RAINE HAMILTON, the chamber-folk artist from Winnipeg, Manitoba, grew up in musical family and learned her chops early; in fact, her parents met in a rock band in the 1970s – music runs that deep for her.
Her particular brand of folk pushes the boundaries of the trad form, borrowing from the counterpoint principles of Renaissance classical music, and also bringing the modern singer-songwriter aesthetic to the form – both of which she does with gorgeous results.
With two albums already under her belt, 2015’s Past Your Past and 2018’s Night Sky, she’s launched her third, a concept album if you will, with the string-warmed, bluegrassy loveliness of “Brave Land”; you can watch Raine’s trio perform it in the studio on our embed below.
“It’s about the beauty of being alive and the courage that can take,” she says of the new song, which is also the title track of her new album: a concept album, as we’ve said, about courage, connection and wisdom, inspired by the mountainous landscape she’s encountered while touring.
“At first, I was confused when mountain dwellers would give directions like, ‘Go up the mountain and turn left.’ Up? We don’t have directions like that on the prairie. It is not a thing. But up really intrigued me.
“If the prairie was teaching me to be still, the mountains were teaching me to move. Mountains are a landscape that connects two different worlds. They are land, reaching up into the realm of the sky.
“Wow. That is brave, I thought. This brave land connecting the earthbound into spirit.”
For this forthcoming album she’s back alongside trusted fellow travellers Quintin Bart on double bass and Natanielle Felicitas on cello.
Raine will also play a special sneak-peek livestream show at 6pm Pacific Time today, February 5th, (that’s 2am on the 5th, GMT) to feature the new album in full along with past faves. Tickets can be purchased here.
Follow Raine at her website and on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
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