Tower of Song: A Creative Tribute to Leonard Cohen, featuring Oliver Swain and Glenna Garramone, Centennial Theatre, Friday, April 10 at 8 p.m. For more information and to order tickets visit centennialtheatre.com.
Glenna Garramone’s relationship with the world of music is an extensive one. From doing solo performances to singing in an indie/pop/rock choir, the Victoria-based singer has tasted many melodic flavours over the span of her career.
However one constant that’s remained with the young musician since childhood is the music of Leonard Cohen, something that led her to create a Cohen tribute group, Tower of Song, which plays in North Vancouver next week.
Working with fellow B.C. musician and Juno Award nominee, Oliver Swain, the duo launched their first show in Vancouver in 2011. For Garramone, who began singing in church choir at age five, the music of Cohen has long been part of her life, something she first recalls hearing when she was a young child stuck in the back seat during family road trips.
“He’s probably one of the first kind of songwriters I was aware of,” explains Garramone in her laid back tone. “I have memories of going on long car trips and being in the back seat and listening to his music. It appealed to me as a child, just kind of the rhythmic and melodic aspects of it.”
As Garramone grew older and her interests in music began to progress, she says she began to interpret the rich tapestry of feelings and experiences woven into the Cohen’s work, further solidifying her love for the artist.
“I love how complex his work can be in that he can really contain so many different emotions and experiences in one song . . . I just think he’s a person of incredible depth and intelligence.”
Garramone had been weighing the idea of forming a tribute group to the Canadian-born artist for years and when it came time to look for a bandmate, fellow B.C. musician Oliver Swain, whom she had worked with in the past, seemed the perfect candidate.
“I met Oliver Swain several years ago when I was living in Victoria and he was kind of the first person that came to mind because I heard him do a version of “A Thousand Kisses Deep” that I really loved.”
What initially started as a tribute event with Swain in 2011 soon began gaining momentum. She said performing with Swain again reignited their musical chemistry and within a couple years and many performances, talks had begun between the two on producing an album together.
“Every time we would play together people would come to the CD table and say, ‘Oh I want a CD with both your voices on it,’ and I’d always have to say ‘Oh, it doesn’t exist yet.’”
Following the offer of an interest-free loan by an inspired fan, the group’s first album, In City and In Forest, came out in spring 2014.
Both Garramone and Swain prefer to keep the group as a duo, using guest artists when needed. Not only does it make it easier to coordinate tours she says, but also allows the pair’s musical chemistry to shine though on stage.
“Initially we tried a few different incarnations of the group and I guess the feedback that we got was that our musical connection, our chemistry and our vocal connection was probably one of the most compelling aspects of the show.”
Garramone says she enjoys working with guest artists and listening to their takes on one of her most beloved artists.
For the upcoming show, the group will be playing with violinist and Vancouver Island native Trent Freeman, who in recent years has been working with a string quartet called The Freetless.
Garramone explains that Tower is not a cover band, but rather a “creative tribute band.” She says the quality of Cohen’s material allows her group a lot of flexibility when it comes to adding their own flavour to each piece.
“I think that as well as being a fun challenge for us as musicians it also is a testament to the strength of the songs and how well constructed they are,” she explains.“On some level it’s about getting his material to a different group of people that wouldn’t normally think to listen to him.”
Tower of Song performs at North Vancouver’s Centennial Theatre April 10 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $29.50 for adults and $25 for students.
