The Royal Foundry is a Canadian

alternative pop Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

quartet band whose core is the

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

couple Jared Salte and Bethany Schumacher. They initially formed as a folk duo but, in 2015, began a significant revitalization and revision of their sound, incorporating elements of 1990's

Brit-Pop Britpop was a mid-1990s United Kingdom, British-based music culture movement that emphasised Britishness. Musically, Britpop produced bright, catchy alternative rock, with significant influences from British guitar pop of the 1960s and 1970s. B ...

with power-pop stylings of groups like

Arcade Fire Arcade Fire is a Canadian indie rock band from Montreal, Quebec, consisting of husband and wife Win Butler and Régine Chassagne, alongside Richard Reed Parry, Tim Kingsbury, and Jeremy Gara. The band's touring line-up includes former core ...

, and 1970's

Progressive Rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...

elements inspired by groups like

Yes Yes or YES may refer to: * An affirmative particle in the English language; see yes and no Education * YES Prep Public Schools, Houston, Texas, US * Young Eisner Scholars, in Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago, and Appalachia, US * Young Ep ...

and

Supertramp Supertramp were a British rock band formed in London in 1970. Marked by the individual songwriting of founders Roger Hodgson (vocals, keyboards and guitars) and Rick Davies (vocals and keyboards), the group were distinguished for blending p ...

Their music has been described as

alt rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

, and

Synth Pop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s b ...

History

Early life

Jared Salte was raised in a musical household and began playing piano and guitar at age five. By age 11, he was running the recording studio Salt Shaker Studios. By age 15, he had won his first international songwriting competition and released his first album. At 19, his band, the Junkyard Poets, opened for

The Newsboys Newsboys (sometimes stylised as newsboys) are a Christian rock band that has existed in various permutations since its founding in 1985 in Mooloolaba, Queensland, Australia, by Peter Furler and George Perdikis. Now based in Nashville, Tennes ...

in stadiums across North America. Bethany Schumacher grew up in the church as a Pastor's daughter, with her mother as the pianist and choir director. She often sang at church, and at fundraising and community events. In high school, Schumacher played the female lead in all of her high school musicals.

2013-2016: Formation & Early Work

In 2013, shortly after their wedding, The Royal Foundry was formed as a

Folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...

band. In 2014, they independently released their first album, ''Wherever We Go''. In 2015 they won $75,000 as part of the

Peak Performance Project The Peak Performance Project was a seven-year, $5.2 million music initiative funded by the Jim Pattison Group, to provide financial support to emerging Canadian artists in the British Columbia and Alberta markets. The $100,000 prize for the winner ...

for their song “Running Away” which peaked at #21 on Alt-Rock Stations in Canada. “Running Away” was featured on TSN as the opening song for the

CFL The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division and five in the West Division. The CFL is the highest pr ...

, and in two commercials--for

ENMAX Enmax Corporation (often styled as ENMAX) is a vertically-integrated utility with operations across Alberta, Canada, and in Maine, US. Through its subsidiaries, ENMAX Power Corporation and Versant Power, ENMAX owns and operates transmission a ...

and the

Government of Alberta The Government of Alberta () is the body responsible for the administration of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. In modern Canadian use, the term ''Government of Alberta'' refers specifically to the executive� ...

Climate Change Campaign). In 2016 their single “Start This Fire” was featured in an ad campaign for Purina Dog Chow, which led to their signing with

Peermusic Peermusic is a United States–based independent Music publisher (popular music), music publisher. History Ralph Peer, a field recording engineer and Artists and repertoire, A&R representative for Victor Records, went on a scouting trip to Brist ...

. In the fall of 2016 they released their single “Dreamers”, which was first performed at a concert they played in Toronto during the

World Cup of Hockey The World Cup of Hockey is an international ice hockey tournament. Inaugurated in 1996 World Cup of Hockey, 1996, it is the successor to the Canada Cup, which was held every three to five years from 1976 Canada Cup, 1976 to 1991 Canada Cup, 1991 ...

week. Soon after the release,

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

licensed the song for their 2017 line of wedding dresses. and the song hit #35 on the ''Alt Rock'' charts in Canada

2017-2018: ''Lost In Your Head''

On August 15, 2017, The Royal Foundry released their second album, ''Lost in Your Head''. By 2018, the album had achieved 1 million streams on Spotify. The video for the single "All We Have" went viral. ''Lost In Your Head'' won the Canadian Songwriting Competition Grand Prize, the John Lennon Songwriting Contest Grand Prize, and garnered The Royal Foundry a Pop Artist of the Year nomination from the

Western Canadian Music Awards The ''Western Canadian Music Awards'' (WCMAs) is an annual awards event for music in the western portion of Canada. The awards are provided by the Western Canada Music Alliance, which consists of six member music industry organizations from Brit ...

