Bryce Jardine and the Parlour Birds

After paying his dues in bands, rootsy singer/songwriter Bryce Jardine turned some heads with his 2012 debut album The Kids Are Gone (having a guest appearance by Serena Ryder on the title track didn't hurt). He now returns with Lean Years, an EP that reaffirms his talent. The title track features mellow vocals and a nice dynamic range, and the gentle "Be Still" is another winner, with strong harmony vocals from Michelle Willis (Three Metre Day). The record's title references some of its themes- "what it's like to be young, struggling, broke, in love, while hanging on to hope-filled dreams", he says. The production work of Brad Kilpatrick (Holy Fuck, Hawksley Workman) and the playing of Jardine's band the Parlour Birds is first-rate.

An Ontario tour begins at Windsor's Phog Lounge on Sept. 3 and includes a gig at Toronto's Silver Dollar on Sept. 11. Check his site for details. - newcanadianmusic.ca

Toronto-based singer-songwriter Bryce Jardine is set to follow up his Serena Ryder-featuring debut album The Kids Are Gone with a new set of songs by the end of summer. Titled Lean Years, the new EP is due out on August 28.

The new six-song offering is the result of a period of self-reflection and songwriting inspired by what it's like to be "young, struggling, broke, in love, while hanging on to hope-filled dreams."

It's rich storytelling fodder, and the new album hears a more mature Jardine using his "haunting, emotive voice" to deliver the tales told in his lyrics. Keeping things fresh, though, the singer-songwriter also plays with the notion of contrast, twisting "strains of the muscular and stark" with more whimsical sounds.

The album was recorded at HawksleyTown Studios with Brad Kilpatrick (Hawksley Workman, Holy Fuck), and features Jardine's band the Parlour Birds — comprised of Michelle Willis, Nathan Gray and Steve Callahan — backing him up.

To get a first taste of the new material, Exclaim! is pleased to premiere the title track to Lean Years. Opening on a melancholic folk vibe, the song is buoyed by Jardine's optimistic lyrics and uplifting vocals, as well as the slow-building twang of the guitar and foot-tapping drumbeat.

Scroll past the tracklisting for Lean Years and Jardine's upcoming tour dates to give it a listen in the player below.

Lean Years:

1. No Matter Where You Are
2. Room With A View
3. The Hours I Could Not Keep
4. All Your Best
5. Be Still
6. Lean Years

Tour dates:

09/03 Windsor, ON – Phog Lounge
09/04 Kemptville, ON – the Branch
09/05 Ottawa, ON – Avant Garde Bar
09/11 Toronto, ON – Silver Dollar *
09/30 Kingston, ON – The Mansion

* with full band - exclaim.ca

After nine years in a band, songwriter Bryce Jardine, made the decision to go solo. He quit his warehouse job, moved into his sister’s apartment while she was away on a long-term business assignment, and worked for the next eight months on a number of songs that had been, “driving me crazy”. Guitar in hand, he wrote relentlessly, often through the night, on images and melodies that would eventually become his debut album, The Kids Are Gone.

In the beautiful and intimate setting of the Toronto Centre for the Arts' Gallery, our series will continue to give audiences a chance to see Toronto talent up-close and personal. Each night, you will be able to enjoy 2 very different artist performances, exploring a variety of genres. - Barebones and Upfront

Since hauling up anchor and rolling into Hogtown back in 2010, you could say that Bryce Jardine has been on a whirlwind trajectory through Toronto's music scene.
Known to London, Ontario audiences as the lead singer and songwriter for bands like The Synaesthetic and Dog Tooth Violet, both prominent London acts, Jardine has always had a literary flair for the pen. His music weaves effortlessly between lyrics that belie his young years; with influences like Steve Earle, Neil Young, and Tom Waits, the lost-highway timelessness of his sound could be that of a musician twice his age.
But it's very distinctly, very uniquely Bryce Jardine. With recognition as a solidly tour-de-force songwriter under his belt—the whole reason he came to Toronto to begin with—Jardine established himself as a frontman yet again, this time as the lead singer and songwriter for Bryce Jardine and the Parlour Birds. After the release of his first solo album, 2012's The Kids Are Gone, Jardine teamed up with a few other reputable, respectable stars in Toronto's sonic firmament: Nathan Gray of Townes and Cities; Brad Kilpatrick of Holy Fuck and Kathleen Edwards; Michelle Willis of Three Metre Day and Iggy Pop; and Bean Friend, who had previously played with Kenny Rogers.

