Join Calgary's supernatural songwriter and harpist Hermitess and art-folk singer-songwriter Benjamin Longman at the legendary King Eddy for National Music Centre's CIBC Summer Series on August 29.
About Hermitess:
Hermitess is the project of songwriter and visual artist Jennifer Crighton. Cinematic in scope, her projects are often informed by her background in curatorial work bringing together collections of collaborators, stories and set pieces to accompany the musical work. Sonically, layered orchestral textures, choral voices, and pedal driven magic conjuring a fever dream.
Delicate harp lines loop and tangle into an intricate latticework of rhythm and melody, while unfamiliar sounds and unplaceable textures enrich the arrangements. Over this sonic foundation, Crighton sings in the voice of a familiar, the words part story, part incantation. The lyrics question and caution the listener, walking a line between nightmare and dream.
About Benjamin Longman:
Benjamin Longman is a singer, songwriter, and musician, born and raised in London. They make thoughtful and melancholy Art-Folk, for patient humans and animals alike.
Since adopting Calgary as home in 2015, Benjamin has cemented their reputation as a key part of the Alberta music community. Establishing a distinctive brand of lo-fi art folk with 2015’s ‘The Ghost Months Vol 1’, they have expanded their subsequent solo releases to incorporate elements of art pop, ambient, jazz, indie rock, DIY, and even touches of their childhood classical training at times.
Through this evolution the core of the music remains the same: irresistible melodies, thoughtful lyrics, and lush harmonic textures coming together into a package that is equal parts contemplative, layered, at times melancholy, and always enjoyable.
Outside their own work, Benjamin has made a name as a versatile in-demand collaborator, and has shared studios with such artists as Jann Arden, Heather May, and Tessa Rose Jackson, as well as performing live with Astral Swans, Reuben and The Dark, Celeigh Cardinal, and many more.