Corbin Murdoch & the Nautical Miles

Artist Information

Biography

Corbin Murdoch- guitar, vocals
Tim Tweedale- slide guitars
Lucas Schuller- drums
Simon Rotheisler- bass

The Nautical Miles are set to release their most ambitious project to date. Wartime Lovesong, the band’s third release, is a song-cycle of generational proportions. It will be released on Jericho Beach Music (home of Tanya Tagaaq, Kim Barlow, and Geoff Berner) in June 2009.

In their five years together as a band, The Nautical Miles have always sought to create emotionally complex folk music and to have that complexity appropriately reflected in their arrangements. With Wartime Loveong, the band has come as close as they ever have to achieving that goal.

"The new album is a collection of songs I wrote over the course of the last two years," explains Murdoch. "The songs all speak to the intergenerationality of our notions of love, family, war and revolution. The whole thing is a reflection about how our lives and relationships are shaped by political circumstance. I suppose you could call it a political record, but its emotional core is highly personal. Boiled down, it's about my relationship with my grandmother and my sister."

A departure from their usual subject matter, the songs are sonically more ambitious as well. Nautical Miles' drummer Lucas Schuller spent months arranging the album for a brass quintet. A rising star on Vancouver's composition scene, Schuller has recently had pieces read by The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Chor Leoni and Elektra Women's Chorus.

The Nautical Miles enlisted the help of Malcolm Aiken (trumpet), Mark D'Angelo (trumpet), Francois Levesque (trombone), Nick Anderson (french horn), and Alexandre Gagnier (bass trombone) to bring Schuller's arrangements to life. The record also features guest vocal appearances from Debra-Jean Creelman (of Mother Mother), Jess Hill, Melisa Devost, and Lyndsay Poaps.

The band could not be more pleased with the results and are excited to take their new songs on the road. The band will be touring throughout 2009 and 2010. Select dates will be performed as a nine piece band, their brass section in tow.


Some history...


Corbin Murdoch began writing songs for the band while studying in Toronto in 2003 and dreaming of the greener pastures of his native Vancouver. The Nautical Miles were recruited during his visits home. During one such visit engineer/producer extraordinaire Jesse Gander (The Buttless Chaps, Pride Tiger, The Pack A.D.) recorded their debut EP 'you and your landscapes,' which they released independently in May 2004.

Their first full-length record, 'Tell me again how this place got its name' is an expansive thirteen song opus. Teaming up once more with Jesse Gander at the Hive Studios, the band recorded the album over ten days in the summer of 2005. A collection of richly textured songs that tell stories steeped in the natural and emotional histories of the Pacific-Northwest, Tell me again… features 15 musicians, including Romanian fiddle virtuoso and Golden Globe winner Lache Cercel, and vocalist Debra-Jean Creelman of the acclaimed Vancouver band Mother Mother.

Tell me again…was released to wide acclaim, many critics remarking on the quality of the writing– “This is writing that comes from the pen of someone who knows his craft” –and the lush, intricate arrangements– “Music that rolls like the prairie hills, rises like the rocky coastline and swells like the ocean waves”. The album was named one of the top ten albums of 2007 by Eden Monroe, music editor at Edmonton’s VUE Weekly.

Since its release, the band has toured across the country, showcased at Canadian Country Music Week and The Western Canadian Music Awards, and Corbin has toured solo in the UK, Sweden, Denmark and Poland, a tour which including a stop at the legendary Isle of Wight Festival.

Now, The Nautical Miles are gearing up for the release of Wartime Lovesong (Jericho Beach Music, 2009).

Instrumentation

Corbin Murdoch: vocals, guitar
Tim Tweedale: dobros, pedal-steel, trumpet
Simon Rotheisler: electric bass
Lucas Schuller: drums, percussion

Discography

You and Your Landscapes (2004)
Tell me again how this place got its name (2006)
Wartime Lovesong (2009)

Black Crow Project (compilation) (2006)
www.myspace.com/blackcrowproject

Audio

• Dessous Les Pavees, La Plage
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• Crow o'clock
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• Hallowe'en in Churchill
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• Old friend
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Lyrics

• Crow o'clock
• Hallowe'en in Churchill
• Old friend

Video

Photo Gallery

Press

• Review: Wartime Lovesong [+ Show ]
  

  Tracing a multigenerational arc from a deeply personal starting point, Wartime Lovesong is an ambit...Tracing a multigenerational arc from a deeply personal starting point, Wartime Lovesong is an ambitious effort both thematically and sonically. Singer and lyricist Corbin Murdoch starts the title track by singing, “My grandmother/Never talks of love/Without first mentioning the war/The great fable that she built her life upon.”
  
