Dallas Good, best known as the singer and guitarist for Toronto country-rock band the Sadies, has died at the age of 48. The band’s U.S. label, Yep Roc, confirmed the news that Good died “of natural causes while under doctor’s care for a coronary illness discovered earlier this week.”
“Dallas was such a special individual who is in one of my favourite bands of all time,” said Glenn Dicker, co-owner of Yep Roc Records. “We’ve lost a cornerstone of the label. The Sadies have always been the band to watch and hear out there for me. I am grateful to you, Dallas, for so many great shows, spine shaking music and good times. I’ll never stop listening.”
Dallas and his brother Travis were born into a musical family; their father Bruce Good and uncles Brian and Larry Good were members of the Good Brothers, a bluegrass group that was inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame in 2004. In 1994, they co-founded the Sadies alongside bassist Sean Dean and drummer Mike Bellitsky, releasing their first album, Precious Moments, in 1998. Combining punk, country, and garage rock, the Sadies emerged as part of the “alt-country” scene of the early 2000s and collaborated with the likes of Neko Case, Neil Young, Kurt Vile, Andre Williams, the Mekons, and many others.
“He was a beautiful guy and naturally gifted musician,” Steve Albini wrote in the wake of the news of Good’s death. “Opened every conversation laughing, a warm, unpretentious soul. Everybody who knew him feels like they lost a brother.”
The Sadies released their last album, Northern Passages, in 2017. Just last month, they shared a new single, ‘Message to Belial’, which was produced by Arcade Fire’s Richard Reed Parry. Good also played with the supergroups Unintended and Phono-Comb.