QUICKSHIFT: Meet the Crew
QUICKSHIFT
About the Quickshift Crew:
Canadian country music artist QuickShift radiates an on-stage energy that has audiences calling for more. Sold-out crowds at the 2007 Juno Awards in Saskatoon were treated to a taste of that infectious energy, as QuickShift kicked it up with their own brand of having and delivering a good time. Country fans, says bass guitarist Justin Sopotyk, are what this band is all about--“Finding ‘em, getting ‘em & keeping ‘em.”
The crew’s collaborative efforts as song-writers resulted in 10 self-penned tunes on their current album, “Devil Won’t Go.” Produced by Bart McKay Productions (nominated 2006 CCMA Studio of the Year), the album includes a number of edgy, up-tempo tunes guaranteed to keep listeners tuned in. The title track was released May 14th, 2007.
If you want a little bit of “urban” in your “country,” be sure to give QuickShift a listen.
Leanne Lozinsky - Lead Vocalist
Twenty-four year old Leanne Lozinsky is the spark that ignites the mix. She grew up in the Aberdeen area, on a farm 14 miles north east of town. Quick with a quip, she has a dry, often flippant, sense of humour. Often leveling her wit at her band-mates--“these hormone-crazed guys”-- she finds it just as easy to level it at her own foibles. After insisting she's not, in fact, a “girly girl” and would “love to play a game of touch football in a mud swamp,” she offers an immediate deadpan follow-up. “But don't get me wrong,” she says, “I've nothing against diamonds and pearls and $900 dresses!” Leanne says she’s “country roots all the way.” Her talented vocals fuel urban country sound that’s fast becoming QuickShift’s signature.
Jordan Wiebe - Lead Guitarist
The lead guitarist of the crew is Jordan Wiebe. At 30, Jordan is rapidly tuning up a musical career he’d thought was up on blocks. Jordan was working as a licensed auto-mechanic, not-quite-content to jam with friends on weekends, when Justin Sopotyk heard about his playing and gave him a call. Jordan, who comes from a sort-of musical family (“Dad made some noise on the harmonica, mostly to annoy the dog”) has played guitar since he was a kid, but hadn’t played seriously for six or seven years. Still, he didn’t hesitate. The fit was right, and he hasn’t looked back. “It was dynamite right off the get-go,” he says.
Marlin Korczak - Drummer
Like an engine at the redline, drummer Marlin Korczak holds his considerable energy in check until he gets the nod. Then watch out, because he’s unstoppable. Now 30, Marlin holds degrees in anatomy, cell biology and physiology. He began playing the drums at 11 and will continue, he says, “as long as my arms and feet still work.” Marlin got the nod from QuickShift after he was introduced by Jordan Wiebe. Marlin joined the crew just in time to play a scheduled gig. Though he’d practiced with the band only twice before joining them for the first time onstage, Marlin says the experience was “way better” than other gigs. “Something,” he says, “just felt right.”
Justin "Big J" Sopotyk - Electric/Bass/Acoustic Guitarist
“Country rock fans, that's what we're all about,” says Big J. “Finding ‘em, getting ‘em and keeping ‘em.” J is the band’s electric, bass and acoustic guitarist and one of its founding members. His country roots are deep in the soil of the family farm south-east of Prud’homme, Saskatchewan, where he still lives, works and plays his music. Big J is the band’s youngest member. At just 23, he combines bucket-loads of dedication and over-the-top enthusiasm with just the right amount of self-deprecating humor. The result is a confident, infectious delivery, onstage and off, that’s both charming and disarming.