biographical info
Living north of the tree-line in Iqaluit, Nunavut, it is no wonder
that Canadian folk singer Ellen Hamilton uses imagery of the North as metaphor
for the heart’s landscape. Ellen has gone deep into her muse—asking that rivers
be remembered, glaciers be returned, life to go on.
Joined by musical friends from across the country, Ellen and
her partner, co-producer and multi-instrumentalist Chris Coleman have
orchestrated sumptuous and mature settings for lyrics that speak of places
“slipping away” and hearts wandering in the cold. Slide guitar player Steve
Dawson offers mystery on To the North and Moon Stay Down. Multiple Juno-winner,
David Francey, sings duet on When the Night Was Young, a song about music’s
power to carry on beyond loss.
Harmonica-god Mike Stevens, breathes passion and whimsy as does Irish
uellian-piper Stefan Hannigan. Hope too is here, where change is as simple as
One Heart Singing - and yet always the poignancy, the beautiful sadness.
For over 15 years, Ellen was lead singer of the Canadian
folk band Night Sun, winning critical praise for her songwriting and her
passionate voice. Billboard magazine called her songs, “ageless music” and Sing
Out raved, “Ellen’s voice is mesmerizing and infectious”. Ellen began work on
her first solo album in a farmhouse in the woods north of Kingston, Ontario where
the song Glori spoke in praise of the planet. Partway through the process of
building the album, Ellen and Chris moved to a little yellow house overlooking
Frobisher Bay in Canada’s most northern city. This is the album -- written and
produced by a Canadian songwriter with two feet firmly planted in snow, heart
in hand, face to the wind.