, as well as three nominations from the Edmonton Music Awards In 2018, the song "Never Have Time" was used in an Explore

commercial; the song "Lost In Your Head" was used in the '' Catfish: The TV Show''.

2019-Present: ''Wake Up Wake Up''

On September 27, 2019, The Royal Foundry released their third album, ''Wake Up Wake Up''. By 2020, the album had achieved half a million streams on Spotify. The first single to be released "Hopefully" reached #27 on Alternative Rock Radio in Canada and the third single "okay?" reached #16 on Alternative Rock Radio in Canada. Prior to the release of ''Wake Up Wake Up'', The Royal Foundry performed a live performance of the album in Calgary, AB for the ''Stampede City Sessions''. The concert aired on Shaw TV in Canada and

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

in the USA.

Discography

Albums *''Wherever We Go'' (2014), Independent *''Lost In Your Head'' (2017), Independent *''Wake Up Wake Up'' (2019), MapleMusic Recordings *''Little High Little Low'' (2023) *''Be Kind.'' (2024) Singles *“Running Away” - March 3, 2016 #23 on Alternative Rock Radio across Canada *“Start This Fire” - April 1, 2016 *“Dreamers” - September 23, 2016 #32 on Alternative Rock Radio across Canada *“Dreamers (Grey MTTR Remix)” - January 18, 2017 *“Dreamers (Tep No Remix)” - March 17, 2017 *“Never Have Time” - April 17, 2017 - #28 on Alternative Rock Radio across Canada *“All We Have” - May 5, 2017 *“You Are My Sunshine” - February 14, 2018 *“Never Have Time (Thauner & Westvik Remix)” - March 16, 2018 *“Lost In Your Head” (Radio Edit) - April 6, 2018 *“All We Have (Teddy Rose Remix)” - August 7, 2018 *“Don’t Know” - September 14, 2018 *"Hopefully" - April 16, 2019 #27 on Alternative Rock Radio across Canada – #44 on Canada Rock Radio *"Here We Go" - July 16, 2019 *"Wake Up Wake Up" - September 6, 2019 *"okay?" - May 8, 2020 #16 on Alternative Rock Radio across Canada

Awards

GMA Canada The Gospel Music Association of Canada or GMA Canada (formerly known as the CGMA) is a not for profit association, founded in 1974, whose purpose is to promote Christian music in Canada. History GMA Canada is created in 1974 in Ontario with ...

36th Annual

Covenant Awards The Covenant Awards are awarded to the Canadian gospel music industry by GMA Canada, the Gospel Music Association of Canada. The association is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote the growth and ministry of Christian music in Ca ...

: Folk/Roots Song of the Year, "Folk Song" (2014) *

36th Annual

: New Artist of the Year (2014) *

Alberta, Finalist (2014) *

CBC CBC may refer to: Media * Cadena Baja California or Grupo Cadena, a radio and television broadcaster in Mexico * Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's radio and television public broadcaster ** CBC Television ** CBC Radio One ** CBC Music ** ...

Searchlight Finalist (2014) *

Searchlight Finalist (2015) *Peak Performance Alberta, Second Prize (2015) *Edmonton Music Awards: Single of the Year, "Running Away" (2016) *Edmonton Music Awards: Group of the Year (2016) *Edmonton Music Awards: Music Video of the Year, "Running Away" (2016) *Edmonton Music Awards: Pop Recording of the Year, "All We Have" (2018) *John Lennon Songwriting Contest: Grand Prize, Pop Category, "Never Have Time" (2018) *

- Nominated as Pop Artist of the Year (2018) *Unsigned Only: Grand Prize, Rock Category, "Lost In Your Head" (2018) *Canadian Songwriting Competition: Grand Prize, “Running Away” (2019) *Edmonton Music Awards: Indie Rock Recording of the Year, "Don't Know" (2019)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Royal Foundry Canadian pop rock music groups Musical groups from Edmonton Musical groups established in 2013 2013 establishments in Alberta Canadian alternative rock groups Canadian indie rock groups