A Nanaimo-based musician will journey through modern mythology in her debut studio album.
Singer-songwriter Laura Kelsey intertwines ‘earthy magic’ and musical storytelling in Hunting Season, which releases at the end of the month.
The album examines the concept of cycles and energy, the singer-songwriter said, an idea that first budded while working on a previous musical project approximately eight years ago.
“When I was putting together the rock musical, I decided that I was going to make a big change in life,” Kelsey said. “I didn’t like where I was at, and so I just started writing everyday – just a poem or a song or something… I did that for six months, every single day, and I found the places that it took me were magical. It really opened up different doors at the time and I was able to change my life.”
Many of the songs on Hunting Season were cultivated during that time, and even the additional bonus tracks – some directly from the rock musical – deal with similar themes.
The singer-songwriter explains the core concept encircling the cycles of life and seasons, reaching from her mythological idea about an underground pool of energy that resides beneath a countless number of glowing strings, where each string is connected to the energy of a living thing on Earth, be it plant, animal or human. In Kelsey’s lore, when a life ends, a string snaps and its energy returns to the pool so it can be recreated as a new life.
Respect and admiration for the natural world also had its hand in the singer-songwriter’s work, as she’s inspired by the “little fleeting moments” all around.
“It’s comforting and a good reminder to treat everything well, including trees and nature… With every clip of a bird wing – it’s just amazing that these things happen around us. And so much is lost… Now that we’re in this digital world, and with the pandemic too, we’ve really hunkered down rather than look outward into nature and remember that it’s there and it’s a healing force,” she said.
Kelsey said she was excited, and a little anxious, about her first studio project, and noted that without collaborated efforts from friends and experts in the field, her album would be nowhere near where it’s at today.
The album’s songs were recorded last July, however Kelsey said she still plans to release another music video in the near future. The title track, also called Hunting Season, is available on streaming platforms such as Spotify, along with Beyond the Tide and Your Stormy Ways.
Even though Hunting Season is Kelsey’s debut album, she’s lived in Nanaimo for nearly seven years and left her mark on the music scene. The singer-songwriter has performed alongside local and national talents, including opening for Matthew Good last October; created New Home, New Music that shares the stories of immigrated musicians; the staging of her rock musical Modern Banshee as part of Yellow Point Drama Group’s one-act play festival; and an earlier EP of home recordings that reflected on her life while living in a remote cabin.
An album release party will be held at the Globe Live Studio, 25 Front St., on Saturday, April 29, at 7 p.m. Joining Kelsey on stage will be fellow band mates of Cosmopolitik, Cal Webb on lead guitar, Steve Barraclough on drums and Nyck Machura on bass. The Honest Frauds featuring Morgan Greer and Cal Webb will also take the stage. Victoria’s Pauline Edwards, who was also involved in Modern Banshee, will also be at the release.
Tickets can be purchased at www.showpass.com.
READ MORE: Nanaimo singer-songwriter shares stories of musicians who immigrated to Canada
mandy.moraes@nanaimobulletin.com
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