  Those lines neatly sum up what I take to be the theme of the record: the search for something meaningful to believe in, some defining narrative upon which to base one’s own story. The figures who populate these songs (specifically, Murdoch, his grandmother, and his sister) look for truth in the aimless travels of privileged youth, revolutionary slogans and anthems, and acts of service to God and country and one’s fellow humans. Murdoch is smart enough not to tell us whether they find what they’re seeking.
  
  The Nautical Miles’ sound is based in folk and country, but the arrangements here are enlivened by a horn section and the ingenious use of rhythms that shift to underline the lyrical motifs. “Wandering Time” is particularly impressive, as it starts out as churning, steel-guitar-driven alt-twang before morphing into a brassy march. It’s brilliant, and its epic sweep mirrors that of the album as a whole.

• Article: Wartime Lovesong [+ Show ]
  

  You’ve never heard worlds collide so gently. Wartime Lovesong, the new album from Corbin Murdoch and...You’ve never heard worlds collide so gently. Wartime Lovesong, the new album from Corbin Murdoch and the Nautical Miles, opens with the sound of a brass quintet—two trumpets, two trombones, and a French horn—outlining a stately, mournful melody. It’s a grave, autumnal sound, evocative of Remembrance Day ceremonies and funeral marches, and so it’s a considerable surprise when, 30 seconds in, Murdoch begins singing.
  
  It’s not so much that his dark prairie baritone, with its hints of Johnny Cash and Ian Tyson, breaks the mood. It’s more that, from the first few lines of the disc’s title track, he’s giving notice that we’re in for something different, a new kind of folk music that is at once plainspoken and sophisticated, deeply sentimental and yet somehow also pointedly analytical. The disc is only 32 minutes long, but it covers an array of big topics, and they’re well-served by Murdoch’s decision to augment his roots-rock quartet’s spare basics with the East Van Brass Quintet’s horns.
  
  “A loose theme of the record is different generational notions of war and protest and love and family, all these things, and how these things sort of change and adapt over different generations,” the singer-guitarist explains over an intermittent cellphone line from downtown Vancouver. “And so we decided that sound, that sort of Canadian Brass sound, was reminiscent of our grandparents’ generation, or the wartime. There’s something militaristic about it—it can get really bombastic—but on some of the softer tunes it’s a really beautiful sound as well.”
  
  Drummer Lucas Schuller did the arrangements, Tim Tweedale contributes elegant steel-guitar lines, and Simon Rotheisler handles bass duties. However sympathetic their accompaniment, this is really Murdoch’s record, split as it is between his two preoccupations: love and politics.
  
  The first is easy to explain: Murdoch wrote Wartime Lovesong when he was suffering from a badly broken heart. But it’s the singer’s political convictions that bring an urgent sense of engagement to his songs, whether in the deeply mournful title track or the profane, punk-inflected “Something New for America”.
  
  “I was doing a degree at York University in environmental studies, and studying environmental songwriting, especially the way that protest music and environmental music emerged over the course of a number of decades,” he reports. “And so I was thinking about what a contemporary protest song would sound like. There’s been a lack of things to grab on to, for my generation, so I was searching for that. And when I wrote ‘Wartime Lovesong’, it made me think about things on a more personal level.”
  
  Rather than revert to Almanac Singers–style agitprop, Murdoch opted to link the quest for love to the quest for social justice; he might be looking for “a revolution with a happy ending”, but he’s also looking for someone to share that revolution with. At the same time, he’s trying to understand how the Second World War shaped his grandparents, and how the ’60s did the same for his parents—or, to put it another way, how one generation stood up against tyranny while the next bowed down to the corporate agenda.
  
  As of yet, Murdoch doesn’t have any answers—but answers, he says, are not necessarily the point. He suggests that the most honest and effective path for the contemporary protest singer is to address the fact that the world is complex, and that its problems are not going to be fixed by slogans.
  
  “And I think that comes back to the generational aspect,” he adds. “My generation is sort of looking at the situation and going, ‘Okay, well, our parents tried and failed, and we’re still facing all the same problems. How do we proceed?’ And because the realities are getting more complex and more global, it’s hard. It’s hard work to try and figure out where we stand, and what things define our generation.”
  
  Still, as the ambitious Wartime Lovesong indicates, hard work is not anything that Murdoch’s afraid of. His generation’s job, he opines, is to make the world more democratic, more equitable, and more environmentally aware, and artists can help effect that change through the kind of honest self-examination that’s a big part of his own new disc.
  
