Photo: Matt Williams
Julie Doiron
with special guests Modeville and Mukazi
Tickets $20 advance + service fees.
No one turned away. Pay-what-you-can options available (email hello@debaser.ca to arrange PWYC ticket)
Licensed / all ages
Thank you to Ontario Creates for their generous support.
Poster by @amerypress
About the artists
Photo: Matt Williams
Julie Doiron
Julie Doiron is back with I Thought Of You, her first solo record since 2012’s So Many Days. Every bit an instant classic as only she can masterfully create, Julie Doiron emanates a radiative force with nothing more than her guitar and her unmistakably indomitable voice. Julie Doiron is a maker of songs and a teller of stories, wielding her instruments like a craftsperson would their tools.
In her time away from the solo spotlight she has remained entwined with music, albeit in consortions with others; releasing a critically acclaimed record with members of Cancer Bats and Eamon McGrath under the name Julie and The Wrong Guys, reworking some of her previous work in Spanish for Spanish label Acuarela and returning to her otherworldly collaboration with Mount Eerie for Lost Wisdom pt 2, to name but a few. These are additions to Julie’s long and storied history of collaboration, working with luminaries like Gord Downie, Herman Dune, a split record with Okkervil River, and the unforgettable and iconic Eric’s Trip, the first Canadian band ever signed to legendary American record label Sub Pop.
Ever the bountiful songwriter, Julie had been writing songs in the 9 years since her last solo record, keeping them close and waiting for it to feel right to head back into a studio. When the time came, she enlisted close and trusted friends to collaborate in the process: the uber-prolific and multi-talented Daniel Romano, superstar drummer Ian Romano, and Quebecois songwriter Dany Placard on bass. Together the quartet retreated to a cabin in the woods to record Julie’s first solo offering in 9 years. The resulting album, I Thought Of You, is every bit a return, as Julie Doiron finds her way back with new songs to enthrall our hearts, while simultaneously finding her way back to herself. We live for these moments, when our dearest friends find their way back to the places they love, and we once again hear their voices rise back into our lives.
It’s Julie’s voice that rises to meet us from the get-go. Album opener You Gave Me The Key welcomes us in, a quintessential Julie Doiron song where she announces with a joyful resignation here I am, starting over again. Title track I Thought Of You is a rolling twang-tinged Doiron jam, an instant classic. As we move towards the tail end of the record we share in Darkness To Light a soulful ballad ruminating on moving our way out of dark days and into lighter shades. On Back To The Water Julie sings over gently plucked strings I’ve been here before as she has, and so have we, and we are once again here together.
I Thought Of You is a return of the breath and fire of Julie Doiron and we are lucky to find ourselves back in the embrace of her tender and powerful forces.
Modeville
Modeville is a classically trained experimental multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter and composer. They explore and define in their own way the genres of stellar folk, dream folk and psychedelic in French and English poetry. Modeville also pushes the limits of indie, shoegaze, atmospheric ambient-electronic and sometimes grunge. Featuring the viola and the autoharp, their first EP ''Confortable'' is vocal harmony focused, has an indie-folk sound and strong classical influences. In this EP, Modeville discovers themselves through their childhood traumas and warm memories. Their second EP called ''Quartz rose'' is an electronic and ambient experimentation and is about the beauty and hidden facets of the mundane. It is where the artist's genre was first described as ''ambient stellar folk''. Mostly through-composed, this EP features samples of field recordings (the sound of rubbing water on a piece of rose quartz, steps on a defrosting trail, birds) and features a self-produced quartet and choir. Modeville is currently writing a third album where they delve into a heavier sound. This album represents the artist's growth through the experience of solitude, the beauty that lies in pain and healing. Modeville's work communicates vulnerability, youth, complex emotions, the sublime, and is full of humanity.
Mukazi
For a long time, it was Mukazi and her guitar in their own little world… but after receiving such an enthusiastic welcome from the Ottawa music scene at local events like Queer Connection, she’s never been as ready to finally let others in! Now, everyone is welcome to Mukazi’s universe, and if you enjoy acoustic, indie tunes centred around heartfelt story-telling, you might even want to stay a while.