Georgian Bay: Roi

By Kerry Doole

Georgian Bay - "Roi" (Independent): This Toronto-based bilingual alt-folk duo comprises Kelly Lefaive and Joelle Westman. They recently won Stingray's Rising Star Award for the track "Roi" off their spring release, Courage Vol. 1: Soleil.

A video directed by Jill Lefaive has just been completed, and it is a fitting accompaniment for a rousing song of empowerment. The two voices harmonise sweetly atop a clapping rhythm, and even if you can't follow the French lyrics completely, the optimistic mood of the tune shines through.

Multi-instrumentalists and singer/songwriters Lefaive and Westman hit it off while studying music at the University of Toronto and found that they not only shared a taste in music and love of nature but also the experience of having one foot in each official language. Georgian Bay is the happy outcome of that discovery.

A second and companion album, Courage Vol. 2: Moon, has been completed and will be released on Oct. 26. A press bio terms it "a wintry, nocturnal counterpart to Soleil.  But if Soleil was marked by resilience and determination to affect change, Moon is a multi-faceted investigation of how to accept the things you can't change. The whole record is imbued with an ominous note of chaos that threatens to undo the harmony sustained by the pure, open voices."  Musical reference points cited include Joni Mitchell, The Weather Station, and Bon Iver.

Georgian Bay has an album launch concert at Hugh's Room Live in Toronto on Oct. 28, followed by a showcase at Halifax Pop Explosion! on Nov. 15 and a Home Routes tour of Manitoba, Nov. 15-28.

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Publicity: Johan Hultqvist, Pinwheel Music