Rob McLane and Against The Grain

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THE CAPITAL NEWS (excerpt from story)
KELOWNA, B.C.
by Maev Brennan

Vocalist Rob McLane provides strong, if not outstanding lead vocals and is a hot country rock guitarist. I thoroughly enjoyed their excellent, closely harmonized ensemble of vocals. Rob McLane and Against The Grain definitely live up to their name.
 

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COUNTRY MUSIC NEWS
THE VOICE OF COUNTRY MUSIC IN CANADA
VOL. 15 NO.7ISSN0714-S356

Rob McLane and Against The Grain are alive and well and once again pelting out their own brand of country music. For their fans it has been far too long since the group charted with such hits as “One Mile Closer”, “Let Me Know How He Feels” and “I Sure Need Your Love Tonight”. But that will soon change. After a brief hiatus from the scene, Rob McLane and Against The Grain has regrouped and spent recent months touring again and are expected to explode on the music scene with a new sound, new look and a fresh new single slated for release.
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The group has also been in the Creative House Studios in Saskatoon recording a new album for release in the new year. Once the album hits stands it shouldn’t be long before Rob McLane & Against The Grain once again breaks into country's top 40. Although the group had previously undergone some personnel changes since its inception eight years ago the current contingent has been intact for the past several years. “When the group started, we were playing small gigs,” recalls Rob McLane. “Then I started writing songs and found a whole new world working with multi-track recorders. It got a little more interesting each time and from reactions to the material, realized that perhaps something was happening and decided to become a seriously rehearsed act and introduce some of our original material to radio stations with a record release.

Our first single was “One Mile Closer”. The incredibly favorable response to that first single and the follow up “Cheatin’ On Me”, led the group in to the studio to work on an album. We released the singles and it all started happening. Both of them made the top 40 on Canadian charts with an incredible eight month stay on the charts,” stated McLane. With the growing success of the group came opportunities to share the stage with some of the biggest names in country music. The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Carlene Carter, Pirates Of The Missippii, Sawyer Brown and the Canadian Female Vocalist Of The Year, Patricia Conroy.

Rob McLane and Against The Grain completed their first album in the spring of 1990. “We released another single at that time that we felt was a strong crossover ballad called “Let Me Know How He Feels”, and then we not only found ourselves doing well on the charts but we began to attract a lot of interest from some very prominent people in the business,” acknowledges McLane, “but we also began to do a lot of guest appearances on television shows and working the festival and jamboree circuit, and opening a lot of major concert shows for star attractions. So things were really going well for us.”

The efforts were also acknowledged by the SCMA with nominations for the group in five categories for two consecutive years. Late in 1991 Rob McLane and Against The Grain released their most successful record with their single “I Sure Need Your Love Tonight”. Rob McLane remembers the moment dearly – “Nothing happened at first and we began to be concerned that we had misjudged the interest in the song. Then the song made it to the charts and made a huge jump and continued to climb until it became top 16 hit on Canadian charts and topped many European charts. We were really overwhelmed.”

Amidst all of the pressures, it was then that Against The Grain decided that it needed a period of time off to write material and refocus their path. Look for Rob McLane and Against The Grain’s new single “Where There’s Smoke There’s Fire”. If you watch networks you will soon be able to see Rob McLane and Against The Grain via their new video which is expected to coincide with the release of the album. Despite all the setbacks in the past years, Rob McLane and Against The Grain are hoping they can make an impression once again. “We’re going to give it everything we have and hopefully go all the way this time,” says Rob, “and I think I can say that once you've tasted success, the determination to do it again is even stronger that it was the first time around. The band is even stronger than it was the first time around. The band is more solid musically than it ever has been and everyone has a great attitude. Now we just need some help from God above, the radio stations and the fans who supported us so well before.”