“All I need is all of me, no matter where I roam / I believe that honestly I’ll never be alone / Happiness, more or less, is where I make my home / Where I make my home.”
Unexpected collaborations between two predominantly solo musicians are often a beautiful thing for fans of one or both artists, yet while most pairings are a logical choice (based on music style, for instance), sometimes a completely unforeseen surprise can be thrown our way.
Take, for example, this latest collaboration between folk singer Tennyson King and alt-country artist Lindi Ortega – never in our wildest dreams did we have this one on our new music bingo card – but here we are, and it’s both beautiful and thought provoking. When two artists from diverse backgrounds or genres come together like this, it usually takes a little digging to find a theme or reasoning that connect them – and knowing the music and career of both Tennyson and Lindi, the common denominator is obvious – both lead nomadic lifestyles.
Naturally, upon learning of this partnership, my curiosity was quickly piqued as to how the Hong Kong-born (and BC-based) breezy-folk artist crossed paths with an almost reclusive Calgary, AB-based musician. The answer, according to King, is due to their respective lives out on the road. “We met a few years ago in a little Canadian mountain town, show-shoeing, hiking, and parkouring,” Tennyson recalls. “She’s become one of my closest friends, my BFF and one my favourite people.”
“Where I Make My Home” was inspired by their mutual experiences of life on the road – traveling from city to city, venue to venue, arriving and leaving in the dark, and the loneliness of a nomadic lifestyle and battling of homesickness amidst the constant unknown. For both King and Ortega, the song highlights a recognition that home can be found within oneself, the people we love, the strangers we meet, and in magical places we never knew we would find. Ultimately, the message here is one of finding comfort in the realization that happiness can be created wherever we choose to make and call our home.
Photo Credit: Lindi Ortega / Artist Website(s)
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.
