There will be no shortage of musical magic in the Energy City on Saturday and the Tower of Song duo of Oliver Swain and Glenna Garramone will be one of the major contributors.
The B.C.-based duo, who will be on the back end of an extensive tour through Western Canada, will be featured performers at the Estevan Art Gallery and Museum鈥檚 After Dark series starting around 8 p.m.
Tickets are available at the gallery this week and at the door on the evening of the concert.
Garramone spoke with the Mercury as she and Swain travelled between Lloydminster and Shaunavon on May 25. Their tour would be taking them over to Manitoba before their Estevan concert and a couple of wrap-up appearances in Kelowna and Victora B.C.
The duo, who are accomplished instrumentalists as well as vocalists, pay tribute to Leonard Cohen, even though, they noted in a recent release, it won鈥檛 include the 201st rendition of Hallelujuah.
Swain brings what is described as a delicate, fractured tenor voice to the event while Garramone adds the sultry, mezzo-soprano harmonies in the understated arrangements.
鈥淲e鈥檝e had a good time so far, getting people aware of some of Leonard Cohen鈥檚 other material,鈥� Garramone said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e played to some full houses and sold-out venues. Canmore, Edmonton and Camrose were very good and we鈥檙e used to singing pretty well anywhere, theatres, folk clubs, bistros and bars and house concerts. I can鈥檛 remember playing in an art gallery before though,鈥� she said with a chuckle, looking forward to the Estevan stop.
The gallery will be doing double duty that day since an afternoon concert featuring Library Voices and Joel Henderson (a.k.a. Poor Nameless Boy) will be taking to the temporary stage in the gallery for a fundraising concert to assist Fort McMurray fire victims Nolan and Jenine Haukeness, whose story of fleeing the flames appeared in the May 11 edition of the Mercury.
鈥淚f we鈥檙e stressed out now, it鈥檚 pleasantly stressed out,鈥� Garramone joked, when asked about their tour and how this musical coupling came to be.
It was noted they blended their musical talents during an impromptu jam session at a party about 10 years ago, and have found excuses to work together on several other occasions even though they have ties to other musical groups, Swain with Duhks (Grammy-nomination) and the Juno-nominated Bills and the Western Canadian Music Awards nominated team, Outlaw Social and the Louisiana-based Red Stick Ramblers, while Garramone often works with Pandora Chorus and works vocals for Oliver鈥檚 Big Machine and is part of the backing band for renowned spoken word artist Shane Koyczan.
She credits her background in poetry (bachelor of fine arts in poetry from the University of Victoria), as being a big help in musical compositions. Both will present one of their own musical compositions during the course of the Estevan concert.
鈥淚 mean poetry isn鈥檛 something you set out to do in your life, yet when you live your life, you sometimes approach it and find out how powerful and efficient it can be,鈥� Garramone said.
The vocalist said she got into music early on.
鈥淲e had a piano in our home, so from the age of three, I was hammering away on the keys. Then I started singing in church choirs, moved into classical music in my early 20s, but it turned out I was more interested in being that singer-songwriter person,鈥� she explained.
Swain, she said, serves as a mentor to many musicians, having honed his musical chops on the folk music and other musical genre scenes.
鈥淲e put an emphasis on harmony and the nuances that come through. I鈥檇 say we are both perfectionists on that front and there is a huge amount of satisfaction we feel when we manage to get there. We are tuned in to one another in pretty subtle musical ways,鈥� she added.
The concept behind Tower of Song was the dialogue and the 鈥渞e-imaging of his (Cohen鈥檚) work with our vocals.鈥�
Garramone handles piano or keyboards and guitar during the concert while Swain plays bass, banjo and, on occasion, guitar, depending on the playlist for the evening.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think it matters how rabid a Leonard Cohen fan you are, if you鈥檙e just a lover of music, I think we can bring something to you,鈥� said Garramone.聽
