“Realms is current country music relative to its “genre classification”, imbued with the heart, writing, and ambition capable of making an impact on the national stage, and with any luck, bring the country music industry back to telling real stories, and looking forward rather than drunkenly waxing nostalgic for some lost time the artist didn’t even live through (or write about on their own) and primping itself in the mirror.” – Michael Dunn Beatroute Magazine
Canadian Country / Roots artist Blake Berglund has created a captivating Rubik’s Cube of an album on his newest studio release, Realms, arriving September 1st (via his own Oceanman Records) with an extensive U.S. tour to follow. Realms sounds like Pink Floyd meets 90s country while expanding on the traditions of country music created by Waylon Jennings and John Prine.
Realms is an allegorical concept album encrypted with sub-themes waiting to be unlocked. Berglund welcomes interpretation and decoding through his tongue-in-cheek tales of a protagonist with heart, flaws and wisdom on a journey of salvation, paranormal intervention, destiny, marijuana and much more. The high-concept music of Realms plays as well in honky tonks as it does on highways, just as Sturgill Simpson proved when releasing Metamodern Sounds in Country Music.
This country labyrinth comes from the depths of an artist, songwriter and true Canadian cowboy. Berglund grew up tending to 200 head of livestock in the rural community of Kennedy, Saskatchewan, Canada. Cowboy culture combined with formal piano training and grunge music evolved into musical endeavors that earned him a Canadian Country Music Association nomination for 2017’s Roots Artist Of The Year. His side project with Belle Plaine earned a Duo Of The Year nomination at the Saskatchewan Country Music Awards that garnered direct support for Dwight Yoakam.
