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Ladies of the Canyon, Friday, April 9, Live @ the Folk Exchange.

Concert starts at 8:00 p.m., doors open at 7:15. Tickets $12 in advance at the Winnipeg Folk Festival Music Store, $15 at the door.

Ladies of the Canyon are four friends who got together in their living rooms to write and sing songs influenced by their favourite bands – The Eagles, the Band and Fleetwood Mac.

Musicians and songwriters Maia Davies (vocals, guitars, mandolin, keyboards), Senja Sargeant (vocals, guitars, mandolin), Jasmine Bleile (vocals, guitars) and Anna Ruddick (electric and upright bass, vocals) have their distinct tone and personality, but when they come together for harmonies, it’s a gorgeous, soaring blend.

Their debut full-length album, Haunted Woman (Kindling / Warner Music Canada) was produced by Colin Cripps. Already recognized as one of Canada’s premiere guitarists, Cripps previously produced critically acclaimed albums by Kathleen Edwards and Blue Rodeo’s Jim Cuddy. Through his production work, Cripps has deftly showcased the wide range Ladies of the Canyon confidently explore; both as songwriters and vocalists.
Their flexibility as artists can be seen through many of their tracks. Senja sings lead on four songs, including the first single, “Follow Me Down.” “War & Glory” is also sung by Senja, yet these two tracks couldn’t be further away in vibe and delivery. “Follow Me Down” is sunny pop inspired by one of Senja’s recent relationship travails. “I was conquering some personal troubles and didn’t realize I could have better and get better,” she recalls. “That’s what that song is about – waking up and seeing the light.”

For the darker “War & Glory,” Senja called upon Maia to help crystallize the song. “I knew what it was about, but I couldn’t put the lyrics to it myself because I was a mess so I had to ask Maia to write the lyrics for it after I told her what it was about.”

Maia calls Senja “outrageous,” marveling how she’ll start dancing “out of nowhere” and doesn’t care what people think. Onstage, she has been known to announce her ex-boyfriend’s phone number.
Maia takes lead on songs such as “No Deliverance,” the stirring war-time ballad “Haunted Woman” and light, wistful acoustic “Goodbye Gold & Blue.”

“No Deliverance” is real-deal, old-school Nashville country that would make Dolly Parton and Tammy Wynette proud. “I was pretty influenced on that by Dolly and Tammy,” Maia says. “The song’s a story I’d written in my dreams about a girl born in the beginning of the century in farmland California. I have no idea why I dreamed that.”

Senja refers to the raven-haired Jasmine as the groups’ “mama bear,” calling her the most grounded of the four. “You can go to her with anything and she’ll be there for you,” Senja says.

Jasmine’s toddler keeps her company on the road. She can be heard on lead vocals singing “Every Minute” and the sagely “Lonely Town,” which was written for a 55-year-old friend who’s still single. “Its words of encouragement that you can find love at any age,” says Jasmine. “That lyric doesn’t have the same impact as the message of the song because ‘lonely town’ makes it sound like a sad song, but it’s about finding love and getting older.”

The group’s bassist, Anna, brought her own songwriting skills to the album by contributing the track, “Hard To Find Love,” on which Jasmine sings lead. “Her main thing was bass for so long,” Jasmine says, “but we’ve since discovered that she has this gorgeous voice.” Anna comments: it was important for me to have an emotionally lyrical contribution to the writing, and “Hard To Find Love” was actually about the other girls and my relationship with them as I stood by them through their struggles.

Anna adds “I studied jazz at McGill and transitioned into being a full-time employed bassist in many different projects. I eventually joined (LOTC) because of my friendship with the girls. Music was always a career for me, but also a passion. The natural progression of being a working musician is that the nature of the work takes you to unexpected musical places, but I’m so glad I found myself in LOTC because it became a really fulfilling creative experience for me. I also have a great passion for singing and popular songwriting now, and this has become so much more than just playing in another band for me, it’s a part of me and I of it.

Off stage, it’s Anna and Senja who provide hours of entertainment on the road when Ladies of the Canyon tour. Jasmine is the voice of reason, while Maia makes sure all business is in order. But when they get on stage, these four women make one wonderful sound. They’ve been doing so for the last two years, and with the release of Haunted Woman, this next year will be more of the same.

ladiesofthecanyon.com

T.Nile, Saturday, May 22, Live @ the Folk Exchange.

Concert starts at 8:00 p.m., doors open at 7:15. Tickets $10 in advance at the Winnipeg Folk Festival Music Store, $12 at the door.

2009 Winnipeg Folk Festival performer T. Nile has spent most of the last three years on the road since releasing At My Table in 2006. From the outdoor festivals and clubs that dot the Trans Canada Highway and its many tributaries, T Nile has also made stops at packed halls and theatres in Germany, Denmark and Alaska. Along the way she was named the “Best New/Emerging Artist” at the Canadian Folk Music Awards, the “Critic’s Favorite New Discovery” in Penguin Eggs, and was nominated for “Best Contemporary Vocalist” at the most recent Canadian Folk Music Awards.

tamaranile.com

Ben Wytinck, Saturday, May 8, Live @ the Folk Exchange.

