. The band then toured Eastern Canada opening for Mike Trebilcock (Killjoys) in support of the album.

Next Vile Richard released "Hockey Song" to radio. The single garnered airplay on FM and AM radio in Canada. Embracing hockey mania, the boys performed their "Hockey Song" at Wayne Gretzky's in Toronto between periods of a Toronto Maple Leafs/Ottawa Senators game.

A second full album arrived as the band proudly announced the birth of their second child, How to Find and Fascinate a Mistress. The sophomore album finds the band picking up some new instruments (banjo and glockenspiel) and recording the album in their own studio. Creating the tracks in their own studio, Vanhorn and Alders have been free to experiment with a sound that blends aspects of traditional country with their own rock roots. The result is an album that is firmly stuck somewhere between folk and rock, with a distinctive Canadian sound, drawing comparisons with Blue Rodeo, Barenaked Ladies and Great Big Sea.

"This is a wonderful album." Bryan Burnett, BBC Scotland's Brand New Country
"Wonderful stuff!" Bob Harris, BBC Radio 2's Bob Harris Country
"...intellectually driven, quirky folk songs that can be simultaneously cute and bittersweet, fraught with literary allusion and sung with sentimentality."

Ric Taylor, VIEW Magazine, (Hamilton, ON)

The band is currently working to complete their next album, "Vile Christmas", which is scheduled for release in November, 2009.