Carly Maicher
Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada | SELF
Music
Press
reviewed by Laura Stanley
As a huge fan of beautifully written, simplistic folk music, I can’t help but love the quiet movement of sparse folk music that is developing across the country. In Carly Maicher’s debut album, Hiding, Maicher takes an honest approach to her music, becoming a wonderful addition to the growing number of Canadian folk musicians.
Recently joining the Prairie Roots Revue, a small tour bringing together Saskatchewan artists, in this case: Ryan Boldt (The Deep Dark Woods), Northcote, Zachary Lucky, and Maicher, to rural Prairie communities, Maicher is already having no trouble finding a welcoming niche for her music.
Maicher’s vocal strength is an immediate pull with Hiding. Crystal clear and confident with a slight twang that just makes it that much more charming, it reflects that of fellow Canadian folk-singer Basia Bulat or America’s newest indie-folk sensation Joanne Newsome.
Mostly guitar based songs, although the pedal-steel and banjo scattered throughout are wonderful additions, Hiding features help, both musically and with recording, from fellow Prairie Roots Revue tour member, Zachary Lucky. Additional vocals from Jonathan Anderson, beautifully featured in, “What I Wanted” as well as throughout the record, entirely complement those of Maicher’s.
Despite the vagueness and huge encompassing space of some of her song titles, “The Road,” “The Sea,” “My Mountain,” etc., there is a quaintness to them. With personal and descriptive sentiments scattered throughout, the song titles suddenly don’t feel so vague anymore.
Both “My Friend, The Moon” and “My Wild Heart” are some of the more musically upbeat songs. “I want to go across the land to where my wild heart will go” sings Maicher in “My Wild Heart,” a gorgeous track that strives for adventures.
Finally, the lulling, repetitive pick of the guitar in “Worry,” another standout, makes for one of the more haunting songs from Hiding. Maicher’s voice takes the forefront in this song more than the others but it’s the wailing of the lapsteel in the background that really creates the uneasy feeling of the song.
Fans of quiet folk paired with a commanding voice, Carly Maicher is certainly not to be passed by.
Hiding is available on Bandcamp.
Top Tracks: “What I Wanted,” “My Friend, The Moon,” “Worry”
Rating: Proud Hoot (Really Good) - GrayOwl Point
There’s probably an endless number of reasons an email from Carly Maicher might sit untouched in your inbox for weeks or you might miss her record on the shelves of your local record shop. The Manitoba based songwriter writes and performs subtle, spare folk songs under her own name and prefers to move amongst the crown unnoticed.
Understated. Open. These aren’t the descriptors that move units or get your name on iPod commercials.
What Carly has, that most buzz acts lack, is talent. With only the support of her guitar, some occasional banjo/lapsteel and harmonies, you focus on her arresting voice and affecting tribute to solitude. Hiding (her debut) is a surprising success, building slowly and surely as the record progresses. Most folkies run out of steam, especially on their first release, but the 39-minute run time feels even shorter than it is and you are left letting the songs repeat happily. Hiding sets a mood, and develops it completely.
In a few months, you will probably have forgotten about the bloggiest of buzz bands you love so much right now, but Maicher will be on the road, writing songs, winning over audiences and forging a career from that hard work. They say we always overlook what’s right in front of us, but hopefully Hiding makes you take notice. - Herohill
Next we have fellow Prairie Roots Review member Carly Maicher which was a combination Zach Lucky recommendation and April at Common Folk Music mentioning her…so obviously I had to look into it. I had heard of her before but didn’t actually hear her prior – god dam, this is a great album that she has out now, “Hiding”. She has a sultry and earthy vocal presentation over mostly sparse banjo laden tracks. What else can a guy ask for really? The album is one of my favourite end of year discoveries for sure. Find it streaming on her Bandcamp page and find the absolutely gorgeous track “Worry” below. - Slowcoustic
A few years ago, singer-songwriter Carly Maicher was looking for a change of scenery from her familiar surroundings in Manitoba, Canada for the remote setting of Grand Manan, a tiny island in New Brunswick where her grandparents grew up and where she could delve into a study of loneliness. Intended to be a few weeks of vacation, songwriting, and recording, this short vacation turned into years. During this time, she managed a restaurant but did not record until last January when she recruited Zachary Lucky and Sean Craib Petkau and rented the equipment needed to make her debut album, Hiding.
On Hiding, Maicher does anything but; instead, she is reflective, honest and open throughout the album. Her earthy lyrics evoke images of her surroundings and clearly represent this specific time and place in her life. With just her guitar and help from Lucky on the guitar and banjo, Maicher’s soulful voice with its subtle inflection of pain is front-and-center. Her lovely voice is definitely the most engrossing element of the album making Hiding my most refreshing end-of-the-year discovery.
