The number three is steeped in mystical symbolism and represents concepts like mind-body-spirit, birth-life-death and in some religions, the holy trinity. It’s also the cosmic number for creativity and intuition – two intangibles this band has in spades. Although an up and coming act, the members from Third Time’s A Charm are both savvy and sage.
Unique bands are born from unique beginnings and strong foundations. Joe Hauser (guitar), Isaac Harvey (bass & keys) and Brock Pettifer (drums) all hail from Napanee. This musical trinity met in 2023 and formed two bands before recruiting Belleville singer-songwriter Ryland Murray for vocals and guitar via Napanee’s Rock Skool – where Hauser, Harvey and Pettifer mentor other emerging younger bands. They recognized Murray’s talents right away and Brock says, “I could see he had the chops to be a frontman in his own right, and he was writing some great songs.”
Their sound is neither third-rate nor third-class and melds a diverse set of influences including classic, progressive, indie, and alternative rock, as well as a bit of progressive metal mixed in for good measure. They rock and they rock hard – like face melting third-degree burns hard. Pettifer points out, “It doesn’t sound like the perfect marriage on paper, but it works.”
After winning a battle-of-the-bands, they quickly gained momentum as well as attention from other bands, venues and promoters and were smart enough to capitalize on it. The emails and requests to play started rolling in and the ball kept rolling straight to releasing their first single and opening for respected Kingston band The Wilderness.
In another veteran move, they brought in third-party help in the form of Nick Lennox from The Wilderness who is also senior advisor for Rock Skool. He helped refine their first single “Fading Innocence” and studio owner Jonas Lewis-Anthony acted as producer and engineer. Pettifer says, “Nick helped trim the fat off the song. There were unnecessary repetitions and he restructured some of the verses and choruses and the order in which they were placed. We had all the right pieces, but Nick helped us put them in the right place.”
Murray serves as the main songwriter and provides lyrics and initial chord structure and arrangements for each song. From there, Hauser, Harvey and Pettifer work their magic and fill in the rest. “Fading Innocence” is a classic coming of age song full of coming of age references like smoking in the bush and skipping school and according to the band, represents their most dense and anthemic rock production.
Although young in years, these guys are not inexperienced. They’re well aware of the continued devaluation of music and that emerging bands have to do everything themselves to break through the massive over-saturation on streaming platforms. Pettifer reflects on the trend of dwindling artist compensation, “Being asked to play for free or for exposure—there’s a time and a place for that early in a musician’s career, but then there’s this transition to setting a higher standard. All artists struggle with this. It’s tough. You have to be willing to turn gigs down”
At this point, the future is firmly in their hands but it’s been a whirlwind year – so they’re wisely pumping the brakes to reflect, recharge and regroup with hopes to record an EP in the not so distant future. Pettifer maturely lays it all out, “We need some more time to think about all that has happened to us over the past year – what we enjoyed but also what we might have done differently. We have some work to do.”
That kind of attitude and work ethic will get them everywhere. Keep an eye on these young men.
thirdtimesacharmmusic.com
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