Edmonton/ Kingston singer songwriter Colleen Brown is excited to share the fruits of a new collaboration with Scenic Route To Alaska, Elijah Abrams and Jesse Northey, when she brings Major Love, to the Slice with the Utilities, Feb. 16.
“Jesse won’t be playing the Lethbridge show. He and Elijah Abrams alternate when one can’t make a show,” said Brown from her home of Edmonton, looking at a foot of snow outside her window.
“I even wrote a song about the drive from Edmonton to Lethbridge, it can be quite a harrowing,” she observed. She hasn’t played Lethbridge since 2015, so she is excited to show off the new band for a handful of Alberta shows next week.
“Scenic Route From Alaska and I were both touring Europe at the same time and ended up playing together at a place called the Bedroom Bar in Shoreditch and we decided to work together,” she said, adding they decided to make a record together back home in Jesse Northey’s True North studio in Edmonton.
“I’ve known Jesse for a long time, for at least six years when he was still promoting shows in Lethbridge,” she said, adding she first started working with him on a solo song called “Swallowed Whole and wanted to work with him again on the new project.
“It was magical,” she said.
“But that collaboration with Scenic Route to Alaska was a confluence of a lot of different elements,” she said.
Major Love will be releasing several singles before releasing their full length debut album on Aug. 18, 2018.
The first single,“Tear it Down,” features a time delay video of a house being torn down, shot by Brent Nurse several years ago which reflects the theme of the song about having to tear something old down to build something new and better.
“Most of the songs are about renewal,” she said.
“Zane Whitfield tore down that house in Kingston and built a really nice studio there. He put a lot of work into it,” she said of the video. Kenneth Meehan, who often plays with Daniel Romano mixed the song.
She has been splitting time living in Kingston and back home in Edmonton.
She decided to name the band Major Love to reflect the collaborative process between the band members and the feel of the music.
“I don’t want to be known as a singer songwriter. I wanted a more open creative process. Before I’d bring the songs in and tell everyone what I wanted. This time I gave up control and let the songs percolate and let everyone add whatever they were feeling. My main driver is about putting out good vibes into the world,” she said.
Touring Major Love could be challenging with Scenic Route to Alaska touring with their own music and Jesse Northey busy in Edmonton.
“But I have a lot of options. Eli and I can tour as a duo. I can tour on my own and I’ve always wanted to do a Joni Mitchell project as I often get compared to her. There are a lot of options. But we’re just going to go with the flow,” she said, adding when the album comes out in August, Major Love will do a bigger tour.
She is also part of alternative rock band the Secretaries.
“We haven’t played together in a year. For that band, we really need to plan because we need to spend a lot of time together. I would love to play with them again,” she said.
Major Love and the Utilities play the Slice, Feb. 16 at 9 p.m. Tickets are $10 in advance, $15 at the door.
— By Richard Amery L.A. Beat Editor
