Rural Alberta Advantage Remember the Devastating 'Tornado '87'

July 31, 1987 is a date not easily forgotten by the citizens of Edmonton, Alberta. Even now, all these years later, folks still shudder remembering the howling tornado that raged through the city's neighborhoods with a devastating force that the weather service at the time described as torrential rains, rising rivers and thundering hail, the tornado destroyed countless buildings and killed 27 people.

It should be no surprise that Rural Alberta Advantage frontman Nils Edenloff, a former Edmontonian, felt compelled to recount the horrific Strong F4-rated storm on 'Tornado '87,' a song featured on the band's upcoming record, 'Departing.'

"In the summer of 1987, a tornado came through Mill Woods, [Edmonton] -- and Edmonton doesn't really get tornadoes, it's very unheard of," Edenloff tells Spinner. "I was actually away at the time, but my family was there. I was up north with my grandparents and it was a weird time to watch it on TV. They refer to it as Black Friday because it happened on the long weekend."

Watch Live Footage of the Tornado That Hit Edmonton in 1987
"The memories spill out," Edenloff says of chronicling this experience and others through song. "It's like therapy in a way."

There may even be more songs in the band's future that deal with freak weather storms. The beloved indie rock trio have faced their share of hurdles due to natural disasters as of late, and likely need another session on the proverbial couch to make sense of it all.

"We don't seem to have the best luck when we're on tour when it comes to weather," laughs keyboardist Amy Cole. "We had to cancel a show in Glasgow after they were hit with this once-in-a-lifetime worst storm. There was snow, the roads were all frozen, they didn't really know how to deal with it. And the time before, we had a show in Spain when they had the whole volcano ash cloud. So we had two flights cancelled, both our flight home and to the show."

"So, us and natural disasters don't get along particularly well," she says, "Maybe, it's karma for us writing songs about them."

The band, which includes drummer Paul Banwatt who is also a member of electro duo Woodhands, can't be all that jinxed, though. Crazy weather patterns are but a thematic blip on the new long-player, which stands as a brilliant companion to their electrifying debut 'Hometowns.'

With passionate tales about small town woes and, well, departing, all set to dazzling folk-tinged rock, the Rural Alberta Advantage should be able to sidestep this silly business about mother nature's revenge -- provided, of course, they don't go and get overly apocalyptic on the next record and start writing about all the birds that have been falling out of the sky this year.

Watch the Rural Alberta Advantage Perform 'Tornado '87'