february 2009 Vol 1 Issue 5

Drumlin Headlining Atlantic Heritage

It’s an East coast thing!

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Cape Breton International Drum Festival

Feature Interview:Drumlin

Six Degrees of Sound

By Jill Schettler

PEI Music Award Winners

Random Useless Knowledge

Something To Talk AboutmEARTH FRIENDLY

No Paper, No Ink, No Waste

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The Music Room offers one of the finest acoustic spaces in Canada. The facility accom-modates an audience of 110, houses a 9 foot New York-built Steinway grand piano (Model D), and boasts a 24-track digital recording studio for live or session recording.

May 23 - 24, 2009Savoy Theatre

Glace Bay, Nova ScotiaCanada

SPECIAL OFFERFrom February 3rd to February 28th,

weekend passes are offered at a one time only price of

$25.00Click here to visit www.cbdrumfest.ca

Feature ArtistsEmmanuelle Caplette - Montreal, QuebecTommy Clufetos - Los Angeles, USABill Ludwig III - USANew Brunswick Percussion Ensemble: Joe McIntyre, John Morrison, Peter Doyle and Franco C.Danny Britt - New York, USADamian Corniola - Melbourne, AustraliaRoxy Petrucci - New York, USAMike Clark - New York, USARonnie Leadbeater - Sydney, Nova ScotiaSonny Hogan - St Johns, Nfl/LabMercedes Lander - London, OntarioTom Bona - Toronto, OntarioPete Lockett - London, EnglandDom Famularo - New York, USA

Otarion Show CaseDillon Krszwda - Marion Bridge, Nova ScotiaCarlin MacVicar - Sydney, Nova ScotiaAnthony Pascon - St John, New Brunswick Keefer Lockwood - St Johns, Nfl/LabFrank & Jordan Bruleigh - Sydney River NSAndrew Collins - St Johns, Nfl/LabChuck Bucket - Halifax, Nova ScotiaAl Hovey - New BrunswickTom Allen - Sydney, Nova Scotia

Special Guest StarsThe Rhythm Queens - Sydney, Nova Scotia Cathy MacDougall, Joannie Andrews, Val Fulford and Hannah Buhariwalla.

Bodhran Bodhran - Sydney, Nova ScotiaJosey Lovett and friends

O ur story begins in the small town of Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, about

10 years back. It was then that a group of siblings made a resolution that would earn them their place amongst the East Coast’s musical tapestry. On this particu-lar day, instead of watching TV, reading a book, or going outside to play, the lot of them agreed, “Why not start a band?”

The rest, as they say, is history.Our story follows the group none other

than Drumlin. Drumlin consists of the four oldest Gilbert siblings: Dal, Anya, Kassia, and Liam. As these young talents cele-brate the music of their ancestors—with the release of Mackerel Skies—they, too, head-line the rejuvenation of Nova Scotia’s heritage.

by Jill Schettler

All photos by Scott Munn - www.photomunn.com

“Mackerelsky,mackerelsky.Neverlongwetandneverlongdry.”

Liam

Introduce us to Drumlin. Who are the members of the band, and what instru-ments does each member play?

Anya: Drumlin is made up of the oldest four siblings of the Gilbert family. Dal, 19, plays guitar and is our lead vocalist; I am 17 and play violin, mandolin, and tin whistle and sing harmony; Kassia, 14, plays cello, bass guitar, and is also a lead vocalist; and, Liam, 10, is our percussionist on drum kit and bodhran, and also mandolin and piano. Our youngest sister, Nehara, has only just begun to get her foot in the door. She is 6, and is a dedicated violin and organ player. She is hoping to eventually play the accor-dion or banjo, and join us on stage!

Family bands generally have a unique history. How did Drumlin come to be?

Dal: Drumlin began almost a decade ago as a baroque trio. Anya, Kassia and I were

all involved in classical violin and cello lessons, and we discovered how much fun it was to play mu-sic together. I eventually began to play guitar to accompany Anya and Kassia on cello and violin, and ev-erything just evolved from there. We began to branch out and ex-periment with other styles of mu-sic, and we added vocals to our repertoire.

