As part of Music Nova Scotia’s Bringin’ it Home Concert Series, 101.5 The Hawk and the Port Hawkesbury Civic Centre will be presenting Halifax based, but increasingly internationally known, singer-songwriters Amelia Curran and Rose Cousins, at 8pm in the Shannon Studio.
Amelia Curran left St. John’s for Halifax about a decade ago but returned in early 2009 to record her fourth full length album Hunter, Hunter. Since its release in September, the album has gone on to receive four ECMA nominations — Female Solo Recording of the Year, FACTOR Recording of the Year, Folk Recording of the Year and SOCAN Songwriter of the Year — and was shortlisted for the Atlantis Music Prize which celebrates the best music out of Newfoundland and Labrador judged on artistic merit. After performing in Port Hawkesbury, and before heading to western Canada to tour for the rest of April and May, Curran will be returning to St. John’s on April 18th for the Juno Awards with a nomination for Roots & Traditional Album of the Year (solo) in tow.
Halifax writer Shannon Webb Campbell writes of the album: “Rich in metaphor, language and instrumentation, Hunter, Hunter speaks to unrequited longing, the notion of belonging and reflections on love both lost and found” while Curran says: “It conveys a kind of haunting – a vibe of necessary cruelty to dig down to the deeper meanings of being alive day by day.”
The Newfoundland Herald wrote that Curran is “Newfoundland’s next great female songwriter…in a world full of folk singers, Curran’s music is a cut above.”
ameliacurran.com
www.myspace.com/ameliacurran
Winner of the 2008 ECMA for Female Recording of the Year Rose Cousins was born and raised as the second eldest of five children on a PEI potato farm. Cousins still carries many important rural-living life lessons with her – live well, love and work hard. She knows dedication is paramount and firmly believes she’s pursuing her passion and purpose.
Cousins has recently released her second full-length album, The Send Off, produced by increasingly renowned singer / songwriter / bandleader / guitarist Luke Doucet. The album was partially recorded at Catherine North Studio in Hamilton, ON (Feist, Kathleen Edwards, City and Colour) and features guest vocal contributions by Edwards, Tom Wilson, David Myles, and Jenn Grant.
“The Send Off is about letting go: all of the ways we let go, don’t let go, how great it can be and how hard it is,” says Cousins. “I’m proud of all of the songs on this record and notably the inclusion of tunes that come from a place of pure joy.”
Since her 2006 debut album, If You Were for Me, Cousins has charmed audiences throughout North America, from intimate house concerts to a sold out show backed by Symphony Nova Scotia. A proven road warrior, Cousins has regularly played over 100 shows a year entertaining audiences in every province and state in North America over the past three years. She has become a regular part of the Boston folk music scene and is currently touring the eastern United States on her way to Port Hawkesbury.
The Ottawa Xpress writes: “Her resumé shines, but her songs are the real story, as Cousins, whose voice rings as true as a bell, spins forlorn folk dissertations on fear, desire and love that burn with a quiet, spinetingling intensity.”
rosecousins.com
www.myspace.com/rosecousins
Tickets for this show are available at the Port Hawkesbury Civic Centre box office (902) 625-2591.
