CREDIT: KOPECKYFAMILYBAND.COM
The Kopecky Family Band plays Rum Runners in London on November 20.

I write about random things a lot. I write a lot about random things. In Canada we put our touring bands through a lot, from long drives across flat expanses between markets to the unpredictable weather that will surely accompany them.

There is a certain toughness that goes with the territory of being in a touring band in Canada, and often it's something you have to experience to understand. But consider that same struggle when you're feeling under the weather, stricken by flu... and actually Americans, trying to coordinate various medicines in addition to the usual business of crossing the border to perform for us.

All in a day's work for the Kopecky Family Band, a Nashville-based indie outfit that has forged their career on the road since forming in 2007. This year alone, they found the time and stamina to perform festivals like SXSW and San Francisco's Outside Lands Festival in addition to their own headlining tour across Canada and the U.S. This is a group that knows the show must go on, even if members are fighting off the flu.

Closer to home, the Kopecky Family Band are appearing in London at Rum Runners on November 20, in support of Said The Whale on their 2013 Canadian tour. Their debut full-length album Kids Raising Kids was released in Canada on Dine Alone Records in December 2012, supported by their constant work on tour.

It's little surprise the sextet — multi-instrumentalists led by Kelsey Kopecky and Gabriel Simon, joined by Steven Holmes, Markus Midkiff, Corey Oxendine and drummer David Krohn — aren't new to Canadian audiences. Their touring ethic and road-toughened tightness on stage, married with their alternative indie vision sonically, are certainly qualities audiences here north of the border appreciate.

“We love it up here,” stated Simon, answering my question by email as he and the other members of the band were resting their voices due to a vicious cold. Simon formed the band with Kopecky and shares the lead on stage. “We had done some one-offs in the past in Vancouver and Victoria with bands like Gomez and Givers, and this past summer we did our first headline tour in eastern Canada. Now we are hitting it more aggressively with the Said The Whale guys — we love them and they wanted to bring us up here.”

It isn't uncommon for a band touring an album a year old to begin to grow restless of their set, but according to Simon, the band isn't in danger of this too soon. Far from stale, the album continues to grow with them and take on new meaning as they tour, benefitting from the personal stamp each member has placed upon the music.

“I think we have gained a new sense of ownership for the tracks,” he offered, however quick to point out the impact their audiences have had on the group, connecting to the album in ways as powerful and personal as have he and the rest of the band.

“That has rocked my world in more ways than one,” he said, speaking humbly about being approached by audience members at shows. “I remember writing the song ‘Hope' and the line, ‘To see the man that you've become, and fall in love with what you have.' A fan of ours cried in front of me, telling me how much those words meant to him and his marriage ... that blew my mind. It changed the way I view my own marriage.”

As 2014 draws nearer, the Kopecky Family Band is looking ahead to a new album and all of the opportunities that it will afford. Though he could divulge few details, Simon professed genuine excitement for what the next year will hold for the band.

“The songs are very exciting, and like Kids Raising Kids, they are adventurous and move in to territories we have never explored before,” he began. “We are a band of six people with six unique voices that are all essential to our songs — that makes the music creating process that much better, but also that much more difficult. You have to be willing to be completely vulnerable to the varying taste of each band member.”

“It's difficult, but it's amazing when it works.”

For more on the Kopecky Family Band or the Canadian leg of their current tour, visit them online at kopeckyfamilyband.com or follow along on Twitter @kopeckyfamily and @gabesimn. Their performance at Rum Runners in support of Said The Whale on November 20 is an all ages/licensed event; tickets are $12 available in advance from the London Music Hall, Grooves downtown or online via ticketscene.ca.

And for more on the latest music news, online streams or shows coming to London, consider following this column on Twitter @fsu_bobbyisms. Here's hoping you're all keeping healthy, the holiday break is only weeks away now. I'm out of words.