Our shows became entirely eclec-tic, featuring jazz, celtic, blues, classical, and traditional songs. We played cover tunes by Loreena McKennitt, the Rankin Family, Gor-don Lightfoot, The Beatles, Django Reinhardt, Stephan Grappelli, Doc Watson, as well as a few of our

own compositions... just to name a few. Under the coaching of my guitar teacher, Neil Fraser, we began to perform at lo-cal venues and eventually at larger festi-vals and events. We began writing more of our own material, which began to take on a more and more distinctive Drumlin sound. When Liam turned six he joined the band. The audience could barely see him behind his drum kit, as when he sat down he was shorter that the kit!

Nehara is next in line and has great en-thusiasm and dedication considering she is only six years old. Nehara is the young-est sibling, so there are five of us in total. Our older brother Nathan passed away when he was very young. He would be twenty now, and I sometimes think about the band and how he would have fit in.

Drumlin is an “all ages” show, playing for schools, festivals etc. How has this contributed to or shaped your suc-cess?

Kassia: We have really en-joyed exploring, restoring and celebrating Nova Sco-tia’s stunning heritage music from the Helen Creighton collection. Helen Creigh-ton collected thousands of songs, but many of them are like incomplete puz-zles—as parts of the lyrics are missing or the melody is lost. The songs need to be rebuilt and made relevant and captivating in order to have any impact on the contemporary music indus-try. These songs are worth believing in, as they have al-ready been proven through the test of time, being passed down over the cen-turies. They were not writ-

ten down, as most people were illiterate, but passed down orally. Our “all ages” show has been really ben-eficial to our goal of making this almost forgotten heri-tage music available to all ages. This music is not just for one generation or one time period; it is for all ages to remember, celebrate and preserve. It teaches our his-tory and culture.

As a band, your first vid-eo effort was completely autonomous. What les-sons would take into the next video production?

Anya: Part of the fun of making the music video was

that it was a completely new experience. We counted a great deal on the expertise of filmmaker Joel Mack-enzie. Liam actually drew Joel’s name out of a hat at the 28th Atlantic Film Festi-val 10x10 program, which is how we came about being able to make our first mu-sic video. Joel worked with a skilled team that included the cinematography of Mat-thew Carswell, stills photog-raphy by Mike Lovas, and animation by Phillipe Tardiff. We had such a short period of time to film and no bud-get to work with, so we had to be very creative and work hard. It was interesting and a bit challenging to be work-

Dal

ing in a museum. We weren’t supposed to sit on the furniture or touch many of the ar-tifacts. We learned about the importance of keeping a sense of humour, taking risks, and trusting other people in their field of ex-pertise. We also really thought about loca-tion.

“Stormy Weather Boys” was filmed in Helen Creighton’s former home, which was definitely bursting with history and charac-ter. During the filming of “Stormy Weather Boys,” we worked hard and had the very good luck of working with a gifted filming team, so we kind of just went with the flow. I think that if we had predetermined exactly what we wanted to happen we would not have been as happy or satisfied with the end result. If we make another music video, I think we should do it with the same open, creative frame of mind.

The band incorporates many historical Nova Scotian facts into the songs, the video, and, the title of the album, Mack-erel Skies. Where does this love of his-tory come from?

Kassia: I think it is mostly curiosity. The songs we play are most likely true accounts of history, passed down through the years by word of mouth. It is interesting to flip through the heritage collections and read the dramatic lyrics to the songs and real-ize that these events probably really hap-pened. We want to help preserve and learn more about the Nova Scotian stories and culture, which can be found in all Nova Scotia’s heritage music.

The material for Mackerel Skies was chosen from a very interesting source. What is it about folklorist Helen Creighton that sparks Drumlin’s catalogue?

Anya

Dal: Helen Creighton was full of character and spirit. She saw the value of the folk songs that people sang, and put a tremen-dous amount of effort into preserving such songs. We greatly appreciate the work that she did and consider it to be remark-able and exceptionally worthwhile. Helen Creighton never seemed to give up. If she became tired or discouraged she would just go and rest for a while and then get back to her life’s work, as a song collector and folk-lorist. Not many people know this, but she was fired from one of her jobs. She was fired as an ambulance driver out in Ontario for “flirting” with the officers that she often transported from place to place in the am-bulance she drove. We’re glad she came back to Nova Scotia, as her work here is irreplaceable.