As the Parlour Birds, Jardine and this who's-who of music done right recorded two tracks, both of them at Hawksley Workman's studio. "Be Still" and "Lean Years," released in October 2013, have that heartbreaking, longing sound of a musician with a story to tell. As Workman himself said of Jardine, he's "a compelling singer-songwriter with an engaging voice that invites you in with its subtleness and cool, dark delivery of highly crafted lyrics."
"I've heard some early results of his recent writings and recordings," Workman added, "and I haven't been able to stop listening to it."
If nothing else, Jardine is part of a strong, almost poetic Toronto tradition of lost-highway lyrical sensibility, a melancholic intensity embodied by local acts like Blue Rodeo and The Wooden Sky. It's the sound of Queen West at three AM on a Saturday, its laneways reverberating with the sound of a thousand urban seekers. This Friday, Bryce Jardine and the Parlour Birds bring that sound to the Underground at the Drake Hotel, hitting the stage at 8 pm. And it's all free, so give yourself the gift of great music and come experience this poet of city nights yourself. - Drake

The Unsigned Artist of the Week is a new column that I will try to keep running weekly (www.georgetownradio.com). It will feature unsigned artists that do not have the opportunity to be on larger blogs such as NPR Music and Pitchfork. This week’s Unsigned Artist of the Week is Bryce Jardine, a Toronto based folk singer and songwriter.

After playing for the same local band for nine years, Jardine decided to pursue a solo career. Following the decision, Jardine gave up his day job at a warehouse and moved into his sister’s apartment while she was away on business. For the next eight months he wrote the music that would eventually end up on The Kids Are Gone, his debut solo project.

In his own words: “I tried to make music that reflected who I am, where I grew up, and the people I’ve known. Rather than having all the answers, I was more concerned with just asking the questions that most of us ask at the pivotal times in our lives, Who am I? Where am I going? And what could I possibly have to offer? I believe honesty and simplicity resonate within all of us. I had been posturing in song as well as my personal life; it was time for that long hard look in the mirror. Like so many young men, I was pretending to be someone I wasn’t – tough, knowledgeable, confident, wise in the ways of the world – while usually recovering from the last piss-up. Unable to pretend any longer, unable to hold on… I let go. The tower of bravado and self-deception, built on a foundation of bullshit, came tumbling down. This album is the soundtrack of a young The Unsigned Artist of the Week is a new column that I will try to keep running weekly (www.georgetownradio.com). It will feature unsigned artists that do not have the opportunity to be on larger blogs such as NPR Music and Pitchfork. This week’s Unsigned Artist of the Week is Bryce Jardine, a Toronto based folk singer and songwriter.

After playing for the same local band for nine years, Jardine decided to pursue a solo career. Following the decision, Jardine gave up his day job at a warehouse and moved into his sister’s apartment while she was away on business. For the next eight months he wrote the music that would eventually end up on The Kids Are Gone, his debut solo project.

In his own words: “I tried to make music that reflected who I am, where I grew up, and the people I’ve known. Rather than having all the answers, I was more concerned with just asking the questions that most of us ask at the pivotal times in our lives, Who am I? Where am I going? And what could I possibly have to offer? I believe honesty and simplicity resonate within all of us. I had been posturing in song as well as my personal life; it was time for that long hard look in the mirror. Like so many young men, I was pretending to be someone I wasn’t – tough, knowledgeable, confident, wise in the ways of the world – while usually recovering from the last piss-up. Unable to pretend any longer, unable to hold on… I let go. The tower of bravado and self-deception, built on a foundation of bullshit, came tumbling down. This album is the soundtrack of a young man wandering through the rubble of broken dreams in pursuit of something, anything real. These songs have given me a remarkable sense of hope.”

For many people, Jardine’s music resonates strongly. In a culture where peer conformity is the norm, it is easy to suppress one’s self-identity just to fit in. In his debut album, Jardine touches upon these ideas and creates music that is both reflective and joyful. Check out his music below. Recommended songs include, “Death in Life,” “Feathers and Tar,” (my personal favorite), “Train Song,” and “Better Half.” - Hardly Strictly Folk, WGTB Georgetown