Louise Campbell – Sources | Redshift Records

Music inspired by the St. Lawrence Seaway

Louise Campbell, composer-performer
Clarinet & electronics

Sources is a cycle of works inspired by the St. Lawrence Seaway, from the origin of some of its waters in Georgian Bay to the Magdalen Islands, a string of islands situated in Gulf of the Seaway. The areas around these bodies of water are places where human life and livelihood is defined by waterways, weather and climate change. Drawing on these experiences, this album, its companion outdoor installation and cultural mediation kit and workshop are meant to encourage and deepen its listeners’ reflection on their own sense of place and connection with waterways.

TRACKS
1. Songbird
2. Swirl
3. Playing Guitar Gear
4. People of the Sea

Sources is available from:

Louise Campbell, producer
All tracks mastered by George Doxas, Boutique de son
All album art by Louise Campbell
Graphic design by Sarah Beth Goncarova

This album was generously funded by the Canada Council for the Arts and the Kajner family.

For more information on the outdoor installation and related cultural mediation activities ‘Taking It Outside: Music & Art Inspired By Nature’, contact Louise at mlouisecampbell@gmail.com.

PROGRAM NOTES

Songbird (2017)

This piece draws inspiration from my first long-distance bike trip along the coast of Georgian Bay. As anyone who has spent any time sleeping in a tent knows, nature is anything but peaceful and quiet; it is frequently very noisy, especially at daybreak when the birds start to sing. I spent that trip listening to birds, biking between beaches, and learning with alarm about water politics in relation to the Great Lakes. I use the half-clarinet and electronics to tap into the cacophonous, alarming and sublime sounds I encountered on that trip.

Carolina Rodriguez, head sound engineer
David Adamcyk, assistant sound engineer
Recorded at Banff Centre

Swirl (2023)
Dedicated to my father, Stewart Campbell

Swirl is a work that was inspired by a time in my life when I unexpectedly spent a lot of time living beside a major waterway, and feeling, oddly for me, somewhat without direction. This work explores the smallest gatherings of water at the edges of a river, and the discovery that, even without a rudder, the eddies and backwaters of a river eventually give direction to the smallest of objects that it carries.

This work was in my thoughts for a very long time, and is informed by multiple short trips to the bird sanctuaries of the St. Lawrence Parks Commission, the frozen lake shore off the West Island of Montreal during a residency at St. Thomas High School funded by Culture in Schools, and the unexpected time I spent on the Bow River over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic during the last years of my father’s life.

Étienne Legast, sound engineer
Recorded by Audiotopie

Playing Guitar Gear (2019)

This piece delves into the comings and goings of people, wildlife and goods in my hometown of Montreal. A day on the river emphasizes the extent to which Montreal is an island on the St. Lawrence Seaway, with the calls of gulls mixed with the sounds of sea freighters, construction, city traffic and people recreating. Playing Guitar Gear seeks to capture the excitement of this port city – and how fun it is as a clarinet player to play many notes at once.

George Doxas, sound engineer
Recorded at Boutique de son

People of the Sea (2019)
Dedicated to the people of Grosse Île and Old Harry, past, present and future

People of the Sea is inspired by the people, land and sea of the Magdalen Islands. Drawing on Robbie Burns’ Fair Jenny as source material, People of the Sea opens a space to reflect on love, loss and seeking comfort. The original version of this work is in installation at St-Peter’s-by-the-Sea Church exhibit A People of the Sea which pays homage to those lost at sea off the Magdalen Islands. This work was created in residency in Grosse Île, Magdalen Islands in March 2019 with funding from ArtistsInspire and Culture in Schools.

For more information on the outdoor installation and related cultural mediation activities ‘Taking It Outside: Music & Art Inspired By Nature’, contact Louise at mlouisecampbell@gmail.com.