Monster Truck (band)

Monster Truck
Origin	Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Genres	Southern rock blues rock hard rock
Years active	2009–present
Labels	Dine Alone Mascot
Members	Jeremy Widerman Brandon Bliss
Past members	Steve Kiely Jon Harvey
Website	ilovemonstertruck.com

Monster Truck is a Canadian rock band from Hamilton, Ontario. Members currently include guitarist Jeremy Widerman and keyboardist Brandon Bliss.

History

Monster Truck's 2011 EP The Brown EP found success for them in Canada. The single "Seven Seas Blues" charted in the top ten of both the active rock airplay chart and the alternative rock airplay chart in the spring of 2012. After the release of two EPs,^[1] their debut album Furiosity was released on Dine Alone Records on May 28, 2013 and distributed on Universal.^[2] The band's second studio album entitled Sittin' Heavy was released on Mascot Records on February 19, 2016.

The band won the 2013 Juno Award for Breakthrough Group of the Year.^[3] They played the Download Festival in 2013 and supported Vista Chino on their European tour in October and November 2013. The band started recording the Sittin' Heavy album in January 2015 after touring with Alice in Chains, opening for them on their 2014 North American tour.^[4]

Their track "Sweet Mountain River" was included in Ubisoft's music game Rocksmith 2014,^[5] "Seven Seas Blues" in EA Sports' NHL 13, and "Old Train" was used in an episode of Orphan Black, "Variable and Full of Perturbation". The first single from their second studio album was released on October 19, 2015, a track called "Don't Tell Me How to Live".^[4] A song, "The Enforcer", was also available only when pre-ordering the album. Their song "Righteous Smoke" is featured in EA Sports' NHL 17. The song "The Enforcer" was also used as the goal song for the Toronto Maple Leafs after every goal scored with a "Go Leafs Go" chant added to the song.

The band's third studio album, True Rockers, was announced on June 1, 2018, upon the release of the lead single "Evolution".^[6] The title track featuring Dee Snider was released as a promotional single the following week.^[7] The album was released on September 14, 2018.^[6]

In November 2021, Monster Truck was featured in Kid Rock's re-recording of their song "Don't Tell Me How To Live", released as the first single from Kid Rock's triple album. Kid Rock's recording features a rap rock sound.^[8] On March 14, 2022, it was announced that drummer Steve Kiely had departed from the band.^[9]

On September 30, 2022, the band released their fourth studio album, Warriors.^[10]

Band members

Current members

• Jeremy Widerman – guitars (2009–present)
• Brandon Bliss – keyboards (2009–present)

Former members

• Steve Kiely – drums (2009–2022)
• Jon Harvey – bass, vocals (2009–2024)

Live member

• Theo McKibbon – drums (2022–2023)

Discography

Studio albums

Title	Details	Peak chart positions
		CAN	AUT	GER	SWI [11]
Furiosity[12]	Release date: June 25, 2013 Label: Dine Alone Formats: CD, digital download, 12" vinyl	13	—	—	—
Sittin' Heavy[12]	Release date: February 19, 2016 Label: Dine Alone, Mascot Label Group Formats: CD, digital download, 12" vinyl	6	42	52	64
True Rockers[13]	Release date: September 14, 2018 Label: Dine Alone, Mascot Label Group Formats: CD, digital download, 12" vinyl	91	—	96	50
Warriors	Release date: September 30, 2022 Label: BMG Formats: CD, digital download, 12" vinyl	—	—	—	—

EPs

• 2010: Monster Truck
• 2011: The Brown EP

Singles

Year	Song	Chart Positions			Album
		CAN	CAN Rock [14]	US Main. [15]
2011	"Sworded Beest"	—	—	—	The Brown EP
	"Seven Seas Blues"	—	7	—
2012	"Righteous Smoke"	—	11	—
2013	"Sweet Mountain River"	84	1	—	Furiosity
	"The Lion"	—	2	—
2014	"Old Train"	—	7	—
2015	"Don't Tell Me How to Live"	—	8	27	Sittin' Heavy
2016	"For the People"	—	6	—
	"The Enforcer"	—	22	—
2018	"Evolution"	—	14	—	True Rockers
2022	"Golden Woman"[16]	—	—	—	Warriors
	"Get My Things and Go"	—	—	—

References

1. Rockingham, Graham (April 21, 2013). "Forget maybe, Jepson's a Juno certainty", The Hamilton Spectator. Retrieved April 23, 2013.
2. Kenny, Amy (October 1, 2012). "Monster truck: A Hamilton band first", The Hamilton Spectator. Retrieved April 23, 2013.
3. (April 22, 2013). "Juno Awards 2013: Carly Rae Jepsen beats out Justin Bieber, Celine Dion at Canada’s premiere music awards", Associated Press, reprinted in Daily News. Retrieved April 23, 2013.
4. "Monster Truck".
5. "Rocksmith® - Song List & Downloadable Content (DLC) - Ubisoft® (US)". rocksmith.ubisoft.com.
6. Harris, Gerrod (September 30, 2022). "Monster Truck detail third album 'True Rockers' and unleash new song 'Evolution'". The Spill Magazine. p. 1. Retrieved September 30, 2022.
7. Lewry, Fraser (June 8, 2018). "Monster Truck launch True Rocker single with Dee Snider". Future Publishing. Louder Sound. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
8. McCollum, Brian (November 19, 2021). "Kid Rock summons 'Devil Without a Cause' in defiant new song 'Don't Tell Me How to Live'". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved November 20, 2021.
9. Columnist, Graham Rockingham Contributing (2023-12-03). "The return of Monster Truck". The Hamilton Spectator. Retrieved 2023-12-03.
10. Harris, Gerrod (2022-09-30). "SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: MONSTER TRUCK - WARRIORS". The Spill Magazine. Retrieved 2022-10-08.
11. "Discographie Monster Truck". hitparade.ch. Retrieved September 26, 2018.
12. "Billboard Canadian Albums: Top Albums Chart". Billboard.
13. "Monster Truck detail third album 'True Rockers' and unleash new song 'Evolution'". Planet Rock.
14. "Canada Rock - Chart History: Monster Truck". Billboard. 2016-05-17. Retrieved 2016-05-17.
15. "Mainstream Rock Songs - Chart History: Monster Truck". Billboard. 2016-05-17. Retrieved 2016-05-17.
16. "Canadian Rockers Monster Truck Release New Single "Golden Woman"; Music Video". Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles. June 8, 2022. Retrieved June 24, 2022.