My next music adventure on Friday was to head to Trinity United Church for the Trinity Sessions: Contemporary Roots. The first set was FARA (Jennifer Austin, Kristan Harvey, Jeana Leslie and Catriona Price), a band from Scotland, and there was a multitude of things I loved about them right away. First of all, the entire band is made up of women, and secondly, three of these women are fiddle players: amazing. When I was a child one of my favourite movies of all time was The Care Bear Movie, in which the Care Bears meet the Care Bear Cousins for the first time. That’s how I felt, as a Nova Scotian, watching FARA, like I was watching the Care Bear Cousins of the music I grew up listening to and loving so much. It was a very cool and powerful set that way. The ‘family’ resemblance is quite uncanny. FARA treated us mostly to music from their new album, Times From Times Fall (2018), which is made up entirely of original songs and tunes. They began with a fiddle set “The Port Polka/ Rognvald Ritch, the Little/ The Shore” and they also played a set called “The Depliction/ My Favourite Cow/ Farewell to the Prid;” the richness of having three fiddles playing simultaneously is stunning, and both sets of tunes are spritely and make your heart want to dance. They also performed two songs from their earlier record Cross the Line (2016): “Three Fishers,” with lyrics based on an English poem of the same name (that they found via Stan Rogers), inspired by finding connections between their home of Orkney, a Scottish Island, and Canada, and a cover of “Games People Play” (Joe South). Jeana Leslie sings lead on both and her voice is absolutely gorgeous. “Three Fishers” certainly is a poignant song that, I think, all of us here on the East Coast can relate to ardently, about the sometimes volatile nature of the sea and the havoc it can wreak on the people who rely on it to make a living. Their rendition of “Games People Play” is also stunning. I went home and bought both these albums on iTunes immediately. I recommend you do the same. It was fitting that we moved from FARA and Scotland to Dara Smith-MacDonald and Cape Breton. Smith-MacDonald played the fiddle, and was joined by Adam Young on the keyboards, and Prince Edward Island’s Brent Chaisson on the guitar. They mostly played tunes from their 2017 album The Lake Sessions, including the ten minute long set “Settle In,” which starts with a beautiful rendition of the traditional tune “Fingal’s Cave.” I also loved their new, yet unnamed, Prince Edward Island set, which features tunes written by three members of the Chaisson family (of Rollo Bay Fiddle Festival fame), Kevin, Tim, and Brent. It will be on their new record, which is coming out this summer. Adam Young also treated us to two much slower, emotional piano ballads, which were also excellent. Last year Young wrote a new tune on the piano every day for 365 days, which puts my 93 day Duolingo streak to absolute shame. I am so impressed and inspired by that kind of dedication and the body of work it’s possible to amass in a single year. Next up was Tara MacLean, from Prince Edward Island, and I was incredibly impressed and inspired by her story about her time standing with the Water Protectors in British Columbia in the 1990s, and the deep respect that she developed for living a life that works toward true Reconciliation between Nations. Hubert Francis joined her in her final song “Beneath the Path of Crows,” which is on her newest album Deeper, which comes out on June 23rd. This song takes a strong stand against Colonialism and offers a hopeful portrait of the community that can be built when settlers stop being defensive of their ancestors, begin to listen, understand, acknowledge the harm that has been done and the pain and trauma that has been, and continues to be, inflicted on Indigenous Communities, and join in the work of dismantling a racist societal structure that harms all of us. This song is powerful, communal, heartbreaking and inspiring. MacLean has a huge belt and a splendid voice. I especially loved her heartfelt ode to her late sister, “Love Never Dies,” which is also on her new album. Catherine MacLellan also has a spectacular voice. She began her set with a beautiful song that she wrote for her nephew about lifting someone else up when they need it, which showcases the beauty of her voice so brilliantly. I also especially love her song “The Raven’s Sun,” from the album of the same name (2014), which is a song about getting to the place where one is able to let the object of their unrequited love go. These affairs of the heart can be brutally difficult, but there is something really empowering about seeing someone be able to channel that kind of heartbreak into something so poignant and lovely. She also sang a song her father, Gene MacLellan, wrote, “Biding My Time,” made famous by Anne Murray. As a Nova Scotian (and one who loves Anne Murray), it feels a bit sacrilegious to say that I love MacLellan’s rendition (perhaps) even more, but it really is that good. MacLellan has recently released an album where she sings the songs of her father called If It’s Alright With You: The Songs of Gene MacLellan (2017), and there is a documentary about MacLellan’s journey toward finding a deeper connection with her late father, who died by suicide when she was fourteen. For more information about the film visit this website.
I then shifted gears and venues to catch the end of ECMA Friday Night, which ended with a set by Jimmy Rankin and his band (Jamie Robinson, Ronald Hynes, Geoff Arsenault and a patriotic appearance by Rankin MacInnis on the bagpipes). Rankin performed a mixture of Rankin Family favourites, some older songs from his solo career, and some selections from his newest album Moving East (2018). From 2011’s Forget About the World Rankin performed “I’m Just Saying,” “Here in My Heart,” and “Forget About the World.” The latter is an especially gorgeous love ballad that really showcases Rankin’s singing voice, which is as strong as ever. My favourite of the new songs is the heart-wrenching “These Roads,” a song inspired by the dangerously winding Cape Breton roads that have taken so many lives. I also enjoyed “The Rawleigh Man,” a fun sing-along folk song that takes us back to the days of the travelling salesman peddling lotions fit for “man or beast.” He also treated the crowd to “Orangedale Whistle” and “You Feel the Same Way Too,” which burst many a heart open with nostalgia and the evening ended with a 1990s Retro Dance Party, where many “shook around their little behinds and did some things that you normally do on a Saturday night.” It was a time.
