Hamilton's Poor Angus makes Searchlight's top 8

It seems the members of Motel Raphael — the band Hamilton's Poor Angus vaulted over to stay in the CBC Searchlight competition — are good sports about losing.

In fact, they've challenged the band to a poutine fight at the Black Sheep Inn in Wakefield, Que., to "celebrate." The particulars are still unclear — Poor Angus isn't quite sure if a poutine fight means an eating competition or hurling hot cheese and fries at each other onstage — but they're game regardless.

"I'm easy both ways. I'll eat it or throw it," said Poor Angus' Brian LeBlanc. "Though getting hit in the face with cheese curds and fries might be dangerous."

'Because if we're honest, the ultimate goal of this competition is making sure great Canadian music gets heard.' —Poor Angus vocalist Joel Guenther

With the win, Poor Angus steps into the quarter-finals of the competition to face off against Kitchener-Waterloo's Ambre McLean.

"She's got a great track and a huge support base," LeBlanc said. "This is going to be neck and neck."

For his part, Poor Angus vocalist Joel Guenther is pretty chill about Searchlight's competitive nature, pitting artists against other artists.

"We're right down the road — we should just get together and have a few drinks," he said.

"Because if we're honest, the ultimate goal of this competition is making sure great Canadian music gets heard."

Something I Can't See

Poor Angus' Searchlight entry, Something I Can't See, is a lilting, Celtic-style ballad. It's bolstered by LeBlanc's mandolin alongside tin whistle, violin and a somber, sparse bass line. The song was written by lead vocalist Guenther, who joined the band about a year ago.

Ironically, the song didn't strike him as a winner at the outset.

"I didn't think much of it when I wrote the tune," Guenther said.

It usually takes him weeks to write and arrange a song, while Something I Can't See came together really quickly. But the band heard promise in the track.

"Joel is a very private person, but his music is incredibly revealing," LeBlanc said. "He writes great songs, and then we interpret them. We wanted the tune to be a really mellow trip."

While the Searchlight competition is still going on, the guys from Poor Angus are working on their third album. Tracking just finished, and now the mixes are being sent off for mastering. The band has two albums under its belt — both 2007's self-titled album and 2009's Prime Cuts won Hamilton music awards for folk/traditional album of the year.

To vote for Poor Angus in the CBC Searchlight competition, head over to the voting page. The poll for the top eight closes Sunday, March 31, at midnight ET.

And once you've voted, check out this video of Poor Angus playing the Proclaimers classic 500 Miles on St. Patrick's day: