| March 26, 2010 |
| 7:15 pm | to | 11:15 pm |
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