Rearranging traditional folk songs must have been a very interesting process. Who came up with the arrangements for the new versions?

Anya: We all worked together to make the songs what they are, all putting in some ideas and trying them. Sometimes our ideas worked and sometimes they didn’t,

and we did a lot of creative experimenting with the songs. Tim Feswick, our produc-er, also played a big part in arranging the songs.

I’m told Drumlin has been privy to “the biggest kitchen party in Atlantic Cana-da.” Why don’t you elaborate?

Anya: Atlantic Canada is definitely the place to find large and welcoming kitchen parties! If you plan a party...people will come...and hang out in the kitchen...and bring delicious food too! The kitchen party you are thinking of is the Prince Edward Island International Shellfish Festival. It was a really great ex-perience. The festival tent was packed with people, and it was also full of steaming pots of seafood. A huge cruise ship was docked

outside, and everyone was having a good time. It is very green and fresh on PEI. It seems every Atlantic province has a flavour of its own, and, yet, we are all part of the same East Coast Family. Originally we had been booked to perform on the same day we were filming the “Stormy Weather Boys” music video. As we were on quite a tight filming schedule (we only had one week to

Kassia

complete the entire video), the Chaisson Family Band agreed to switch performance days with us. In one day we went from fin-ishing up the music video, to the CBC ra-dio office to be interviewed by Glenn Mei-sner for Atlantic Airwaves, and across the Confederation Bridge to Charlottetown to perform at the Shellfish Festival! PEI is beautiful, and we really hope to have the opportunity to perform there again soon.

Who would you say has influenced the band’s sound?

Dal: Many people and experiences have led our sound to where it is today. Our style

has been greatly influenced by the musi-cians we have known over the years, and we grew up listening to a wide variety of musical genres. Our sound is still changing. Music is one of those things that changes with one’s mood, the time of day, the weath-er, etc... It is one of the best ways to convey emotion, and therefore constantly shifting.

Establishing a career in a smaller center like Bridgewater, NS must have provid-ed some interesting opportunities/chal-lenges in your career. Could you give us some insight?

Kassia: Bridgewater has been a great “home base” for us. It is located right at the center of a whole bunch of great places to perform: Lunenburg, Halifax, Mahone Bay, Liverpool, etc. This has given us a lot of opportunities to play in a variety of places without having to travel for too long. People know us here and we have a strong sense of community, which is stabilizing for us. Maybe it is good we are in a small town, as there is not much for us to do here other than play music. Nova Scotia is a collection of small communities that are all respon-sible for their own entertainment...which often results in kitchen parties and music! The South Shore also has many amazing beaches where we can often be found dur-ing the summer.

Who are the songwriters of the band? Is there ever a group collaboration, or is it more of a solo effort?

Anya: Most everything we do as a band is a group effort. Each of us supplies input on almost every project. Usually one of us comes up with the initial idea, and then we all come together and it goes from there.

“The songs we play are most likely

true accounts of history, passed down through the years by

word of mouth.”

We respect each other for our individual tal-ent, and we realize that the Drumlin sound is created from aspects of all of our indi-vidual sounds.

Drumlin has been recognized by the Canadian Folk Music Awards as a sig-nificant talent. How did the band make its mark on the nation and earn this rec-ognition? How long was the process?

Dal: Drumlin was established in 2000. It has taken us almost a decade of practice and performance to reach this point. We play music because we feel it is a worthwhile thing to do. It is the universal language and does wonders to bring people together. The nominations we recently received from the Canadian Folk Music Awards and the ECMA’s have been really encouraging, and we are thrilled to see that we are recog-nized here on the East Coast as well as nationally.

Has the band, or members of the band, collaborated with any other artists?

Kassia: As a band, we’ve collaborated with Inuit throat singer/songwriter Angela Hov-ak Johnston. We performed and recorded with her on several different occasions and have received airplay in Northern Canada with these collaborations. Kugluktuk, NT, is hoping to bring us up for a concert and workshop, which would be wonderful and exciting. We enjoy doing individual col-laborations as well. Anya and I played vio-lin and cello on Faded Blue’s most recent CD, as well as on The Establishment’s lat-est CD. Anya also played fiddle on Francis Arsenault’s latest album. JP Cormier was a guest artist on Mackerel Skies. It is always fun to get together with different musicians and learn a bit about them. Music is a great way to socialize!

