The Ragged Flowers Turn 25! - theHumm June 2025

By RuKincaid

The Ragged Flowers, Almonte’s “friendly neighbourhood purveyors of neo-psychedelic folk”, are marking twenty-five years since their début album Love to Burn. Having played such illustrious venues as Rasputin’s, the NAC Fourth Stage and The Blacksheep Inn, they are returning to one of their favourites — the Cedar Hill School House — for an intimate run of shows from June 20–22, and are launching a limited-edition double vinyl retrospective. As of press time the concerts are already sold out, but you can still pre-order the albums at TicketsPlease.ca (where you can also join the waiting list for the shows if you like). Since theHumm has an “in” with band manager Ruby Kincaid, we were able to wrangle an interview with all five cats (musically speaking, of course!)…

The Ragged Flowers have been around for a quarter-century! What are the key ingredients in your secret longevity sauce?

Rob Riendeau: It has been a long, strange trip! I think, fundamentally, it comes down to having immense amounts of respect for each other. The kind of respect that makes you question yourself instead of dismissing someone else’s idea that you disagree with at first. Creatively, that means trying out musical ideas — genuinely trying, full-heartedly — instead of saying “that will never work.” And, quite often, really great things happen. Also, we laugh with and at each other a lot! At this point, we’re really a band of brothers.

With such a long history and so much in your repertoire, how did you go about curating the selections on this new album?

Ian Douglas: Simple, we used an Etch-a-sketch. Actually, it was kind of a fun project. We took a little ramble through our musical garden to see which “flower” songs were swaying in the sunshine, ready to be picked. Naturally, our recent Flying Machine EP of six new songs made sense for Side One, but our 25-year retrospective Time Machine on Sides 2, 3, and 4 proved to be a bit more challenging.

We tried to pick 14 of our “signature” tunes and fan-favourites that somehow captured the Ragged Flowers vibe. It’s a bit hard to describe, but there’s a unique band “sound” that is recognizable: earthy, bright, & folky — with a curious “sixties” groove woven through, which is strange given we’re so young (wink, wink). I guess we’re caught in a Time Machine?

Here’s a little secret: when we were remastering the songs for vinyl, we did a bit of sonic pruning and added a few spices that attentive ears might notice. Finally, we wanted each of the four lead tracks to “catch” the ears of our listener and invite them into our rocket-ship! Overall, I think the album captures the joy of our unexpected musical journey.

Creating a double album gives you scope to play in a visual arts sandbox as well as a musical one. What was the appeal of this format, and what can fans expect to see?

Steve Reside: A double gatefold album felt like the perfect format for Flying Machine, not just musically but also as something you can hold, savour and step into. There’s something magical about vinyl: dropping the needle, unfolding the sleeve, sinking into the artwork. It turns listening into something more intentional. Less about pressing play and more about preparing for takeoff. The double LP gave us space to pair the new songs (Flying Machine) with reflections from our past (Time Machine), all wrapped in lyrics and visuals that invite the listener along for the ride. I guess it’s our version of a time-travelling road trip — where mom and dad sit you in the back seat, give you fun things to look at and listen to, and suggest you be quiet and enjoy the ride. Except we’re not asking you to sit back or be quiet.

The other members have been together for so long they may not recall, so this one goes to George. How did joining four creative collaborators impact or expand your musical horizons?

George Birchall: I had to learn what a “flower song” was. We use that term a lot, when talking through some song or idea that might work with the Flowers. I might come to rehearsal with a new song that I’m really excited about, and then learn that it’s not right for this group. It might be a great song, but there are a few key ingredients that tend to define a “flower song”. First off, it’s usually a song with a definite arrangement of different parts, so there’s a dynamic change between the beginning, middle, and end of the song. Next, it’s gotta be a bit weird — either lyrically, or musically, something to surprise us, and the audience. Last thing — group vocals. Most of our best songs have some good harmonies we can lean into.

I assume most bands have a leader, a real driver of the energy of the band. This band has five. It’s weird, and it requires very thoughtful communication to make sure everyone gets their itch scratched. But it works, really well, as I think it’s led to a lot of musical diversity.

I haven’t really answered your question yet, so let me try and be more direct.

The Flowers taught me a lot about what makes a song work. Having 4 creative powerhouses to lean on and take a song that’s good, and make it great — that’s why I do this. It’s one thing to write a song that works in your living room. It’s quite another to arrange it as a 5-piece band and bring enough dynamics and energy to it that it works in a concert hall. That’s rewarding.

As a long-term strategic thinker-type, what can people expect from the Ragged Flowers over the next 25 years, and how can they stay up to date on your plans?

Nathan Sloniowski: I’m glad you asked. The strategy involves deploying the inevitable vast profits from our double-vinyl album into a diversified portfolio within The Ragged Ventures Group that will in turn fund future recording projects.

To ensure our physical longevity, Rob will be leading Ragged Rejuvenation Inc., focused on induced pluripotent stem cells donated by Keith Richards and Willie Nelson, the current leaders in this area. On the business-to-consumer end of things, Steve is setting up supply chains for the RomperRoom Tambourine Co., employing the band’s growing population of grandchildren on product testing, while Ian’s covering off the fashion sector with Better Bandanas Pty. Ltd. in partnership with Stella McCartney.

George and I are running the back office, launching the IPOs and talking to the Carney trade team about where to locate the sunflower-shaped Ragged Research Campus for maximum nation-building potential. On where to find out more about the band or how to invest with us, theraggedflowers.ca is the place to take our risk tolerance survey. We will continue to engage our long-time skywriting team, the Psychedelic Tie-Dye Smokers, for larger announcements.

Lorrie Potvin — Repurposed - theHumm June 2025

By Sally Hansen

Art… and Soul

Lorrie Potvin creates highly imaginative metal sculptures from scrap metal that she can’t resist collecting everywhere she goes. Her spontaneous response to “Why?” is that she can’t look at anything without imagining a way in which it could be repurposed. So discarded forks and chopped up harrow disks and metal vegetable strainer pieces are combined with a career-long collection of metal automotive scraps to become original sculptures in her professionally trained hands......

The Ragged Flowers Turn 25! - theHumm June 2025