Finding music in surprising places, new Burlington band Fat Sunday showcases a love for homegrown music, naturally channelling folk and Canadiana in their new album.

Fat Sunday consists of vocalist and guitarist Joe Hewitt, bassist Stephen Miller and drummer Bill Allan. The three men were friends for years before starting the band in 2014.

Each avid runners and members of the Burlington Runners Club, Allan only found out that Hewitt was a talented musician when he attended his 60th birthday party and heard him sing.

Hewitt had been writing songs for decades, once performing with his brother Pat Hewitt, a well-loved Burlington musician. Allan was so inspired, he purchased a drum set to renew his love of percussion from his youth.

"I thought we were just going to jam then the jamming turned into performing," said Allan. "[Our first performance] we packed the place and we thought to do it again. We have a love of music."

The trio recorded its debut album, aptly titled "Farther Than They Wanted To Go" at Green Room Recording with producer Chris Tondreau.

"Some of the songs are 40 years old and some are two years old," said Hewitt, adding he's long been inspired by Canadian artists like Gordon Lightfoot, Fred Eaglesmith and Royal Wood.

"The song 'Shake It off', I think was the oldest one, was written in '75 or '77. A lot of the songs are broken love songs, I've had a few of those over the years so you write them down. Initially, you don't want to share them but you get over that.

"I want to say [our style is] roots, folk — because these songs were written over such a long period of time, the style subtly changes. We happened to record them all at the same time so there's a similarity to them but they came at different points in time."

Miller had been playing bass for 25 years, he said, growing up on heavy rock in the United Kingdom.

"My tastes have mellowed over the years," noted Miller. "I've come to appreciate more this type of music — the way the music is structured, it's good. [Hewitt] tells good stories. The songs are well put-together and the three of us sound surprisingly good."

Fat Sunday is planning its CD release party and will perform locally.

For more information, visit www.fatsunday.ca. - Burlington Post