Gisun, Teigen Gayse, Kyle Gryphon, Nelson Sobral, Kristin Sweetland
Gordy the Moose opened up the Roots Music Canada virtual mailbox after a month off due to COVID-19, and he couldn’t believe how much great music poured out. This is his third of three columns featuring the most interesting submissions from the latest round.
Gisun – Fin (Release date: March 25, 2020)
If you’re a fan of artists like Sade and Norah Jones, you’ll love this new EP from Gisun, an artist of Uruguayan and South Korean heritage who sings in English and Spanish (at least, I think it’s Spanish) and whose minimalist music is inspired by jazz and soul. She released her debut EP, Suspiras, in 2017 and followed it up with Partes the following year. Since then, she’s been performing at venues in Spain, Toronto and Vancouver. Her sound is absolutely captivating and charming, and I can’t wait to hear more.
Teigen Gayse – Teigen Gayse (Release date: April 17, 2020)
Teigen Gayse isn’t breaking the country music mold here or anything, but the debut full-length album from this 20-something artist from Chetwynd, BC – now based in Kelowna – had me smiling much of the time. That’s because much of it is just so darned uplifting. Take for instance the love song “Just You,” which sounds like it’s about choosing to stay in a mostly-happy relationship with a drinker – or “Don’t Look Back,” the kind of pep talk we all need from time to time to keep us from wallowing in the past. The arrangements feature a full band, but they never overpower Teigen’s sweet, girlish voice, which is a big part of what makes this album so appealing.
Kyle Gryphon – Isolation (Release date: April 10, 2020)
Kyle Gryphon is a musician and construction worker living on the southern shore of the Avalon Peninsula in Newfoundland. He has been playing traditional music for over 25 years, first picking up the accordion at the age of four. Later, he started playing banjo, harmonica, drums and other instruments. He currently performs solo and with the bands Dark Era and Dark Island. Kyle has built up a repertoire of original music over the past 15 years, so he had lots to choose from for this debut full-length album. If this song, “Cold Island Stare,” is any indication, it will have been worth waiting for.
Nelson Sobral – “Yours and Mine” (Release date: May 1, 2020)
Nelson is the guitarist and co-writer for the rock band the Celebration Army and the bassist in Mattie Leon’s band. But his own music draws from blues, RnB and country rock. This single has such a great groove that I seriously can’t get enough of it. Have a listen, and then check out Nelson live on Facebook and Instagram every Friday at 3 p.m. ET.
Kristin Sweetland – Trilogies Part 2 (Release date: May 1, 2020)
As previously reported here on Roots Music Canada, Kristin chose to release her music in a somewhat less conventional form than your typical single or album format. This is the second of three trilogies that she originally planned to release over a single year starting at the end of 2018. This particular series of three instrumental pieces – Trilogies is an instrumental series – is clearly Celtic in theme – a sweet, airy, mostly uplifting, but occasionally misty and melancholy, collection market by gauzy accordion, sprightly flute, guitar, fiddle and a few haunting vocalizations.
