Time: 8 p.m.
Tickets: $37.50
The Geomatic Attic Presents an Evening with Jill barber at the Southminster United Church
Tickets $35.00 Advance, $37.50 Online and $40.00 at the Door
Avaliable at Blueprint Lethbridge, CASA and www.geomaticattic.ca
Jill Barber http://www.jillbarber.com/
http://www.jillbarber.com
http://www.myspace.com/jillbarbermusic
http://www.twitter.com/jillbarber
http://www.youtube.com/jillbarbermusic
At first listen, what sets Jill Barber apart is her distinctive voice.
But it’s her ability to write an immediately memorable song that has
made her one of Canada’s most recognizable artists.
On Fool’s
Gold, her 6th studio album, Jill continues to explore different musical
styles, from traditional country, to jazz and Motown, though she rarely
works neatly within the confines of any one genre. Instead she writes in the spirit of the Brill Building era where hook and melody reigned.
“I can’t help but feel nostalgic for other eras of music. When I listen
to Etta James, or Ray Charles or Carole King, I feel almost
intoxicated. It stirs something in me. When I write my own music, my
greatest hope is that it ends up becoming the perfect soundtrack to some
great romance, or at the very least a great cocktail party.”
Fool’s Gold was produced in Toronto by Jill’s longtime collaborators and
bandmates Les Cooper (For All Time, Chances, Mischievous Moon) and Drew
Jurecka (Chansons).
“Nobody knows me better musically than Les
and Drew. We’ve spent years living and breathing music in the studio,
on the stage and on the back porch. We speak the same musical
short-hand. But most importantly I trust them, I really trust them.”
Much of the album was made at a distance, as Jill was spending some
much-needed time at home in Vancouver with her husband CBC Radio
personality Grant Lawrence and their newborn baby son Joshua. Many of
the early demo recordings that were made for Fool’s Gold feature a baby
cooing in the background.
“I won’t try to kid you about how
hard it is to be a new mother, and work at the same time. Time becomes
the new economy. For that reason, much of the making of this record came
down to instinct. If it felt right, we just went with it. No
second-guessing. It’s a good way to make music.”
Jill’s songs
have always set a romantic mood, and on Fool’s Gold, the romance is
still very much alive, but she also introduces a new sexy
Motown-inspired sound on the lead single “Broken for Good.”
“What I love about Motown is that musically, it knows exactly how to
deliver a message: with a strong backbeat, punctuated by horns, a
driving bass line and an immediate pop appeal. It will ultimately get
inside your soul but first it’ll just make you want to move your body. I
wanted to write some killer songs with this approach and give myself
and my band a chance to rock a little.”
“The Careless One” is a
song born out of a collaboration with Nashville, TN-based Canadian
musician Steve Dawson. Barber and Dawson combined forces with the CBC to
pay tribute to the 60th Anniversary of the passing of Hank Williams
with a concert of old time country music. During the process Jill was
inspired by the often plaintive songs of heartache that define that
musical landscape.
“I dreamed up the kind of song that I could
imagine Patsy Cline singing. One full of resignation and sorrow, but
not bitterness. It hurts me to sing it, just a little. But that’s how I
know it is a keeper.”
Jill Barber has become renowned for
writing songs that evoke feelings of a bygone era. The songs on Fool’s
Gold are delivered by that distinct, evocative voice of an artist who
has drawn inspiration from a cross section of musical genres. Regardless
of Jill’s influences, the one thing you are always assured of is that
you know a Jill Barber song when you hear it, and chances are, you’ll
never forget it.