  It’s all about changing our culture—and culture, he asserts, is made by artists who are trying to “represent what is going on and what people are feeling”.
  
  “That, to me, is the most important thing,” he continues. “And even if this record’s centre is a feeling of confusion or ambiguity, I think it’s important to talk about that. So it’s not so much a call to action as just a document of how I was feeling at the time—and how many of us feel. But maybe the next record will be full of hope. Who knows?”

• Review: Tell me again how this place got its name [+ Show ]
  

  “Ain’t No Shame,” the opening track on Tell Me Again How this Place Got its Name, begins with angeli...“Ain’t No Shame,” the opening track on Tell Me Again How this Place Got its Name, begins with angelic arpeggios picked out on an acoustic guitar while Corbin Murdoch’s deep voice, rich with character and located somewhere between Johnny Cash and Lou Reed, sings a relaxed melody. Murdoch is soon joined by a chorus of voices, turning the tune into a musical round, subtly introducing an album of elegiac beauty.
  
  It’s a fitting intro: the album is draped in the excitement of discovery, revealing shifting tones throughout. Murdoch’s songs provide a strong foundation, while the interplay between musicians gets the blood flowing. “Escapes” is indicative of the band’s workings, Murdoch’s low vocal harmonizing with Debra-Jean Creelman’s lovely voice, giving way to an inspired instrumental section that sees a slow burning slide solo emerging from the rhythm.
  
  
  Murdoch and his band have created an album with many levels to it and they blend their parts together so seamlessly that it’s difficult to spot the point where one idea ends and another begins.

• Review: You and Your Landscapes [+ Show ]
  

  His voice like that of a young Ian Tyson, Murdoch is a fine writer. 'Marcos' Encounter With a Grizzl...His voice like that of a young Ian Tyson, Murdoch is a fine writer. 'Marcos' Encounter With a Grizzly Bear' is probably the only roots tune to ponder the existential underpinnings of meeting wildlife. The band slays.
  **** (four stars)

• Presenter Review [+ Show ]
  

  Corbin Murdoch and the Nautical Miles are an awesome live band. I was blown away by their unique mus...Corbin Murdoch and the Nautical Miles are an awesome live band. I was blown away by their unique musical style and synergy as a band. Corbin's fine baritone vocals, along with his great songwriting add to the mix to create a memorable folk/roots/alt-country experience.

• Presenter Review [+ Show ]
  

  What made Corbin Murdoch and the Nautical Miles' eclectic roots performance so memorable was the har...What made Corbin Murdoch and the Nautical Miles' eclectic roots performance so memorable was the harmonious ease of their musical style... most captivating.

• Article: How many Nautical Miles Between Toronto and Vancouver? Umm, five [+ Show ]
  

  Canada is an immense country with plenty of open spaces and a longstanding tradition of artists usin...Canada is an immense country with plenty of open spaces and a longstanding tradition of artists using the landscape as a metaphor in their works.
  
  Vancouver quintet Corbin Murdoch & the Nautical Miles are following that path, but Murdoch’s interest in the environment manifests itself in more than just his music: Murdoch happens to be entering his final year of environmental studies at Toronto’s York University. Still, he says that the genesis of his songs was a natural development resulting from his being away from home.
  
  “I started writing because I was sort of homesick,” Murdoch recalls. “I was remembering Vancouver and the landscape, so the first couple songs that I penned with this project in mind were very much landscape songs. And then with my interest in environmental studies and ecology, I just found that there were lots of compelling stories to be told, using new and emerging ideas and themes in environmental studies as a hinge to tie into the personal and the emotional.”
  
  It’s fitting that geography is so important to Murdoch’s songs, considering the role that it plays in the band’s existence. With the Nautical Miles residing on the West Coast, the group’s activity over the last few years has been arranged around Murdoch’s return for summer and Christmas breaks.
  
  While their time together has been limited, the Nautical Miles still have a hand in developing Murdoch’s songs when they do see each other.
  
  “I really like a compelling story, and that’s what I strive to achieve,” Murdoch explains. “I’ll come to the band and tell them what the story of the song is, and I’ll sing it to them a couple of times, and they’ll chime in with ideas of how to complement that and how to build the landscape for the story to wander through.

• Article: Corbin Murdoch and his Musical Landscapes [+ Show ]
  

  Vancouver folk ensemble Corbin Murdoch and the Nautical Miles play Packer's May 23 as part of a one-...Vancouver folk ensemble Corbin Murdoch and the Nautical Miles play Packer's May 23 as part of a one-month tour in support of their newly-released sophomore album, Tell Me Again How This Place Got Its Name.
  
