Midnite Rodeo Band guitarist Ed Molyski likes country guys who keep their sound

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON MAY 11, 1984

By Steve Newton

Country music may not–or may never–be really popular in Vancouver, but that hasn’t stopped Ed Molyski’s Midnight Rodeo Band from becoming one of  Canada’s premier country acts.

Their self-titled debut album, released in 1982 on RCA Records, produced no less than four hit singles, of which the first, “Nashville Just Wrote (Another Cheatin’ Song)”, secured the #2 spot for Country Group in the RPM Radio Programmers Music Poll.

The band has earned nominations for Top Country Vocal Group at both the ACME and Juno Awards, and has won the Best Country Act category for the past three years at the CARAS-sponsored Tribute to West Coast Music.

At the moment, the Midnight Rodeo Band–guitarist-songwriter Molyski, bassist-vocalist Jess Lee, pedal steel player Al Hildebrand, and drummer Theo Sysoev–are touring Alberta and Saskatchewan in support of their new album MRB 2, which has already garnered the hit singles “Rocky Mountain Opry” and “Slow Lovin'”.

A mellower and less punchy release than their first album, MRB 2 was produced by Mike Francis, whose credits include work for the Ronnie Prophet television show.

“He really knew what he was doing,” enthused Molyski over coffee last week, prior to hitting the road. “Our album was totally completed in about 20 hours, which is fast. Really fast. We’d spent about a year doing the demos, and those guys just played the music right off the bat, first take.”

The guys Molyski is referring to are some of Canada’s finest country sessionmen, including Anne Murray’s drummer Barry Keane and guitarist Bobby Lucer from the Tommy Hunter band. Recorded in Toronto, MRB 2 varies from their self-titled debut album, which made no use of outside players.

“The first album is all us,” says Molyski, “we did everything. And it was a little raw and a little edgy, with a little bit of buzzing strings here and there. It’s not quite as perfected as the second one, I guess.”

Apart from the seven Molyski originals on MRB 2, there are covers tunes by Mel Street (“Lovin’ On Borrowed Time”) and Roger Miller (“Husbands and Wives”). But as far as country idols go, Molyski is definitely a Willie Nelson man.

“I’m a fan of guys who keep their sound,” he says, “and I just like his guitar playing. I think he’s the best. And of course I like Merle Haggard and Waylon Jennings. All three of them play the guitar, and they’ve all kept their sound over the years.”

When not touring the prairies as the Midnight Rodeo Band, Molyski and Lee supplement their incomes making beer commercials for Labbatt’s breweries and performing as a duo at such places as the Side Track pub in Delta. And they’ve also made several appearances at the Newton Inn lounge, where they actually backed up Kenny Rogers around the time of his big hit “Lucille”.

“It’s a duo town,” says Molyski. “As far as middle-of-the-road and a little bit of country goes, a good duo can do pretty well here.”