Delaney Rose

I ended the weekend enjoying Delaney Rose's Christmas concert at her home and it was a perfect way to kick off X- Mas week. The best thing about Christmas to me, as much as I hate the commercialism, is the way it brings family and friends together and there was no better way to remind me of this than being surrounded by friends enjoying music and song from one of our local bright stars. Delaney Rose shines, and 2012 should be very exciting for her with the release of her new CD "Naked" Go girl! - White Rock Sun- article by Doug E.

“Spiritually fulfilling; touched my emotions softly; an excellent singer and songwriter”......Crystal - from a concert attendee

"Delaney has a deep, rich, and powerful voice and carried such a depth in the story of her songs. her performance was sincere and I was drawn into the music and lyrics".......Jojie - From concert goer

INTRODUCING THE ROSE OF VANCOUVER

How’s this for one of those strange twists of fate? I’m on the last couple of days of my Canadian tour after the FMPM festival in Montreal. I’ve got myself slightly off-track on a walk round Bowen Island off the Vancouver coast and need to get back to the ferry before my car park ticket runs out.

So I get to a car park/picnic area and wave down a very attractive looking blonde lady just about to leave and ask her the quickest route back to the ferry. “In my car probably” she says and so we get to chatting and she mentions that her guitarist lives over where I’m staying. My ears stand up at this and it turns out I’m talking to Delaney Rose, a singer/guitar player/songwriter from Manitoba, some time ago moved to Vancouver and in the middle of negotiations to have her song, “I’m a Canadian” chosen as the theme for the 2010 Winter Olympics.

She plays me this and a couple of other new pieces on the car stereo and I find myself gawping at the quality of what I’m listening to. Having now listened to her debut album, 2003’s “Freedom” I feel I can trace some of the changes which have been wrought in her life as she struggles to manage some pretty difficult changes in her life with her constant desire to make a living from the challenging world that is music.

Delaney had spent many years in California where she went to School but always had Canada at heart. Following a near death car accident in 1997 she made her way back to Canada and the dramatic land and seascape of Vancouver where she developed a new sound drawing on her experience and the spiritual time of silence she feels with her Creator, leading her to find her own unique and passionate style of music. She explains that “I switched off the radio, spent time in the woods, drove around in her car and listened until the songs came”.

Don’t get me wrong, “Freedom” is a nice singer/songwriter album, easy on the ear and with many influences. Her new music though has so much more of herself in it, she oozes confidence and conviction when she rocks out and you can hear the genuine emotion in her voice on the softer material. “I’m a Canadian” is of course blatantly pop as you would expect it to be, given how it is being marketed, but there is a stylish and intricate quality to the backing arrangements she wraps around her lyrics and its this as much as her warm and slightly mischievous vocal style which makes her work stand out. Violin, banjo and mandolin are used effectively to create the soaring sing-along chorus line while the verses swing gently to her sensitive home-country lyric.

Take two of her new songs which are at this stage in demo form as she works toward her next album. “Misty Mountain Blue” reflects the spiritual freedom of the mountainous Vancouver region which she found in her long recovery. Starting with a breathy low register vocal over a simple acoustic guitar and drum motif, instrumentation builds before breaking into an electric guitar accompaniment for the uplifting lyric. Goose-bump material if ever there was with a sweet violin at the end to push home the point. Of all the songs I’ve heard from her so far, this has to be my favourite.

The other is a gentle refrain “Let go”, a melancholy ballad with acoustic guitars, organ and bright percussion which evokes the overcoming of deep sorrow through sleep and time. Despite the sadness in the lyric though, there is a message of hope and better times, something of a constant in Delaney’s current songwriting.

On the road, she plays an ever expanding list of venues and clubs with her band regularly. Out on the town with Delaney on my last day, I find myself admiring her spirit and will to succeed; everywhere we go she is acknowledged or, if she isn’t, she makes a point of introducing herself and what she does until they damn well do! I think she sums it up best herself with her own Mission statement:-

Within all of us lies a dream
it's seed started while we were children
as we grew up some of us forgot
some of us took paths of security
while others somehow learnt how to win

We honor the heros of our day
sports stars, movie stars, music stars
but, where are we?
have we begun to win?
or, does that path tremble us inside

No matter who we are
we all have obstacles to overcome
the question is how
have you found your answer yet?

For me, it's baby steps
honor myself, love myself
enjoy the journey to the wins.
let go to my creator
but, most of all, JUST BELIEVE.
- Richard Barnes, freelance writer and concert reviewer from England