Collaborations
Annie Lou
When Yukon songwriters Kim Barlow and Anne Louise Genest discovered a shared joy in the string band sounds and story songs of Southern old time music, they joined their considerable musical forces to form Annie Lou. The fine skills of Lindy Jones on upright bass and vocals and Meredith Bates on fiddle, round out the Annie Lou roster.
"Great singing, great playing and most of all great writing. While Annie Lou comes from Canada's great north, you will be instantly transported to the hollers of Appalachia. This is one good and sweet, honest and true old time album.” ANDREW COLLINS, Creaking Tree String Quartet
"It can be a challenge to write new music that feels like it's somehow in step with the older repertoire. Anne Louise and Kim have done a fine job of stepping up to that challenge. The original songs on this disc stand tall and proud beside the old-timers and the playing and singing is first rate." CHRIS COOLE, Foggy Hogtown Boys, and old time banjo player extraordinaire
“Annie Lou were the sparkling surprise of the 2007 Kluane Mountain Bluegrass festival. These northern women play some of the most soulful oldtimey sounding music there is, with brilliant instrumentation and wonderful vocals.” BOB HAYES, Kluane Mountain Bluegrass Festival
Old time music is based in a variety of instrumental, vocal, and songwriting and traditions. Annie Lou is faithful to these, with stringband instrumentation, rich vocal harmonies, and original songwriting that is fresh and new, yet firmly rooted in the old. In performance the band gathers around one microphone in the traditional acoustic setting of old time music.
Visit the Annie Lou website and Annie Lou on myspace.
Spring Breakup
“There are no weak songs here... many leave the world slightly altered when they’re done. Kom, who also leads the Burning Hell, dispenses his pearls (“the world is my oyster, but I’m allergic to shellfish”) in a drooping deep baritone, while Barlow’s lightly rusted soprano seems just right for songs about what happens after you’re pushed beyond your limit and your dead horse is still dead. Buy this record.” (It's Not You, It's Me)
— Robert Everett-Green, The Globe and Mail
Spring Breakup is the unlikely marriage of Yukon singer-songwriter Kim Barlow and Mathias Kom of The Burning Hell. This banjo and ukulele duo write tiny, happy songs about the inevitable end of love.
Spring Breakup: a) the term for river ice breaking apart in the northern spring thaw; b) the term Yukoners give to the phenomenon of the end of all the Yukon winter romances... as the dark days turn lighter, folks sometimes realize that their winter mating choices are best left in the dark.
Spring Breakup is a brand new band with very old hearts.
Visit Spring Breakup on myspace.