Jenn Grant and Great Lake Swimmers Presented by Market Hall PAC
Friday, October 21 • 8 PM
Jenn Grant:
Love, Inevitable is a marker for a period of change in Grant’s life; of moving through one moment and leaving it behind, almost carefree, for another. “It came from this strange time in my life where I was sort of taking a leap of faith in several ways,” Grant says. “Taking all of these emotional risks and writing from a place of just trying to keep moving— I guess, too, in life—without being shut down by fear.”
Grant would be going through a massive period of personal change during the time after her last record, Paradise, specifically because of her pregnancy. It was many years of personal struggle, amidst touring and making records before she could create the family she had always wanted.
Love, Inevitable is and isn’t about motherhood. A direct conversation of motherhood is omitted and instead we’re left with an impression of this process; Grant’s energy imprinted on the tracks are tender, free, and, eventually, full. Songs like “Favourite Daughter” and “Magic and Mistakes” were particularly important to her because they sort of appeared and she caught them, harnessing a special power rooted in what was growing in her. “Some of the guitar songs I wrote in this little window of a few days where I felt this kind of energy around me. I didn’t know I was pregnant yet and those were when those songs were written. Those songs are special to me.”
What makes Love, Inevitable compelling is its ease, despite the struggle and personal heartache that went into the writing of these songs. The record’s title comes from a moment when she heard Martine’s wife, Laura Veirs, singing the Daniel Johnston song, “True Love Will Find You in the End.” She found symmetry here, remembering how her husband used to sing her that song as well. Grant let the lyrics and sentiment roll around within her when Moore brought up how good of an album title it would be. The song reminds Grant of her own trek back to both herself and to finding her own family.
Great Lake Swimmers:
Featuring a blend of acoustic instruments, rural soundscapes, and wistful vocals, Great Lake Swimmers are a critically acclaimed indie-folk group led by songwriter/vocalist Tony Dekker with a revolving backing band. Based in Toronto, Ontario, the group emerged with a succession of heavily atmospheric albums recorded in old silos and rural country churches. The music has developed that pastoral warmth over subsequent albums through a continued vision to record and perform in acoustically unique and historical locales. They are renowned for their homespun folk and lush, intimate Americana in their live shows.
Great Lake Swimmers celebrated their 15th anniversary in 2018 with the release of “The Waves, The Wake,” which displayed both their pop-oriented side as well as a new direction utilizing instruments like marimba, harp, lute, and woodwinds and adopted a more orchestral and improvisational approach to modern folk music. They have been shortlisted for the prestigious Polaris Music Prize and nominated twice for Canada’s Juno Awards, with the CBC calling them “a national treasure.”
Jenn Grant:
Love, Inevitable is a marker for a period of change in Grant’s life; of moving through one moment and leaving it behind, almost carefree, for another. “It came from this strange time in my life where I was sort of taking a leap of faith in several ways,” Grant says. “Taking all of these emotional risks and writing from a place of just trying to keep moving— I guess, too, in life—without being shut down by fear.”
Grant would be going through a massive period of personal change during the time after her last record, Paradise, specifically because of her pregnancy. It was many years of personal struggle, amidst touring and making records before she could create the family she had always wanted.
Love, Inevitable is and isn’t about motherhood. A direct conversation of motherhood is omitted and instead we’re left with an impression of this process; Grant’s energy imprinted on the tracks are tender, free, and, eventually, full. Songs like “Favourite Daughter” and “Magic and Mistakes” were particularly important to her because they sort of appeared and she caught them, harnessing a special power rooted in what was growing in her. “Some of the guitar songs I wrote in this little window of a few days where I felt this kind of energy around me. I didn’t know I was pregnant yet and those were when those songs were written. Those songs are special to me.”
What makes Love, Inevitable compelling is its ease, despite the struggle and personal heartache that went into the writing of these songs. The record’s title comes from a moment when she heard Martine’s wife, Laura Veirs, singing the Daniel Johnston song, “True Love Will Find You in the End.” She found symmetry here, remembering how her husband used to sing her that song as well. Grant let the lyrics and sentiment roll around within her when Moore brought up how good of an album title it would be. The song reminds Grant of her own trek back to both herself and to finding her own family.
Great Lake Swimmers:
Featuring a blend of acoustic instruments, rural soundscapes, and wistful vocals, Great Lake Swimmers are a critically acclaimed indie-folk group led by songwriter/vocalist Tony Dekker with a revolving backing band. Based in Toronto, Ontario, the group emerged with a succession of heavily atmospheric albums recorded in old silos and rural country churches. The music has developed that pastoral warmth over subsequent albums through a continued vision to record and perform in acoustically unique and historical locales. They are renowned for their homespun folk and lush, intimate Americana in their live shows.
Great Lake Swimmers celebrated their 15th anniversary in 2018 with the release of “The Waves, The Wake,” which displayed both their pop-oriented side as well as a new direction utilizing instruments like marimba, harp, lute, and woodwinds and adopted a more orchestral and improvisational approach to modern folk music. They have been shortlisted for the prestigious Polaris Music Prize and nominated twice for Canada’s Juno Awards, with the CBC calling them “a national treasure.”