Edmonton based songwriter Celeigh Cardinal makes a long awaited return to Lethbridge to play the Owl Acoustic lounge, Aug. 4.
A lot has happened for the indigenous artist since she decided to focus on music full time. She has toured a lot, won several awards including a “REVEAL Indigenous Arts Award, an ATB Listens award and has participated in the (re)Claim Program at the Banff Centre.
She will be joined by her trio, guitarist Ben Tassell and violinist/ percussionist/ cajon player Matt Harrison
“ I’ve been touring a lot with the trio,” she said from a hotel room in Prince George.
“I’ve been playing with Ben for three and a half years. He’s in my band and Matt joined three or four months ago, so he’s the newb,” she chuckled, noting she met them through the weekly open stages she hosts in Edmonton.
“ Matt is really super adaptable and he has a really great ear for harmonies,” Cardinal said, noting that is a great asset as her music incorporates an array of influences including folk, blues, reggae and anything else she thinks will work.
“It is a pretty different collection of styles,” she said.
“There’s nine songs on the album. There’s a lot of different styles. It’s my first full band album. So there’s keyboards and organ on it,” she said.
“I get pretty uptight in the studio , so I set up an isolation booth in my bedroom to record the vocals and they came out sounding easygoing and relaxed,” she said.
She is taking her trio to Sweden in August.
“We’re playing a showcase there. There will be 800 people. 200 of them are musicians and the rest are industry people. I also booked some shows in Copenhagen and Denmark. It will be my first time there. The furthest I‘ve been overseas is Scotland,” she said noting she is excited to bring her trio to Copenhagen.
First she has a quick southern Alberta tour including stops in Twin Butte and Black Diamond as well as Lethbridge.
The show begins at 9 p.m. Admission is by donation.
