Festival promoters do a great job luring music fans to their events during the summer season with a list of must-see headliners, but truth be told, some of the most memorable moments you can encounter often occur during some singer-songwriter workshops on the smaller stages. Bringing a selection of artists together can be once-in-a-lifetime opportunities to witness, and being mostly unscripted and ad-hoc, can lead to some unbelievable collaborations when the chemistry is just oh-so-good.
One such workshop that we had circled as unmissable this summer took place on a sunny Saturday afternoon at the Peterborough Folk Festival on the Solar Generation stage. Bringing together emerging singer-songwriters Sister Ray (moniker of Alberta-born, and Toronto-based artist Ella Coyes) and Bells Larsen (Toronto-born, and now Montreal-based) generated an interesting combo. But, and kudos to the artistic team, pairing both with established popular roots-Americana rocker Jeremie Albino was a stroke of genius. And as those in attendance would quickly learn, the fact that all three artists happened to be good friends meant that the chemistry would be unmatchable.
Having only a brief 45-minute workshop with which to work, once given the green light to commence, Jeremie quickly greeted the audience. “We’re gonna share some songs with you this afternoon, so get cozy, find a tree to sit under, and Ella’s gonna start the set,” he stated. “Jeremie, I love that you took the role as host, that’s really good. We didn’t discuss it at all,” Ella responded. “I’m so glad that you took it over immediately. That’s such a relief. I thought, ‘oh, thank goodness we have someone who is willing to take charge here’.” Making this a Bluebird Cafe in-the-round style, each artist would share three songs as their turns rolled around, with Sister Ray asked to add one final number with time expiring (the three artists confessing that no pre-planning meant they had no collective song to share).
In just a few short years, Sister Ray has very quickly dominated the SXM radio airwaves with tunes from their debut “Communion” album. Finding a copy on vinyl at my local record store in MD last summer, and once more with Ella’s latest album “Believer” – we discovered an artist who rapidly climbed our ‘must-see-in-concert’ tracker. Leading this workshop at Jeremie’s request, Ella would take time to share a little about those friends on stage: “Before we start, I do want to say that Bells and Jeremie are my friends in real life and so it is very sweet to be here right now beside my friends whose songs I really love, so this is fun for me also.”
Commencing with some recognizable slow and somber guitar riffs from an electric guitar, Sister Ray drew from their debut album to share “Power.” A few moments later, and prior to performing their second choice, Ella once again addressed their friends on stage. “It’s funny sitting beside your guys because I know the words to all your songs. It also makes it harder to decide. I feel like when I’m with people that I don’t know, I can live in my own universe, but I like what’s happening here.” Selecting a more recent cut, Ella shared “Animal Thing,” then singlehandedly started a trend with their third choice by performing a cover (Bells and Jeremie would follow suit with their respective turns). “I’m gonna play a song I didn’t write, but I always wanted to play this at folk festivals,” Ella explained. “This is a John Denver song called ‘Around and Around.’ And I guess in a way, it’s kinda what we’re talking about, that things just come back.”
Seated between both artists, Bells Larsen would naturally take the second spot, and not indifferent to how we discovered Sister Ray, earned our initial attention with some solid radio hits over the last 24 months. Finding success with his 2022 debut album, “Good Grief,” Larsen was elevated into the spotlight when his most recent “Blurring Lines” album earned a Polaris Prize nomination this year. “I’m gonna echo what Ella said,” Bells offered prior to his first performance. “It’s such a pleasure to share a stage with my buds and it’s really nice to be asked what music I’m listening to, and I just tell people about my friends’ records, and I’m genuinely a fan of these two people.” Dipping immediately into his debut album material, Bells would share an acoustic version of “Teenage Love.”
