The Gertrudes

The Gertrudes are a Canadian indie folk band from Kingston, Ontario, founded in 2008. From 2009-2012 they found significant placement on campus music charts, toured Canada coast to coast, and reached number 1 on the CBC R3-30 charts. From 2013 to 2020, they released and performed very occasionally, in connection with community issues.[1] In 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, a new phase of writing and recording began which has resulted in a new album, Emergency To Emergency, for release in November 2021.[2]

The Gertrudes
The Gertrudes at the Vancouver Folk Music Festival in 2010
The Gertrudes at the Vancouver Folk Music Festival in 2010
Background information
OriginKingston, Ontario
GenresIndie folk
Years active2008 (2008)–2021 (2021)
LabelsApple Crisp Records, Wolfe Island Records
MembersGreg Tilson, Annie Clifford, Jason Erb, Matt Rogalsky, Josh Lyon, Pete Bowers, Jason Mercer, Paul Clifford
Websitethegertrudes.com

History

The Gertrudes were formed in Kingston, Ontario in 2008.[3] The band's name was a reference to a founding member's grandmother, who the family believes to be reincarnated in his sister of the same name.[4] Musicians performing with the band varied from one show to the next, but core members included Greg Tilson (guitar, vocals), Annie Clifford (banjo, vocals), Lucas Huang (ukulele, percussion), Jason Erb (piano), Matt Rogalsky (guitar, mandolin), Josh Lyon (trumpet, piano, accordion), Pete Bowers (percussion), Chris Trimmer (theremin), and Pim van Geffen (trombone), with Amanda Balsys (violin, vocals) joining in time for their first full-length release, Dawn Time Riot in 2010. PS I Love You were guest musicians on one track of Dawn Time Riot.[5] Exclaim! called the album "a meticulously crafted spectrum of modern folk sound".[6]

Their single All the Dollar Bills Sing Hallelujah debuted at the top of the CBC Radio 3 R3-30 chart in the summer of 2013.[7] They also placed multiple albums on the !earshot campus and community music charts.[8][9] In 2012 they played during the finale of the Vancouver Folk Music Festival alongside the Tao Rodriguez-Seeger Band.[3]

After their early years of regularly performing and recording, the band occasionally reassembled between 2013 and 2020 to contribute to community and activist projects, including providing the score for a 2014 documentary about the closure of prison farms across Canada,[10] releasing a song critical of first Prime Minister John A. Macdonald's racist and expansionist policies in counterpoint to celebrations on his 200th birthday in 2015,[11] and in 2016 releasing a song and music video to protest a plan to extend a road through Douglas Fluhrer Park in Kingston.[3]

During the global pandemic beginning in 2020, The Gertrudes began a new intensive phase of songwriting and recording, towards an album to be released in Fall 2021.[2] Keeping with COVID restrictions, recording sessions were held in band members' gardens and homes, and continued as possible given changing restrictions on gatherings. Sessions were engineered by Dylan Lodge,[12] Jason Mercer,[13] and Matt Rogalsky,[14] with Rogalsky and Mercer each mixing half the album's songs and co-producing the album with The Gertrudes. Several of the band members and many of the backing vocalists also recorded their own parts at home and sent them in for mixing.

As of September 2021, several singles have been released, including "The Other Side", "Parham"[15] and "New Carolina". The full album will be released on November 26 on Wolfe Island Records.[16] To coincide with the new album, The Gertrudes have digitally re-released their Hard Water EP and three earlier albums on all streaming services.

Discography

Singles and EPs
  • This Be Our EP (self-released, 2008) EP
  • Hard Water (Apple Crisp Records, 2009) EP
  • Emergency to Emergency (2020) Single
  • The Other Side (2020) Single
  • Parham (2021) Single
  • New Carolina (2021) Single

Studio Albums
  • Dawn Time Riot (Apple Crisp Records, 2010)
  • Till the Morning Shows Her Face to Me (Apple Crisp Records, 2011)
  • Neighbourhood (Apple Crisp Records, 2013)
  • Emergency To Emergency (Wolfe Island Records, 2021)
  • Just to Please You (Wolfe Island Records, 2023)

See also

References
  1. Vyhnak, Carola (2015-01-05). "Sir John A. Macdonald's birthday drives wedge through Kingston". The Toronto Star. ISSN 0319-0781. Retrieved 2021-09-29.
  2. "The Gertrudes new album "Emergency to Emergency" out November 26, 2021". Kingston Live. 2021-09-15. Retrieved 2021-09-29.
  3. Kennedy, Patrick (September 29, 2015). "Silence speaks volumes". The Kingston Whig-Standard. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
  4. "Metro Minute with The Gertrudes at the Folk Festival". metro. July 16, 2010. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
  5. Kirkpatrick, Harvey (June 10, 2010). "Six Questions for The Gertrudes". kingstonist. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
  6. Tam, Whitney (October 18, 2010). "The Gertrudes - Dawn Time Riot". Exclaim!. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
  7. Williams, Rachelle (September 6, 2013). "New Album, More Charm, Can't Lose". kingstonist. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
  8. "!earshot charts - december 2011 - top 200". !earshot. December 2011. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
  9. "!earshot charts - october 2013 - top 200". !earshot. October 2013. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
  10. MacAlpine, Ian (June 17, 2014). "Prison farm issue spawns film". The Kingston Whig-Standard. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
  11. Vyhnak, Carola (January 5, 2015). "Sir John A. Macdonald's birthday drives wedge through Kingston". The Star. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
  12. Lodge, Dylan (September 29, 2021). "LinkedIn page for sound engineer Dylan Lodge". LinkedIn.com. Retrieved September 29, 2021.
  13. "JASON MERCER". JASON MERCER. Retrieved 2021-09-29.
  14. "Matt Rogalsky". Dan School of Drama & Music. 2020-04-10. Retrieved 2021-09-29.
  15. "Gertrudes Remember Parham Tragedy with Video and Charity Single". FYIMusicNews. 2021-06-10. Retrieved 2021-09-29.
  16. "The Gertrudes". Wolfe Island Records. Retrieved 2021-09-29.
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