Aspen Switzer

by Aaron Ekman

Four flats above the Cobalt, crammed into a newish East Van apartment this Friday night, gathered a crowd of young Vancouverites, eager to take in Aspen Switzer, a new folksy Canadian musical artist, on the western leg of her recent cross-Canada tour.

Flanked by Jessa Koerber's harmonic vocals on one side, and Jesse Lee's acoustic on the other, Switzer and her banjo plowed through the familiar titles from her CD, "Narrow Sky," then added a selection from an upcoming album before ending the first set with her rendition of the progressively political, "Jerusalem Revisited."

The trio's sound - banjo, acoustic guitar, keyboard, and unassisted vocals - came across fully balanced in the intimate and crowded room. Switzer and Koerber's two-part harmonies, solid on their own, would occasionally gain depth from Lee's third-part assistance. Demonstrating an octave range as long as his string-plucking digits, Lee wasted no opportunity to dip from harmonies down into tenor, providing a well received vocal bottom end to round the trio out nicely.

The content of Switzer's Kootenay inspired lyrics detailed personal development, relationships, and her surroundings, without fear of delving into various social and political issues.

You're not likely to see Aspen on Canadian Idol anytime soon, and we're thankful for that. With a few more CD's under her belt, an expanded politically-charged repertoire, along with a decidedly feminist approach to song-writing, Canadians will benefit from a home-grown mainstay - an old soul with a young voice, refreshingly unique and increasingly rare amidst iTunes' overly commercialized fare.

Lend a listen to Aspen Switzer with Thistledown, on Myspace or her website
- The Pacific Tribune

This Review by multi-award winning Canadian writer, Rita Moir, was published in the Nelson Daily News and the West Kootenay Weekender:

Aspen Switzer and her long time musical collaborators Jessa Koerber and Jesse Lee have been wowing crowds recently with their a cappella performance of Jerusalem Revisited by Jim Boyes. Not many of the 420 who heard Maher Arar speak in Nelson are going to forget watching his face as they sang this spine tingling song of political struggle.

Jerusalem Revisited appears on Switzer’s CD Narrow Sky, an outstanding debut for a performer of any kind, be that of a singer, musician or writer: Aspen Switzer is all three and more. Listening to Narrow Sky repeatedly the other day, I realized what I love so much. You can punch repeat and keep finding more depth and pleasure, in her lyrics, in her voice. Switzer has what in writing is called “voice.� It’s not just technique, it’s depth and truth and confidence.

This young woman stands onstage, be it her family living room, the Capitol Theatre or venues throughout the province, and she enchants. Not in a cutesy way, but with guts and sweetness and grit, and yes, love. She speaks to us as rural people, our own deep moods, our own sense of the ridiculous, as we contemplate the narrow sky another hard winter, and sings in lilting four-time time: “Lookin’ out my window/Haven’t seen the sky in a long, long time/We’ve been socked in for days/And every choice that I make feels more like a series of bad mistakes/And I wonder.�

And darned if she doesn’t write one can’t get out of your noodle: Lullaby on Banjo, both lament and anthem about being a young woman without a man on her arm: “If only I could sing a lullaby/to kiss these fears goodnight…It seems every one I know/Is wrapped up in a tight little/Duo.�

Narrow Sky makes me proud as a Kootenay resident: Here’s Aspen, who was born and raised here, has written and produced her CD here. She’s had the support, and proclaims it proudly, of her family, of the Columbia Basin Trust which helped her with scholarships to the Selkirk College Music Program, of the Columbia Kootenay Cultural Alliance with help for touring and CD production, and of her musical sister and brotherhood, many of whom will appear at her CD release party. Aspen Switzer is a symbol of all we have to celebrate as a community, and I encourage you to treat yourself by buying her CD, Narrow Sky, and coming to the launch. - Nelson Daily News