What does 2009 have in store for Drum-lin?

Some songs for a new CD are simmering on the backburner, possibly another music video is in the works, performances at fes-tivals and events are in store. 2009 is defi-nitely an exciting year for Drumlin! a

Click HErE to visit www.drumlin.ca

By Jill Schettler

Six Degrees of Sound

h, yes, the musical map. It is here where the specific and integral roles of each artist intertwine and create

history. This six-degrees of melodic sepa-ration-- though only a cross-section of a much larger picture-- resembles an entire community, and it is this community that, in turn, expresses the interconnectivity and evolution of sound.

In a sense, the makeup of each artist is akin to a good recipe. And like any good recipe, you must first begin by following the step-by-step instructions. Take, for in-stance, “the artist formerly known as”... or

is it “the artist now known as”... Prince. Ac-cording to the above map, the recipe would include 1 cup Stevie Wonder, 2 tbsp James Brown, 4 cups Michael Jackson, and a pinch of Rick James. Mix all those together and voila: you would have your very own life-size Prince replica (yikes). Of course, this is only a speculative recipe for “Prince à la King,” but I think you can see where I’m going with this.

But wait, isn’t there something missing? As everyone knows, no recipe is complete without a touch of personality to add that much-needed zing. Our equation is incom-

plete. It still needs a few dashes of Prince’s own individual style to make it foolproof.

The working web needs all of its parts to function. If you take Stevie Wonder out of the above chain, for instance, what hap-pens? Think about it. If Stevie never touched a piano in his life, would there be another artist that could have filled the void? Prob-ably. But his replacement would be lacking something inherently “Stevie”; and, further-more, the artists influenced by Mr. Wonder would also alter substantially. Though the map is a sharing of roots, each artist must bring forth their own flair and creativity in order to earn their placement.

Chuck Berry was perhaps the most fun-damental progenitor of The Beatles’ sound. Then, the Beatles, themselves, took Berry’s sound and made it their own, which in turn influenced countless other artists such as Bowie, Oasis, U2, The Police, Pink Floyd and Tori Amos. Each of the “influenced” took the music of their predecessors and gave it their own twist, earning each a place on the map. Some followed the rock train, others took a stop at folksville and some took a shortcut at the grunge garage. Nevertheless, it all works because it’s indi-vidual, it’s unique.

So what am I getting at? Well, while pre-paring for this article I was reminded of a scenario that happened to me way back when I was a young, green, star-struck art-ist. Let me paint a bit of back story for you now:

The setting is Winnipeg in early May about seven years ago. Now, for those of you who have never been to the prairies, it can get pretty darn cold, and this particular morning was definitely not the rule’s excep-tion. The street outside the Ramada hotel was buzzing with antsy teens, unwaver-ing T.V reporters and camera crews, and

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a somber OBO security team. Bright blue porta-potties lined the street, and every hand held a steaming cup of Timmie’s fin-est. Hundreds of people were setting up camp for the night. Some had tents, some had lawn chairs, some had nothing but the clothes on their backs, but they were all there for the same reason: to be the first Canadian Idol.

Yes, I said it, Canadian Idol. Not one of my finest moments, I must admit, but, nonetheless.

After what seemed like the longest night of my life, I took my spot center stage un-der the unflattering lights and nervously hovered atop the Canadian Idol logo. I took one very deep breath and let ‘er buck with Aretha Franklin’s “Natural Woman.”

Now, I had practiced my song over and over and over and, well, you get the picture. It was flawless. I even had the deep growl that Kelly Clarkson, America’s first Idol, used in her own performance of the tune. Yet, on that particular day, my rendition was met with a mixed review.

The consensus of the judges: “We want more Jilly! Too much Christina Aguilera, not enough Jilly.”

What... I don’t get it, I thought. How, prey tell, is sounding like Christina Aguilera a de-rogatory thing? (Oh, you poor naïve young thing)

Now, looking back, I can attest that sound-ing like Christina Aguilera is obviously not a

Nova Scotia Music Award Winner Christina Martin

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“What is it in us that makes us feel the need to keep pretending?

