I’ve been watching Arcana Kings for four years now. Summer Nights downtown. The Loud American during the Sturgis rally. Spearfish. Wherever they land in our area, I still can’t figure out why the rest of rock and roll hasn’t caught up to them yet.

The Resume Speaks for Itself

Their 2019 record, “Lions As Ravens,” got made with Ryan Andersen, the producer behind Nickelback and Theory of a Deadman. Their song “Here We Go” turned into a real sports anthem. It blasts out of Mosaic Stadium every time the Saskatchewan Roughriders take the field, and other CFL and NHL teams have picked it up to fire up their own crowds. Most of those fans couldn’t pick the band out of a lineup.

They’ve played opening and halftime at a CFL Western Semi-Final. Overseas, they’ve toured Japan, Sweden, and Mexico. And in the western U.S., they’ve built a following through annual runs on Fremont Street in Las Vegas. That’s a level of work most bands spend a career trying to reach.

Critics who’ve caught them agree. One reviewer called their debut a masterclass in progressive arena rock. Music industry voice Taron Cochrane described them as a rock and roll tour de force. Night life columnist Trisha Elliot wrote about a live show that builds into a gripping explosion of ancient and current sound. Those are strong words, earned the hard way, on stages this size, without a label machine pushing the story.

Who’s In the Band

Arcana Kings are a five-piece out of Saskatchewan: Johnny McCuaig on vocals, guitar, and bagpipes, James Picton on lead guitar, Allan Morrison on rhythm and vocals, Jason Arcand on bass, Graham Templeman on drums. They started as the Johnny McCuaig Band back in 2015 and rebranded a few years later. They’ve spent the years since building a live show that deserves a much bigger stage than most of the ones they get.

The bagpipes are the thing people notice first. McCuaig, who is Métis, part of one of Canada’s recognized Indigenous peoples with roots tracing back to First Nations and European settlers, has described the sound as the Foo Fighters and AC/DC crashing into an East Coast kitchen party. It’s a distinctive sound in a genre built on chasing distinctive sounds. It’s coming out of Saskatchewan mostly under the radar.

Every Member Has a Story

Drummer Graham Templeman spent years doing what he calls “weekend warrior stuff,” short tours and small trips. Joining Arcana Kings meant, in his words, “stepping up, stepping up, stepping up into higher levels of gigs.” His first show with the band was halftime at a Saskatchewan Roughriders game, in front of 35,000 people, freezing cold weather included.

Rhythm guitarist and singer Allan Morrison beat cancer before he ever joined the band. He got the call about the open spot from his agent right as he was coming out the other side of treatment. He’ll crack a joke about it before he’ll ask for sympathy.

Johnny McCuaig has been at this since he was a kid. He learned bagpipes because his dad wanted him and his siblings to. An uncle taught him guitar. He toured legions and VFW halls as the teenage drummer in his mom’s country band. There’s a line in their song “Kinistino” about rocking since he was six years old. He means it literally. He had an instrument in his hands before he had any say in the matter, and he’s still at it now, decades in. That line is just his life, set to music.

Bands with a fraction of this group’s chops, road miles, and songs get radio play and festival slots every year. Arcana Kings keeps working rooms that don’t match what’s happening on stage. The talent is there. So is the story. The attention just hasn’t caught up, and that’s on the rest of us.

A Following Built Right Here

They’ve built a real following in our area doing it too. Four years of watching them at Summer Nights, at The Loud American during the rally, up in Spearfish. Every time, they treat the crowd like it’s the biggest room they’ve ever played, whether it’s a few hundred people or a few dozen. I’ve watched them work a room like they’re multi-platinum recording artists, because as far as they’re concerned, that’s the job every single night.

My favorite memory of them is the first time they played Rally Point in Sturgis. Maybe ten people were standing around when they started. Then Johnny picked up the bagpipes, and people started drifting over to see what the sound was. By the end of the set, it was the biggest crowd I’d ever seen at that spot. Nobody told those people to show up. The band just gave them a reason to.

What It Actually Costs Them

Crossing the border to tour the United States runs this band around six thousand dollars before they’ve played a single note. That kind of money doesn’t make sense on a spreadsheet. They do it anyway, because they love the work more than they care about the math.

This is a band with original songs and a sound as tight as anything you’d pay a hundred dollars a ticket to see on a bigger stage. It’s not a novelty act built around a lead singer who happens to play bagpipes. Around here, most of the time, you can see them for free.

Catch Them at Sturgis

If Arcana Kings come through anywhere near Rapid City, go see them. Go in expecting a band on the edge of a breakthrough, because on any given night, they play like one. You can catch them at Sturgis Loudfest during the rally, at The Loud American, on Friday, August 14, and Saturday, August 15.

And if you can’t wait for the next show, pull them up on Spotify or Apple Music. Their whole catalog is there. Give them a listen before you take my word for it.