SUPERIOR NORTH -- It’s at times rather astonishing to hear that small towns across Canada can host amazing performers and artists, but in the month of August, Hornepayne, Wawa, Ear Falls, Sioux Lookout and other small towns are getting the opportunity to receive the musical gifts borne by the folk duo ‘Tragedy Ann’, who just returned from the European leg of their International Tour. The tour, originally planned for 2020, saw the duo traveling to Norway, Italy, and Germany with two other bands, the Lifers, and Samson Wrote.
Liv Cazzola and Braden Phelan, who hail from Guelph, Ont., released their latest album, ‘Heirlooms’, in May of 2022. The message portrayed throughout the album is that of love, caring, community values, and hope for our future. The song titles hint at these optimistic yearnings; ‘The Good of my Heart’, ‘I Hope This Finds You Well’, and ‘Every Morning’ are sentiments the world could use in these troubled times, and are words of wisdom for generations to come.
“What we’ve inherited,” Liv says, “The traditions, the learned things, the actions we’ve observed in past generations. We have to decide what actions we want to carry on, what we want to keep. These decisions, the heirlooms we cling to, shape our survival.”
The most poignant song on the album for us Northerners, however, is ‘The Shield’ which brings to life a trip from Sault Ste. Marie to Winnipeg, describing the endless sightings of power lines and beaver dams, and giving out shout-outs to radio humourist Stuart McLean, Hornepayne, and to Liv’s mother whose family were forced to take refuge in Rushing River to have their elderly, worn-out school bus repaired 40 years before. The lyrics ‘When the one way round, is the long way ‘round, and the shield makes you surrender and submit. Obstacles are where this beauty lives’ captures the spectacular essence of our lives in the Canadian Shield.
The simple, yet somehow rich instrumentals are a perfect blend throughout the album, delivering an organic depth to the music. Liv and Braden incorporate many instruments throughout their songs and they are accompanied by their friends from the European tour. Whilst acoustic guitar is the main element, a lovely nostalgic folk harmony is achieved by utilizing the talents of more than 20 musicians providing the light sounds of piano, violins, clarinet, drums, ukulele, accordion, reed organ and even a saw.
Their Northern tour, which began in Sault Ste. Marie on Aug. 7, will visit Hornepayne on Aug. 9, starting with a little family music-making time starting at 3 p.m.; the concert starts at 6 p.m. Then it’s on to Thunder Bay on Aug. 10, Sioux Lookout on Aug. 11, and they end the Ontario leg of the tour at the Trout Forest Music Festival in Ear Falls on the weekend. More information can be obtained on their website; https://tragedyannmusic.com/home, or by emailing them at tragedyann@trageyannmusic.com
Their song ‘I Hope This Finds You Well’ reflects the sentiments of Heirlooms: ‘My friend your show goes on, they’ll forever be applaudin’, if your song is shared, then you’re never gone. My friend, your show goes on.’ Thank you, Liv and Braden, for sharing your songs with us this summer.