With his second selection, Bells shared a little insight about the inspiration behind his latest album. “The album is called ‘Blurring Time’ and my intention with that project was to do essentially that. I recorded it over the span of three years. I’m a trans guy and my voice has changed through testosterone and to capture my transition I decided to record my voice while it was still high, and then wait a couple of years and record when it got low, and essentially harmonize with myself and that has been a fun process, a bit of a confusing process,” Bells explained. “I feel like I’m still learning the ropes with regards to how to use my new voice, and even listening to Ella now, I want to jump in and sing, but I’m totally relearning my instrument so it takes a lot of recalibration, which is fun and cool, but also really nerve wracking.” Bells would share “Might” from this album, before opting to cover a popular Justin Bieber (ft. Ludacris) tune with his final spot.
When we look at just how Jeremie Albino’s career has flourished since first discovering him during his Dakota Tavern residency back in 2018, it is amazing to behold how he continues to go from strength to strength. With so much natural talent, charisma, and energy, here is an artist that was destined for international success – and with still so much more to give that has yet to be fully realized. “This is honestly so nice. This is fun, just hearing my friends sing songs,” Jeremie offered when his first on-stage moment came around. “I put a record out this past November called ‘Our Time in the Sun’ that I’m really proud of. When I was going into the studio to make this record, the producer asked me what I wanted on this album. I didn’t really know what I wanted. I wanted some soul songs. I wanted some country stuff. I wanted a bit of everything. But there’s this one song by this really amazing soul singer [named] Irma Thomas, down in New Orleans, called ‘Wish someone would care,’ and I was like I want to write a song like that, and so I did.” Jeremie would share the title track from this 2024 release.
With his second choice, Jeremie acknowledged enjoying the surroundings of the wooded area around the stage, mentioning having a little love song about moving out to the cabin in the woods. Inviting his bandmates Ian Bain and Tally Ferraro to accompany him, the trio offered up some amazing three-part vocal harmonies during “The Cabin.” As for his choice of a cover tune, Jeremie opted to go with a song well known amongst his fans. “I sometimes play this song with my buddy Benjamin Dakota Rogers, but this is a song by a guy named Dean Johnson out of Seattle, Washington,” he stated. “He’s just an amazing songwriter and when this record came out, this is the one I listened to for a week straight. Nonstop, the same song, over and over again. It’s a song about dreaming, about being a cowboy and being off in the open skies and the wild.”
With time winding down, and only a few minutes left, the trio unanimously decided that Ella should wrap up the event with one final number. “You can cap it off Ella,” Jeremie stated. “AC/DC,” Bells added. “Oh yeah, Ella’s got the AC/DC, you’ve got a sick AC/DC,” Jeremie continued. “Oh, I’ve been trying to desert that one for a while, but it keeps coming back around,” Ella joked. “Okay, so this is an AC/DC song that I started singing a very long time ago. It’s my favorite song to sing, and I keep on saying I’m going to stop and I say this is going to be the last show I’m ever going to sing it at. So, this is my last show that I’m ever going to sing this song at, okay? I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again.” And prior to the performance of “Up to My Neck in You,” a song found on AC/DC’s 1978 “Powerage” album, Jeremie would reach for his cell phone, stating, “I need to get a video of this for my wife, because she loves this song” (he would post a brief clip later to his social media feed).
Set List:
- Power – Sister Ray
- Teenage Love – Bells Larsen
- Our Time in the Sun – Jeremie Albino
- Animal Thing – Sister Ray
- Might – Bells Larsen
- The Cabin – Jeremie Albino
- Around and Around – Sister Ray (John Denver cover)
- Baby – Bells Larsen (Justin Bieber ft. Ludacris cover)
- Faraway Skies – Jeremie Albino (Dean Johnson cover)
- Up To My Neck in You – Sister Ray (AC/DC cover)
The British guy that crossed the ocean and crash landed in central Pennsylvania (to quote Greg Keelor, “And I wonder what am I doing here?”). As the youngest of four siblings, exposure to music from a very early age nurtured my passion and appreciation for many musical genres. Continuing to discover some amazingly diverse and talented musicians based in Canada, I gravitate to live music experiences and remain devoted to spreading the word about such a vibrant music scene.
