Quick Before it Melts

Thursday 10 September 2009

The Mountains & The Trees

When it comes to choosing what to kick back and relax to, I’ve certainly been in a singer-songwriterly mood lately.  Jon Janes of St. John’s, Newfoundland couldn’t get anymore singer-songwriterly, being the sole member/instrumentalist/vocalist behind The Mountains & The Trees.  Janes plays guitar, banjo, ukulele, harmonica, bells, suitcase, whistles, hums, and sings.  He probably does the dishes and the windows, too.  If he keeps house anything like he makes music, then I’m certain he lives in a pristine and exquisitely arranged abode.  Janes/The Mountains & The Trees is often backed-up by the Valleys & Seas Orchestra featuring a collective of friends with a variety of instruments, fleshing out alt-country, folk-pop orchestrations.  Just one listen to the delicate flourishes throughout “Up & Down” and the controlled, contemplative way the song blossoms to life from the same simple, repeated refrain is enough to hook you into Janes’ expansive musical universe.

The Mountains & The Trees traveled to Toronto this past June for North By Northeast, and Janes–accompained by Jill Freeman on guitar, bells, and vocals and Paddy Byrne on bass–is bringing the band west again to revisit the city for the Canadian Music Café at the Hard Rock Café on Yonge Street as part of this year’s Toronto International Film Festival.  The band will be joined by the likes of Hawksley Workman, Amy Millan, Ruby Jean & The Thoughtful Bees, The Duhks, and Arkells.  It’s an excellent opportunity for our homegrown talent to get the showcase treatment for music supervisors, executives, producers, directors and media from around the world.  I could certainly imagine “Up & Down” as part of the hip soundtrack to some arty, independent dramedy set in Buffalo mid winter, starring Seymour Philip Hoffman and Laura Linney.  No not that one, another one.

The Mountains & The Trees will have an EP available mid-September; Hop, Skip & a Jump will be in better record shops and online in the next few weeks.  It’ll be in your head for a long time to come, though, on that I’d bet my bottom dollar.

MP3: The Mountains & The Trees “Up & Down”
Myspace: The Mountains & The Trees
Twitter: The Mountains & The Trees

by J. Di Gioia | 4 Comments »

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