| April 9, 2010 | ||
| 7:15 pm | to | 10:15 pm |
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.
