A timeless melody emerging from their indie country pulse is where listeners will find The Land League, the performance alias of Irish Canadian brothers Ciaran and Jesse Scanlon. The duo began writing during the early months of 2020. Faced with isolation and a lack of live music, the two brothers decided to look inwards and write together. After years of playing in other bands they took it upon themselves to write songs influenced by what they were raised listening to: Country and Western, Irish Traditional music, and The Beatles.
The pair have a lot to show for their efforts. “Stone and Reckless” is that special country music magic, making a good time sound mournful; tongue in cheek but a tear in the eye. In our interview, the brothers take turns discussing their favorite songs and explaining why country music is so important.
Tell us about the first song you ever wrote?
The first song we ever wrote under The Land League was a song called “Cowboy in the Rain.” Ciaran had his heart broke a few winters ago while living in Vancouver. The rain can be so powerful and draining in the winter and going through heartache in that climate can be rough, so it was one of those times where you just have to turn to song. We hammed it up to be a total pacific-north-west western thing. We don’t really like playing into the whole cowboy country-western thing because that’s not us. But it’s a well written song with some sweet imagery, a biting guitar riff, and one of the best pedal steel solos We’ve ever heard written by a fellow Manitoban, Rory Verbrugge.
Who are some of your musical influences?
Being brothers, we’ve got a rich tap of musical influences to draw on because we share a lot of the same cultural references. Everything from Irish rebel songs from the 17th century to contemporary music that slaps on the charts, like Doja Cat. Nothing is off the table for us and what it really comes down to is the melody of music. There’s a lot of genres and influences we’re drawn to because of melody and the spirit of that melody, and none of those influences are left off the table in our songwriting. You can’t sacrifice your words either, but they inform the melody so we choose carefully. That’s probably why it takes us a whole day to write out a verse. That’s what we love about country, too: such poignant song writing that has been carefully thought out around the vocal melody. Country is accessible, and easy to understand, and most importantly it tells a story that all listeners can understand.
Explain the title of your song.
You can pretty well take it at face value. Stoned seems pretty self explanatory: drunk, high, crossed, etc, but reckless is a condition I associate less with reckless actions but more with an anticipation or desire to become reckless before the moment. And I think that’s what this song is going for: a call to action to keep the night going after the legion hall closes at 11pm. Plus I was very happy to google “Stoned and Reckless” a few weeks ago and not a single exact result came up. I was surprised, it sounds too good! -Ciaran
Name a perfect song and tell us why you feel that way.
I’ve always thought that “The Mary Ellen Carter” by Stan Rogers is the best contender for the perfect song. It’s just so positive, Stan kills the performance, and knowing how he went makes it all the more of an emotional song. I’d love to write music with as much spirit as it. – Ciaran
I personally think “Losing my Religion” by R.E.M is the perfect song. The production, arrangements, and Michael Stipe’s haunting delivery, makes the song unlike any other pop song. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard the song on the radio, but it never gets old, I still get chills listening to it. – Jesse
How do you manage having a good time at shows, but also trying to stay mentally and physically fit?
I think that’s a good question, you do have to keep a balance when you’re on the road. From personal experience sleep usually is thrown out the window on tour. I find if you do have a good time the night before, you gotta hold yourself accountable the next day. That could be going for a walk, a run, meditating, or whatever activity releases some endorphins. Also lots of water and yogurt typically helps counter the drinks from the night before. – Jesse