Folk duo Abby-Jade is getting ready for its first tour and will be making a stop in Clearwater as part of the Home Routes concert series.
Abby-Jade, comprised of Manitoba musicians Kaiti Rieder, on the banjo, and Alanna Hunter on the cello, put a twist on traditional music with elements of newer, jazzier chord progressions while singing about modern topics, such as Indigenous issues.
“Alanna is really passionate about new music, mainly in the classical sense; she’s just started her Master’s Degree in new music cello, and she’s blending that into the folk sound, which adds a really cool element,” said Rieder.
“Then my background influences are mostly traditional fiddle and traditional banjo music and a lot of Metis musical influences as well.”
Rieder added her personal thought process in terms of music also has a heavy classical influence, having studied hard on chord progressions and the history of chords and music, then transferring them to folk music.
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Both Rieder and Hunter study at the Brandon University School of Music where they struck up a quick friendship and formed Abby-Jade.
Regarding the live performances, Hunter said, “We try to be interactive. We like getting to know the people in the audience and having them participate. Kaiti tells a lot of stories about the songs she’s written.”
The pair are also working on a debut album and said once this tour finishes up they plan to develop a collection of songs to share with fans.
They already have about five songs recorded and demoed for the project, but right now they’re more focused on the upcoming performances.
“We’re excited about this tour — it’s a big, new exciting thing. It’s going to be such a lovely experience to go out and share our music, which we worked really hard on and it’s really meaningful to us because the music we put together is directly related to our experiences and they have a lot of important messages too,” said Rieder.
“It’s really important to share these kinds of messages with anyone who’ll listen.”
Those who want to listen to the music and messages of Abby-Jade can catch them at the Dutch Lake Community Centre on Nov. 10 beginning at 7 p.m.
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