  Murdoch says he and his band of childhood buddies love nothing more than putting on a great live show, but sees value in music beyond simply entertainment. "Music is a wonderful language to express things with, " says Murdoch. "And songwriting is a really neat tool for understanding where you're from and translating your world to other people."
  
  A passionate songwriter, Murdoch began writing the songs for the band's first album while living in Toronto a few years ago. He soon began to miss his west coast hometown and, as such, began to reflect and write stories about ol' Van.
  
  "I started writing a lot of landscape songs about Vancouver, so the first record that was put out, You and Your Landscapes, was in that vein," he says, "This new record is me developing that further and looking at landscapes and personal history and natural history."
  
  While his scope extends beyond Vancouver, it generally stays rooted in Canadian stories and places.
  
  Murdoch's melodic voice weaves visual tales for the listener and he invites Goldenites to share in them next Tuesday. "Anyone who likes a good story, anyone who appreciates songs with compelling lyrics should come," he says.
  
  

• Article: Good forecast for Weather [+ Show ]
  

  Grand ambitions. We should all have them. It's particularly refreshing when young artists aim big. ...Grand ambitions. We should all have them. It's particularly refreshing when young artists aim big.
  
  Such is the case with Suddenly the Weather Changed, which joins three groups together on stage as an expanded ensemble. The goal: To interpret one another's work and create anew.
  
  The match of Corbin Murdoch and the Nautical Miles, the Blue Island Trio, and Deadpan is rather unusual. None of the acts shares similar musical direction. They do share some members and personal histories, however.
  
  "Many of us grew up togerher since elementary. Then there is the connection through VCC's music program and the whole East Van neighbourhood tie-in," says Murdoch.
  
  In other words, a roots band, a jazz trio and an adventurous groove act can work together for the sake of a community. Particularly when the players have enjoyed a world-class education at home.
  
  "With festivals like the Vancouver Folk Festival and International Jazz Festival, we've all been exposed to diverse collaborations that definitely opened my eyes to the potential."
  
  Named with the intention of centring itself on the coast, the Nautical Miles is a twenty-something sextet that sets Murdoch's fine storytelling to trippy folk/roots arrangements. On its debut 'You and Your Landscapes,' songs such as "Marcos' Encounter with a Grizzly Bear" capture real-life experiences from hiking Kluane National Park, Yukon.
  
  "There is on of the largest bear populations in the world there and we met this one character who had a particularly intense personal-meeting story."
  
  This is writing that comes from the pen of someone who knows his craft. Murdoch studies creative writing at York University. He took a year off to develop the band, but plans to return in September.
  
  "We're developing a strategy to figure out how to keep going; it's been such a great year for the band. We've got a Live at the Hive next Monday, a new recording starting and this show."
  
  A bit of a culmination of everything the group has done over the year, the idea for tonight's show came from listening to Nautical Miles members Time Tweedale's Blue Island Trio and Tyson Naylor's Deadpan and considering how they could interpret Murdoch's text oriented tunes differently.
  
  "It's so nice to have musicians that are able to abstract those words and make something that involves music ideas that aren't too literal, but retain these really nice abstract ideas."
  
  In total, 10 musicians will appear. The pacing is to start with small sets and then grow into a full orchestra. This mimics the way the project developed.
  
  "We started listening to each other's work last year and mapping out the small and meaningful thematic similarities and differences, and places where they transversed nicely."
  
  Given a choice, I cenrtainly favour encounters with abstracted grizzly bears over the tooth-and-nail reality.

• Live Review: Swindon, UK [+ Show ]
  

  Corbin Murdoch had a voice reminiscent of the late Johnny Cash combined with the legendary Bruce Spr...Corbin Murdoch had a voice reminiscent of the late Johnny Cash combined with the legendary Bruce Springsteen. His songs had a strong country feel tinged with a slight hint of blues. Great guitar work and powerful vocals proved that he is someone with enormous talent and a force to be reckoned with in future years. As the evening progressed Corbin’s vocals began to boom across the room.

Setlist

We can create dynamic sets to suite any venue; from concert halls to night clubs to festival workshop stages. Our sets usually clock in at aproximately an hour, but we can drive it home in twenty minutes, or keep people on their feet hour two hours or more.

We also perform as a thirteen piece chamber folk orchestra, complete with five piece brass section.

Basic Requirements

Calendar