Yesterday's Ring is an acoustic-oriented offshoot of the Quebec-based punk band the Sainte Catherines, though despite their country influences and reduced volume level they still kick up the dust with the same passion and fury as their amped-up alter ego, though with a emotional core that's both tough and tender. Guitarist Frederic Jacques and vocalist Hugo Mudie are longtime friends who formed the Sainte Catherines in 1999. The band developed a reputation in both Canada and the United States through extensive touring, and it was during a day off in Memphis, TN, on a 2001 road trip that Jacques and Mudie sat down with a case of beer and began working up some country-style ballads to pass the time. After coming up with a half-dozen songs, Jacques and Mudie liked the tunes enough that they decided to record them, and with some help from Louis Valiquette (of Roller Starter and Akiata) on guitar and vocals, Yesterday's Ring released a split CD with ska-punk upstarts the Couch Addiction only a few months later. The disc received enthusiastic reviews and Yesterday's Ring began playing out regularly in the Montreal area, expanding to a four-piece with the addition of Marc-André Beaudet (who also played in the Sainte Catherines as well as Rollerskater). In 2003, Yesterday's Ring began work on their first album all their own, 11 Chansons Pour Faire Pleurer les Morts-Vivants, with a studio lineup that added piano, violin, and percussion to the foursome's guitars and voices. The album was another success across Canada, and the band eventually expanded to a septet, with Rich Bouthillier on drums, Pablo Boerr on bass, and Ryan Batistuzzi on slide guitar, and Malcolm Bauld replacing Beaudet and adding keyboards, harmonica, and accordion to his duties as guitarist. A second full album, El Rancho, was released in the spring of 2005, and a follow-up EP, Back from El Rancho, hit stores in 2006. ~ Mark Deming