Since releasing Hiding, Maicher has moved back to the prairie region of Canada, toured, and just made a name for herself. She has recently ended a fairly successful Canadian tour called the Prairie Roots Revue, which also featured Zachary Lucky, Northcote and Ryan Boldt (The Deep Dark Woods). And, although the tour ended, her bright career in music has just begun. - Common Folk Music
Carly Maicher is a Canadian singer/songwriter who hails from Manitoba, but can currently be found hiding in New Brunswick. She has a brand new album out which features a beautifully, unique voice and some great songs. It's called Hiding. - Ear to the Ground Recommends
Out of hidingSinger/songwriter Carly Maicher went away to make her debut album, Hiding; now she’s bringing it home
BY: JEN ZORATTI
8/12/2011 1:20 AM | COMMENTS (0)
REPORT ERRORSHARE THIS|E–MAIL|PRINT|
ENLARGE IMAGE Carly Maicher
A few years ago, singer/songwriter Carly Maicher was craving a change of scenery — but it wasn’t the bright lights of big cities she was after. Instead, she left her small-town Manitoba home for somewhere even more remote: Grand Manan, a tiny island in New Brunswick where her grandparents grew up.
It was, to riff on a New Pornographers song title, an adventure in solitude.
"My mother had bought a summer home there that wasn’t used often, so I took advantage," says Maicher, now 24, over the phone from her current "nest" in Grandview, Man. "I intended to stay a couple of months to focus on writing and recording, and I ended up staying a lot longer than I’d planned. I spent a lot of time alone exploring the beaches and scenery. I got myself a job managing a restaurant and I started a folk festival."
A couple of months turned into three-and-a-half years, and the folk/roots musician never got around to recording the homemade record she had set out to make in Grand Manan.
Until last January, that is. Enlisting a couple of musically inclined pals — Zachary Lucky and Sean Craib Petkau — Maicher rented some equipment and got to work capturing the songs she had penned during her time on the island.
"It turned out to be quite different," she says of the resultant record. "It ended up being a story about my experience on the island and my life there."
Indeed, what was supposed to be a study in loneliness turned out to be that and so much more. Maicher’s debut album, Hiding, is an intimate, affecting document of her solitary life in Grand Manan. With just her voice and a guitar — along with some guitar/banjo accompaniment from Lucky — Maicher evokes her island home; the fact that the album was recorded in the house Maicher was living in at the time makes it even more personal.
Despite its title, Hiding is an honest, warts-and-all record about a time and place that clearly left an indelible mark.
"I learned a lot having gone there on my own," Maicher says. "It was something that I didn’t think I’d be brave enough to do. At the same time, it seemed like the only option. It was just a huge learning experience, living alone and being alone and reflecting on the past."
Maicher is now carving out a name for herself as a touring musician, which is part of the reason she moved back to the middle of the country. She’s currently a player on the Prairie Roots Revue tour, which features Lucky — a solo musician in his own right — along with Northcote (aka Victoria, B.C.-based singer/songwriter Matt Goud) and Ryan Boldt of Deep Dark Woods.
"I think the plan is to play on each other’s songs so we’ll all be onstage at once," she says of the show at the Park Theatre.
"I have no idea what to expect — but they’re a great group of guys and it’ll be exciting to collaborate live."
You can expect to see Maicher’s name in the listings more often in 2012; she’s ready to bring her songs to Winnipeg stages.
"When I left, I wasn’t in the music scene, so this feels significant to me," she says. "I’m coming out of hiding."
CARLY MAICHER
Dec. 12, 8 p.m., Park Theatre
w/ Northcote, Ryan Boldt (Deep Dark Woods) and Zachary Lucky - Uptown Magazine
Discography
Still working on that hot first release.
Photos
Bio
"I had been romanticizing about running away to a far away land and sitting by the ocean as the waves rolled in and writing songs. There was something really intriguing to me about loneliness that I wanted to study" - Carly Maicher
It was a mere four years ago that Carly Maicher (20 at the time, 25 now) decided she wanted to explore the depths of loneliness and escape her familiar surroundings of WInnipeg, MB.
"There was something really intriguing to me about loneliness that I wanted to study" says Maicher. "I had a deep rooted connection to this tiny island in New Brunswick called Grand Manan - where my Grandparents grew up. My mother had purchased a summer home on the island which wasn't often used - so I decided to take advantage of this." Originally she had planned to simply vacation on the island for a couple months during the summer and to record a homemade record- but plans quickly changed. Weeks turned into months, and months to years.
Besides living out her day dream of escaping her prairie home - Maicher quickly found ways to occupy her time on Grand Manan - between managing a restaurant and fostering her creative nature - time seemed to pass quickly.
Fast forward three and a half years - January 2011 - Maicher finally set out to make the record that she went to Grand Manan to make. She acquired the help of good friends Zachary Lucky and Sean Craib Petkau, rented the needed equipment and set forth.
"Want I wanted (for recording), was for it to happen in the environment where I wrote the songs - right in my own home. I wanted it to sound homemade" says Maicher. When asked about her inspiration for Hiding Maicher stated, "The three and a half years I spent on (Grand Manan) shaped a lot of the reasons why Hiding came to be."
Hiding - the debut recording from Carly Maicher is an 11 song effort - featuring Maicher on vocals, and acoustic and electric guitar - as well as banjo and guitar accompaniment from Zachary Lucky - and when you listen to the songs it's as if Maicher is performing them for you in your living room. You can hear the character of the ocean side home where the songs were recorded - and the honesty in her voice.
Hiding is painfully beautiful and delicate release. It speaks of the hardships of leaving what you've always know - and exploring the pain and beauty of being alone - lost at sea.
Watch for Carly Maicher in 2011 and 2012 and expect big things from this quiet soul.
Links
