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Audio Book with Charles Spearin and Tamara Williamson 2018

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Both Charles Spearin and Tamara Williamson have had active and influential musical careers in Canada since the 90s, profoundly shaping the landscape of Toronto’s music scene. Each will be sharing new works, ideas, and music in an intimate live performance.

Blending instrumental music and spoken word into a moving, experimental, and thoughtful style, 

Charles Spearin’s work discovers and plays with the musicality of everyday life. His artistic approach borrows from his Buddhist practice to find beauty and resonance in the commonplace. For Audio Book, audiences will also hear Spearin play the nickelharpa, a traditional Swedish string instrument that combines the fiddle and the hurdy-gurdy. His stunning performance and unique approach will make the hairs on your arms stand on end. Spearin is a multi-instrumentalist is primarily known as a founding member of the instrumental post-rock ensemble Do Make Say Think and an original member of the indie-rock collective Broken Social Scene. His most recent work – and first solo album – innocently titled “The Happiness Project” centers around recorded conversations with his downtown neighbours and plays with the cadence of their voices as though they were songs.

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Tamara Williamson’s gentle yet commanding vocal style moves with unexpected grace, often covering subject matter that is personal, evocative, and humorous all at once. Williamson’s performance will include readings from one of her books, infused with live dramatic songs played by her band Mrs. Torrance that showcase her incredible talent for storytelling and musical performance.

Martin Tielli (of Rheostatics) describes Williamson as: “Someone who can take a room and transpose it onto another plane, a voice without restrictions.”

Well known for being a member of the band Mrs. Torrance before embarking on a solo career in 2000, Williamson has been featured on Much Music and The New Music Show, voted fourth best concert of the year in 2003 (ahead of Greenday and behind Bjork), fronted the trip hop band Microbunny (which won the CBC new search in 2002), signed to a French label and played shows across Europe and North America. She is currently a member of the ukulele project CROW with Patty Ewaschuk, Chris Waller and Jason Woodhams. 

For Audio Book Williamson will be joined by the other members the band Mrs. Torrance, who will be playing together again with new material. Also joining will be Sarah Fazackerley, a multi instrumented blues/rock singer based out of the GTA. 

Join us for a night of surprises. 

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