One of the joys of attending a music festival is discovering that gem of a band or performing artist of whom you were previously unaware, and who then become part of your ongoing musical adventure. I took in a great deal of interesting and creative work at the Halifax Pop Explosion but there were only two bands that would fit the definition of significant new discoveries. (I could add Jeremy Dutcher to this short list, but I knew about him ahead of time). One of those two bands is Georgian Bay; I’ll blog about the other later.

Georgian Bay is a female singer/songwriter duo, one of whom hails from Georgian Bay, specifically Penetanguishene, one of the thoroughly French speaking areas of Ontario. (Welland and North Bay come to mind as two others). With the other member from Quebec, the duo performs in English and French, and like other Canadian place name bands (like ‘Wilderness of Manitoba’) reference the wilderness in their music.

The video clip below builds slowly from the start, adding violin and wonderfully blended two part alto singing, with a vocal sound somewhat reminiscent of the Roches, to my ear. Georgian Bay’s music is more ambitious though, with the band’s recent release requiring two CDs. I can’t wait to break the shrink wrap and listen to this when I return home.

Here is a video of the song ‘Toronto’ performed at the Carleton in Halifax.