The Sheepdogs Win First Rolling Stone Cover Contest

The bearded, long-haired quartet from the Paris of the Prairies will grace the cover of the storied mag this week.

You might have heard already, but Saskatoon rockers The Sheepdogs have won Rolling Stone's contest to land the cover of the Aug. 18 issue. Hence, our reflexive Canadian insecurity requires us to give The Sheepdogs due tribute for beating out 15 other Yankee groups and artists to nab the cover gig. The bluesy retro-rockers get to celebrate their honour (although, to be perfectly honest, its the mag's political coverage that probably garners more interest these days than its musical reporting, but regardless, good for them!) by playing tonight on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon before the magazine hits store shelves on Friday. They also snag a major-label record deal with Atlantic, after going unsigned for some seven years. The band could probably use the leg up considering its planned tour opening for Kings of Leon has been cancelled due to the "exhaustion" of Kings' lead singer Caleb Followill.