>>PREVIEW
ANDREA REVEL
Ironwood Bar and Grill
Thursday, November 24
When singer-songwriter and all around free-spirit Andrea Revel left Calgary a few years ago to finish her sophomore album, Citysong, her plan was to be gone for just a few months.
Following a stream of friends to La Belle Province, including musical collaborator and Citysong producer Michael McCann of Behavior Music, Revel’s intent was to simply wrap up the production of the album that started in the Inglewood apartment McCann and she previously shared.
Instead, she has put down her electronica-infused folk roots in Montreal, immersing herself in the artistic community there – a community that includes more than a few former Calgarians.
Upon arriving in Montreal, Revel’s first roommate was Fubar director and ex-Cowtown resident Mike Dowse, who at the time was working on the critically acclaimed film It’s All Gone Pete Tong. He was a big supporter of the Citysong project, both through moral support and production space.
"When Dowse went to do It's All Gone Pete Tong, we moved the (recording) studio to his bedroom," laughs Revel. "Eventually Mike McCann opened Behavior Music in the same studio Pete Tong was working out of, and I finished the album there. So we’ve been all over the place, from Inglewood to Montreal."
When asked if Citysong, a Morcheeba-esque fusion of voice, guitar and dreamy electronics, would have turned out the same if she hadn’t moved to Montreal, Revel is quick to answer.
"I actually don’t think it would have been the same album had I stayed in Calgary, because only four songs were finished before I left," she explains. "Everything else came out once I was there. All the things I was experiencing in leaving Calgary came out in the music. I think some of the songs are pretty sad, and that was sort of me dealing with the change of leaving my hometown."
Montreal has also paid off for Revel not only through increased opportunities for performance, but film and TV work as well. Her music has appeared on television series Zoe Busiek: Wild Card and ReGenesis, as well as the French-Canadian film Amnésie – L'Énigme James Brighton and a couple of Lifetime Network programs.
The increasing buzz around Revel’s musical boundary-pushing has reverberated as far as Portugal, where Citysong has been re-released, in advance of a tour of that country next year.
It is clear that Revel is benefiting from her new surroundings, while also keeping Calgary close to her heart. She likely couldn’t escape the influence of her former home even if she wanted to, due to the strong network of Calgary expatriates she’s a part of in Montreal. Her current roommate is Brigitte Dajczer, who occasionally still plays with Calgary’s Rembetika Hipsters, and Revel plans to perform in early 2006 with Kris Demeanor, who is currently spending time in Quebec. Demeanor and Revel comprised two-thirds of the impromptu Rogue Folk collaboration, performing in Calgary several years ago. The other member of the group is local songwriter Chantal Vitalis, with whom Revel will share the stage at an upcoming Ironwood show.
In hindsight, Revel observes her move to Montreal had a lot to do with simply having access to performance opportunities she didn’t have in western Canada.
"I do find Montreal inspiring, but I find Calgary inspiring as well," she says. "I just think it’s easier to work in the east if you live in the east. I find it easier to come back to Calgary to play than I think it would be to play in the east if I was still living in Calgary."
And she can, after all, still come home to visit. |
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