Concert starts at 8:00 p.m., doors open at 7:15. Tickets $8 in advance at the Winnipeg Folk Festival Music Store, $10 at the door.

The year was 1990. Ben Wytinck stepped into his first bar - a small town juke joint in Southern Manitoba, Canada. The fact he was 9 yrs. old wasn’t what made him nervous. It was his first show, the first time he would play drums in his father’s band. The night went well considering there were a couple minor scuffles in the audience. Nothing like what Jeff Healey had to deal with in Swayze’s “Road House”. In time Ben became used to the fights, the odor, and the odd crouch behind his 24″ kick drum whenever the cops arrived. He was living his dream. Well, part of it. Though he loved playing the cover songs he and his father performed together, he still yearned to write his own music.

At age 20, Ben moved to Manitoba’s capital, Winnipeg. He acquired a right handed guitar from his late Uncle Roland and re-stringed it to meet his left handed needs. Finally, he could begin to write his own music. In the Fall of 2003, Ben wrote “Brag-able Ego”, one of his first songs and the oldest song on his self titled album. He continued to write over 30 songs throughout the years and only until now, has put 10 of what he thinks are the best on his first album simply titled, “Ben Wytinck”.

Son of a farmer, Ben learned to do things himself, his own way. Only when someone sits down with the album and absorbs it as a whole do they truly understand the term, “Labor of Love”. Ben wrote, composed, and produced the album all himself with help from some of Manitoba’s top musicians. He also created the art/design and packaging for the album. Still to this day, as you read this, he is assembling the CD cases (with a little help from his friends). Not only is his album a great listening experience, it is one the listener cannot help recognize as a piece of hard work, patiently done well - a rarity in today’s fast paced world.

www.benwytinck.com

Kate Maki and Brent Randall, Friday, March 26, Live @ the Folk Exchange.

Concert starts at 8:00 p.m., doors open at 7:15. Tickets $12 in advance at the Winnipeg Folk Festival Music Store, $15 at the door.

Born and raised in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, Kate studied neuroscience at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and graduated from Teacher’s College in 2000. After the passing of a close friend in 2002, she quit her full time teaching job and travelled across the country performing her first few original songs. Since then, she has released three solo albums, Confusion Unlimited (2003), The Sun Will Find Us (2004), and On High (2008), all of which have been recognized as “Album of the Year” by Northern Ontario’s Music & Film In Motion.

In 2005, inspired by Bob Dylan’s “Rolling Thunder Revue”, Maki collaborated with fellow Canadian songwriters, Ruth Minnikin, Nathan Lawr, Dale Murray, and Ryan Bishops on two cross-Canada adventures called “A Midwinter Night’s Dream” and “A Midautumn Night’s Dream”. For each tour, the musicians recorded a special compilation album, and took turns performing each other’s songs on stage.

Kate has appeared on the cover of Now Toronto, Echo Weekly, and Ottawa Xpress, and has received enthusiastic reviews from Mojo, Uncut, Harp, Exclaim, Pitchfork, and LA Weekly. Her songs can be heard across North America on CBC Radio, College Radio, and NPR, and across the ocean on the BBC and select stations in Belgium, France, Italy, and Germany. She has placed original tracks in the Canadian films Weirdsville, and Wilby Wonderful, and in the CBC television series MVP, and has toured extensively in North America and parts of Europe with Great Lake Swimmers, Howe Gelb, Joel Plaskett, M. Ward, Hayden, Tegan & Sara, Jason Collett, Deep Dark Woods, and Fred Eaglesmith.

When Kate is not on tour, she divides her time between substitute teaching and managing her independent record label, Confusion Unlimited.

www.katemaki.com

Arriving fully formed, Brent Randall & His Pinecones released the expertly crafted debut EP, Quite Precisely, in late 2004 (Charting 34 on Earshot). The seven songs on the album showed a style of song and depth in writing rarely seen since Brill Building era pop. Randall quickly became a enigmatic yet renowned character throughout the East Coast. Along with His Pinecones, made up of Laura Peek, David Ewenson, Joel Goguen, Brian O’Reilly and Jess Lewis, he played several legendary shows in the years that followed, previewing new songs from an ever forthcoming LP that never seemed to materialize.

Four years later, and the wait is finally over. From the first listen of “Strange Love (Don’t Be Lazy),” it’s apparent that the time spent honing the songs on We Were Strangers in Paddington Green was not in vein. The track’s cabaret inspired delivery balances camp and beauty with equal grace. Produced by Jason MacIssac (Jenn Grant, The Heavy Blinkers), the song’s lush sound is reminiscent of peak era Paul McCartney and Harry Nilsson. Randall’s penchant for grandiose arrangements delivered over classic songwriting continues throughout the rest of the album. From the epic chorus of “This House” to the more crestfallen “Slumberjack,” We Were Strangers in Paddington Green never reveals the hand print of its formation. It instead is a beautifully complete document, balancing emotion and sound into one forward striding and backwards looking collection of songs. But he does it for a larf, don’t you know!

Brent Randall on MySpace