Northern Dial Artist Profile

Wide Mouth Mason

Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

Wide Mouth Mason formed in Saskatoon in 1995 around guitarist and singer Shaun Verreault, bassist Earl Pereira and drummer Safwan Javed. The trio built its identity on blues and soul vocabulary played with the force of a contemporary rock band, and its early live reputation centred on Verreault's elastic singing, improvisational guitar work and the group's unusually tight rhythm section. After the independently released The Nazarene attracted major-label attention, Warner Music Canada issued the band's 1997 self-titled album, which brought songs including "Midnight Rain," "My Old Self" and "This Mourning" to Canadian rock radio and earned the group a JUNO nomination for Best New Group.

The 1999 album Where I Started became another major step, earning gold certification in Canada and widening the band's sound without abandoning its blues foundation. Stew followed in 2000 and brought another JUNO nomination, this time for Best Rock Album. Wide Mouth Mason's reach also came through the road: the band toured with acts including The Rolling Stones, AC/DC and ZZ Top and performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival, placing a Saskatoon power trio inside a much larger international blues-rock tradition.

Wide Mouth Mason continued well beyond its late-1990s breakthrough rather than settling into catalogue-act status. Pereira eventually left the group, while Verreault and Javed kept recording with collaborators including Big Sugar's Gordie Johnson. I Wanna Go With You in 2019 explored a leaner roots-blues approach, and Late Night Walking in 2023 paired the band with producer Ryan Dahle while again featuring Johnson on bass. That longevity matters: Wide Mouth Mason is one of the clearest links between prairie blues-rock, the Canadian alternative-radio era and a continuing culture of musicianship-first touring bands.