Sonics & Sojourns

It was one of those under-stated, unexpected moments. From Erin Propp’s opening moments, you knew that you were in the presence of an emerging songstress. Like Maegan Blanchard from PEI, these young singers bring a depth of feeling and soulfulness that is immediately felt by everyone in the room – no talking, no distraction, just rapt attention. This soulfulness appears to be a quality beyond her years, which brings a feeling of surprise as a listener…”where have you been hiding?”  Erin is an equal among the group – with a good array of talent amongst the rest of the band, sharing duties on mandolin, guitars, melodica, keys, bass, banjo, and fiddle. The instruments were heard separately, but together, were full of energy and tight.

Red Moon Road presents live roots music that brings a touch of Celtic, a strong songwriting capability from Daniel Jordan, and a wide range of acoustic instrumentation into their program. Daniel Peloquin-Hopfner, Alex Campbell, and Jordan were all multi-instrumentalists. The peace-keeper in the group was a newcomer on fiddle Alan Owen, whose harmonies and solos on violin were beautiful. He is experienced and talented, playing fiddle with Del Barber, who received critical acclaim at the 2010 Winnipeg Folk Festival.

Red Moon Road writes most of their material, but their covers were great as well. Ending with a couple of fun and enjoyable renditions of songs from The Band showed how much fun this band could have with each other and with us. They are on mySpace – RedMoonRoad. Listen to The Frost and The Sailor Song, both of which they sang last night. Good stuff!

If you haven’t seen them yet, go and see them as quickly as you can.