We gotta let ourselves be.”

Christina Aguilera

Click here to visit Ryan on the web

“derogatory thing,” by any means; however, imitating her, note for note, is not so hot. I had followed my musical map, but forgot one key point, one key ingredient to my recipe—myself.

You see, it’s important to know where you come from, but it’s also important to recognize what you, yourself, bring to the table and where you’re going with it. I’m proud to say that each and every day I work towards finding out who “Jilly” is.

I still listen to the greats that have influenced me to this point, the ones who gave me that initial push into this musical journey (some of them are listed above on the map), but now my listening has become more of a springboard than a land-ing. All of it encompasses the art-ist I am meant to be, and I see it as a pretty cool lineage to come from.

Music is in a constant state of evolution, and the job of an artist is to take what other artists did and own it, make it better. So, go to the greats for advice. Find out where they came from, and, in turn you will find your place on the musical map.

I will leave you with a quote from William Ellery Channing, theolo-gion and poet, who said, “Every human being has a work to carry on within, duties to perform abroad, influence to exert, which are pecu-liarly his, and which no conscience but his own can teach.”

P.S. Just don’t forget to add the spices. a

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In My Own Company

Male Vocalist of the Year - John connollYfeMale Vocalist of the Year - Meaghan Blanchard

group of the Year - VishtenurBan recording of the Year - eric BroadBent & Mike aMelia

songwriter of the Year - Meaghan BlanchardalBuM of the Year - John connollY

*tie* alternatiVe recording of the Year – (1) John connollY (2) pat deighan and the orB weaVers

rock recording of the Year - BatterY pointfolk recording of the Year- Meaghan Blanchard

new artist recording of the Year- Meaghan Blanchardroots traditional - group of the Year- Vishten

roots traditional - solo of the Year- colette cheVerieinstruMental recording of the Year - JJ chaisson

Bluegrass/countrY recording of the Year - grass Mountain hoBos*tie* pop recording of the Year – (1) kris taYlor (2) new roYaltY

studio of the Year - Big greY sound studiosVenue of the Year – hunter’s ale house

weekend warrior – grass Mountain hoBosentertainer of the Year – grass Mountain hoBos

lifetiMe achieVeMent – ken MaccaulllifetiMe achieVeMent – scott MacaulaY

industrY person of the Year – steVe horne

Music PEI Awards Winners 2009 Click here to visit Music PEI online

Random Useless

Knowledge

The characters Bert and Ernie on Ses-ame Street were named after Bert the cop and Ernie the taxi driver in Frank Capra’s “It’s a Wonderful Life”.

Michael Jordan makes more money from Nike annually than all of the Nike factory workers in Malaysia combined.

The US interstate highway system re-quires that one mile in every five be straight. These straight sections func-tion as airstrips in times of war and oth-er emergencies.

Los Angeles’ full name is El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de los Angeles de Pornciuncula.

Al Capone’s business card said he was a furniture dealer.

The Ramses brand condom is named after the great Pharoh Ramses II, who fathered over 160 children.

Dueling is legal in Paraguay as long as both parties are registered blood do-nors.

Pinocchio is Italian for “pine head.”

No word in the the English dictionary rhymes with “MONTH”.

The famous split-fingered Vulcan salute is actually intended to represent the first letter (“shin”, pronounced “sheen”) of the word “shalom”. As a boy, Leonard Nimoy observed his rabbi using it in a benediction and never forgot it; he was eventually able to add it to Star Trek lore.

The parachute was invented by DiVinci in 1515.

Business.com is currently the most ex-pensive domain name sold for $7.5 mil-lion.

Mr. Rogers was an ordained minister.

The first domain name ever registered was Symbolics.com.

The IRS employees tax manual has in-structions for collecting taxes after a nuclear war.

The silhouette on the Major League Baseball logo is Harmon Killebrew.

The manufacturing documentation for a Jumbo Jet weighs more than a Jumbo Jet.

A “dude” is an infected hair on an el-ephants butt.

“As long as you’re going to be thinking anyway, think big.”

Donald Trump