CANADIAN MUSICIAN SHOWCASE

Showcase - April 1996
by Karen Bliss

Cate Friesen
Style: Sunny and serene
Lineup: Victor Bateman (bass, vocals), Tiina Kiik (free-base accordion), Allan Beardsell (mandolin, acoustic and electric guitar, violin, lap steel, vocals), Howard Gaul (drums)
Contact: 22 Beaconsfield Ave., Toronto, ON M6J 3H9 (416) 532-7830, FAX (416) 532-5551

[Picture] Her voice is the instrument - clear and vibrant and flexible. She controls it with every syllable, brightening, fluttering, sighing like a less flighty Jane Siberry; especially on the opener "Weight of the World". The bulk of the material on Friesen’s third release, Wayward, was produced at Orchard Studios by John Switzer, an obvious choice considering his work with Siberry. From the buoyant "I’m Floored" to the rockier "Several Sides to Love" and folky lilt "Mirabeau Bridge", the Toronto-based artist carries the songs with her voice no matter what instruments - mandolin, saxophone, cello, accordion, trumpet, lapsteel, clarinet, banjo - dress them up. She’s never overpowered. Musical guests lending their talent to the project include Veda Hille, Anne Bourne, Ana Coutinho and Sam Larkin.

Ian Tamblyn
Style: Transcendental Folk
Lineup: Ian Tamblyn (vocals, lyrics, acoustic guitar, piano, synthesizer, organ, high string guitar, nylon string guitar), plus various band members on each track.
Contact: Firstbrook Arts and Artists’ Management Inc., One Pentry Lane, Ottawa, ON K1S 0X1 (613) 523-7727, FAX (613) 523-3162

[Picture] Haunting, earthy and poetic, Ian Tamblyn’s eighteenth album, The Middle Distance, is a transcendental folk album of sorts. Along the lines of a Bruce Cockburn-Robbie Robertson cross-breed, the prolific songwriter has a smoky talk-sing style, evident on songs like the percussive "The Coming of the Rain" and sprite "The Low and High Tides of ‘94". His lyrics are filled with vivid images - waving grass, smoke curls, tin slum town, lichen moss and bowhead bones - spun not from his imagination, but from his scientific missions to the Arctic, Antarctica, Baffin Island and the Hebrides. Produced by Scott Merritt at Sound of One Hand in Ottawa and Merritt’s home studio in Brantford, Ontario, the album also includes Tamblyn’s "field" recordings from Cape Dorset, NWT.

The Paperboys
Style: Celtic contortion
Lineup: Tom Landa-McAuliffe (lead vocals, guitars, mandolin, bouzouki, bodhran, accordion, piano, keyboards, percussion); Moritz Behm (fiddle, mandolin, percussion, backing vocals); Cam Salay (bass, five-string banjo, backing vocals); Neil Burnett (flute, penny whistles, celtic harp, accordion, percussion, backing vocals); Paul Lawton (drums, percussion)
Contact: #158-1896 West Broadway, Vancouver, BC V6J 1Y9 (604) 738-4782

[Picture] On Late As Usual, Vancouver’s Paperboys start their route with a ringing phone and reprimanding message for sleeping in, before the Celtic slam of "She Said" provides a wake-up call. The song was recorded in one take at Mushroom Studios, an ability the band acquired by touring the country twice and all over the Pacific Northwest since 1992. Spontaneity is the spice of their live show - and captured here by producers Colin Nairne (Mae Moore, Art Bergman, Barney Bentall) and Geoffrey Kelly (Spirit of the West) in separate sessions at Mushroom (bed tracks) and Crosstown (overdubs) is a similar energy. The material ranges from the whirl-around traditional instrumental like "Cooley’s Reel" fused with the original tune "Tyrol Mountain Hop" to a gentle ballad about wedded bliss, "In Love For Now". There’s even a minstrel-like ethereal track "Forest of Blue", sounding like something out of medieval times, while the most poignant of all is the closer "Devil Away", a chilling and melancholy song against domestic violence.

Credit: Karen Bliss is a Toronto-based freelance writer.