Annie Lou
Parksville, British Columbia, Canada | SELF
Music
Press
Another great release from Hearth Music, Annie Lou- Grandma's Rules For Drinkin' is an ole' timey floor board tappin' excursion to Appalachia by way of the Yukon. Excellent fiddlin' and strummin' and Annie's time warp vocalizations combined with great storytelling bring the past and present together in this outstanding album. - No Depression.com
Annie Lou
Grandma’s Rules For Drinking (Independent)
There’s an intoxicating quality to this sophomore release by this acclaimed ensemble, hot on the heels of their Juno-nominated debut in 2010. It makes you feel warm and fuzzy, and transports you back to simpler times, at the barn dance, sipping from a flask and twirling around the dance floor with your beloved.
All this old-time merriment flows from the wonderful songs written by Anne Louise Genest. She’s an old-time prodigy, already at top form. Then there is the exemplary playing by Genest (lead vocals, guitar, banjo), Kim Barlow, an accomplished solo artist in her own right (vocals, banjo), John Showman (fiddle), Max Heineman (upright bass), Frank Evans (banjo), Kristin Cavoukian (vocals), and Andrew Collins (mandolin, guitar).
Each song is sung and played with skill, humour and gusto with fine talent and craftsmanship throughout, just what you’d expect from a genre rooted in traditional values.
The occasional burst of irreverence and saucy lyrics bespeak modern sensibilities; though they would never pass muster 60 years ago they are tame by 21st century standards.
– By Doug Swanson
- Penguin Eggs
“The music that Annie Lou plays is resonant, vital, and often fun because it is rooted in the everyday. (Their) self-titled debut is a vibrant and vital recording graced with exceptional songwriting.” – Pat Langston, Penguin Eggs
“When making music in the old time tradition, it is a real challenge to write new tunes that feel in step with the older repertoire. Anne Louise and Kim’s original songs stand tall and proud beside the old-timers and the playing and singing is first rate.” - Chris Coole, Foggy Hogtown Boys
“I was struck by how fresh and unique Annie Lou’s music is while still being firmly rooted in the oldtime tradition. While this band comes from Canada's great north, you will be instantly transported to the hollers of Appalachia. This is one good and sweet, honest and true album… Great singing, great playing and most of all great writing.” - Andrew Collins, Creaking Tree String Quartet
- Mixed
Discography
2012 - Grandma's Rules for Drinking
2009 - Annie Lou (self-titled)
Photos
Bio
Annie Lou’s heart-moving, homegrown tunes are ringing out across the North American roots music stage, gathering audiences coast to coast and garnering Juno, WCMA, and Galaxie Rising Star nominations.
Annie Lou is built around the original songwriting of Anne Louise Genest, who spent twenty years living in the Yukon woods. Now relocated to the balmier shores of Vancouver Island, Genest carries the spirit of an old storyteller inside her, and this voice, mixed with the stringband sounds of fiddle, banjo, guitar, mandolin and upright bass, traces a journey through days gone by to the here and now.
Genest founded Annie Lou after finding herself drawn to old time mountain and traditional country music. “This music has a profound edge to it – there in the voices and in the playing is the lament we all carry as people trying to get by in this beautiful, terrible world.”, she says. “Joy and grief are two sides of the same coin. The older music expresses that tension so perfectly.”
Genest’s first outing as Annie Lou brought 2010 Juno and WCMA nominations, and her much anticipated sophomore release “Grandma’s Rules for Drinking” delivers the same great energy, with an added elegant touch and subtle maturity. Produced by multiple Juno-nominee Andrew Collins (Creaking Tree String Quartet), the album features some of Canada’s finest acoustic musicians, including John Showman (New Country Rehab), Kim Barlow, and Max Heineman (Foggy Hogtown Boys).
Beautifully crafted songs range from rousing and boisterous to gentle and poignant, and map a homescape of hard-drinking grandmas, rural dancehalls, blue collar fashions, and the deep snows and silences of a Canadian winter.
This is original string band music, rooted in tradition, and a vibrant celebration of our culture and our times that moves the heart as well as the feet.
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