Pawnshop Diamond’s distinct Canadiana folk-pop is the backdrop for songs of love, family and all things optimistically morbid.
"The great thing about Pawnshop Diamond is the band would fit in nicely in a fancy jazz club, back porch, folk stage, or mainstream indie club." - Knox Road
Pawnshop Diamond songwriter Katie Ormiston had always hung around with musicians but she didn't expect to wind up on stage herself.
A romantic trip to Europe gone awry left Ormiston looking to her music collection for answers. She found some in the songs of Neil Young, JJ Cale and Lucinda Williams but went on to find the ones she needed in the words and melodies of her own (working things out in a song, as John Prine would say). A close friend, Nina Fleming, flew to Europe where, singing harmonies and sipping cabernet from white plastic cups on the Mediterranean, the first Pawnshop Diamond songs were born.
Six years later, Pawnshop Diamond has developed beyond its humble beginnings into a bittersweet band with coy, heartfelt lyrics and catchy melodies.
A taste of our albums and show reviews:
"This Vancouver, BC five-piece is a great example, incorporating the time-tested tools of solid songwriting with decidedly modern musicianship, sharp lyricism, and angles of production that leave the songs sounding both vintage and timeless." - CD Baby 5 Star Feature Review
"This is classy adult rock in a deftly played and efficient 10-song package, lying somewhere on the blurry border between alt-folk and country. But vocalist-guitarist Katie Ormiston's Neko Case-ish voice is a little too bright and cheerful for either, and same goes for her songwriting. Like everything else on Leaning to the Sun, it gets under your skin before you have a chance to notice" - Georgia Straight
The song "Cabernet Sauvignon" won Music BC's Songbird West contest in 2008 and is presently on rotation on CBC Radio 2 Drive. Also, "Dig Your Own Grave" from Pawnshop Diamond's debut album was selected for CBC Radio 3's Song of the Day in April 2007 when Lana Gay introduced the song by saying "I found while listening to Dig Your Own Grave that the song reads out like character descriptions in a play... the descriptions of these people are unbelievable.”
Paramount to the future of Pawnshop Diamond is their live show. On stage, this five-piece delivers Canadiana in all its goodness. With stage chemistry that can only come from great friends playing music together, Pawnshop Diamond lights up the stage with beautiful harmonies and playful fun. Clayton Brander, the artistic director of Powell River’s Sunshine Music Festival says “Pawnshop Diamond’s on-stage presence and enthusiasm infected the entire audience. The story-telling nature of the lyrics sucked the crowd in and the music took them on quite a ride.” Tom Lucier of Windsor’s Phog Lounge, the winner of CBC Radio 3's 2009 Searchlight Contest for Best Live Music Venue in Canada describes Pawnshop Diamond's show as "an experience so extremely rich, that their indelible impact is what leads to heavy followings on their second, third and subsequent visits”.
They have graced the stage with such artists as Sarah Harmer and Corb Lund and have performed on a diverse array of festival stages including New Music West, Big Time Out, Starbelly Jam, Sunshine Music Festival, In The House Festival, Rock For Insite, Fearless Festival and more.