Twas Now
New Hamburg, ON N3A 3E9, Canada | Established. Jan 01, 2017 | SELF
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Not bad for her first musical project.
Diana Erb --- who is one half of Waterloo Region's folk music duo "Twas Now" --- has been nominated for the "Best Traditional Singer" category by the Canadian Folk Music Awards (CFMA).
Diana calls it "a big honour" and says she's very excited.
"This is my first nomination for the folk awards," she told 570 NEWS, "It's just a real honour to be recognized in this category, alongside so many great performers."
She also gives credit to her husband Mike, who is the other half of the group. Diana says Mike is a phenomenal guitar player and her biggest supporter in music.
"I owe a lot to him for getting me started in this industry," she said, "I've always been a singer and I've always loved to sing, but this is my very first album and my first real musical project so it's just very exciting."
The album she speaks of is "Old Fashioned Way," which was released July 2017 on what looks to be an all-Waterloo Region product.
It was recorded and co-produced by another Waterloo Region resident, John "Beetle" Bailey, who is a good friend of the Erb couple.
Diana says Bailey made her feel comfortable through the process and gives him a lot of credit as well.
Bailey, a Juno Award winning engineer, is also up for a CFMA in the producer category.
Diana (from Kitchener) and Mike (from Waterloo) both still live in the region in New Hamburg.
The award ceremony is to be held December 1 in Calgary. - Kitchener Today
The 14th annual Canadian Folk Music Awards take place Nov. 30 and Dec. 1 at the Gateway in Calgary. The board of directors announced this year’s nominees Thursday at 1 p.m. ET. Here’s the full list!
Traditional Album of the Year
Matthew Byrne – Horizon Lines
The Fretless – Live from the Art Farm
Genticorum – Avant l’orage
Babineau/Chartrand – Gigues à 2 faces
Buffy Sainte-Marie – Medicine Songs
Contemporary Album of the Year
Gabrielle Papillon – Keep the Fire
Gunning & Cormier – Two
The LYNNeS – Heartbreak Song For The Radio
The Wailin’ Jennys – Fifteen
Donovan Woods – Both Ways
Children’s Album of the Year
Splash’N Boots – Love, Kisses and Hugs
Jeremy Fisher Junior – Highway To Spell
Edgar, LeBlanc, Cool, Farmeur, Vishtèn, Savoie, Butler (Various) – Grand tintamarre ! – Chansons et comptines acadiennes
The Oot n’ Oots – Electric Jellyfish Boogaloo
The Swinging Belles – The Superstar Sibling Detective Agency
Traditional Singer of the Year
Matthew Byrne – Horizon Lines
Pharis Romero (of Pharis & Jason Romero) – Sweet Old Religion
Lenka Lichtenberg – Masaryk: Narodni pisne
Buffy Sainte-Marie – Medicine Songs
Diana Erb (of Twas Now) – Old Fashioned Way
Contemporary Singer of the Year
Dana Wylie – The Earth That You’re Made Of
Rob Lutes – Walk in the Dark
Kellie Loder – Benefit of the Doubt
Catherine MacLellan – If It’s Alright With You: The Songs of Gene MacLellan
Dylan Menzie – As The Clock Rewinds
Instrumental Solo Artist of the Year
Jean-François Bélanger – Les entrailles de la montagne
Holly Blazina – Transcendencia
Justin Gray (of Justin Gray & Synthesis) – New Horizons
Dan MacDonald – Rural/Urban
Andrea Bettger – Snappy Day
Instrumental Group of the Year
West of Mabou – The Bridge
Andrew Collins Trio – Groove
The Fretless – Live from the Art Farm
So Long Seven – Kala Kalo
Miller | MacDonald | Cormier – South Haven
English Songwriter of the Year
Noosa Al-Sarraj (of Winona Wilde) – Wasted Time
Bruce Cockburn – Bone On Bone
Lynne Hanson, Lynn Miles (of The LYNNeS) – Heartbreak Song For The Radio
Dana Sipos – Trick Of The Light
Donovan Woods – Both Ways
French Songwriter of the Year
Danny Boudreau – Mon été
Kristine St-Pierre – La promesse
Anik Bérubé, Natalie Byrns (of Ancolie) – Le soleil en bulle
Benoit Pinette (of Tire le Coyote) – Désherbage
Étienne Fletcher – Face A
Indigenous Songwriter of the Year
Tiffany Ayalik, Greyson Gritt (of Quantum Tangle) – Shelter as we go…
Sandra Sutter – Cluster Stars
Dennis Shorty – Gucho Hin
Buffy Sainte-Marie – Medicine Songs
Shauit – Apu peikussiak?
Vocal Group of the Year
Good Lovelies – Shapeshifters
Gunning & Cormier – Two
Pharis & Jason Romero – Sweet Old Religion
The LYNNeS – Heartbreak Song For The Radio
The Fugitives – The Promise Of Strangers
Ensemble of the Year
The Fretless – Live from the Art Farm
Genticorum – Avant l’orage
Pharis & Jason Romero – Sweet Old Religion
The LYNNeS – Heartbreak Song For The Radio
The East Pointers – What We Leave Behind
Solo Artist of the Year
David Francey – The Broken Heart Of Everything
Jolene Higgins (of Little Miss Higgins) – My Home, My Heart
Bruce Cockburn – Bone On Bone
Catherine MacLellan – If It’s Alright With You: The Songs of Gene MacLellan
Buffy Sainte-Marie – Medicine Songs
World Solo Artist of the Year
Jean-François Bélanger – Les entrailles de la montagne
Eliana Cuevas – Golpes Y Flores
Lenka Lichtenberg – Masaryk: Narodni pisne
Daniel Bellegarde (of Bellegarde) – Anba Tonèl
Buffy Sainte-Marie – Medicine Songs
World Group of the Year
Autorickshaw – Meter
Near East – Near East
Oktopus – Hapax
Lemon Bucket Orkestra – If I Had The Strength
Minor Empire – Uprooted
New/Emerging Artist of the Year
Annie Sumi – In the Unknown
The Lifers – Honey Suite
Raine Hamilton – Night Sky
Jack Pine and The Fire – Left To Our Own Devices
Mattie Leon – Signal Hill
Aerialists – Group Manoeuvre
Producer of the Year
Lynne Hanson, Lynn Miles – Heartbreak Song For The Radio (The LYNNeS)
Chris McKhool and John ‘Beetle’ Bailey – Christmas Caravan (Sultans of String)
Ozan Boz – Uprooted (Minor Empire)
Steve Dawson – Same As I Ever Have Been (Matt Patershuk)
Suzie Vinnick/Mark Lalama – Shake The Love Around (Suzie Vinnick)
Pushing the Boundaries
Jean-François Bélanger – Les entrailles de la montagne
Quantum Tangle – Shelter as we go…
Cindy Doire – Panorama
La Suite – Inventions pour deux violoneux
Beatrice Deer – My All To You
Young Performer of the Year
Nick Earle, Joseph Coffin (of Earle and Coffin) – A Day in July
Christian Howse – We Were
Marley Mullan (of Marley Mullan Fiddle Dancer) – Young Performer- Marley Mullan Fiddle/Dance
Ben Heffernan – Home
Jessica Wedden – One More Time - Roots Music Canada
The LYNNeS and Buffy Sainte-Marie top the list of nominees for the 2018 Canadian Folk Music Awards with five nods each. The duo of Lynn Miles & Lynne Hanson and the much-celebrated folksinger-songwriter are among the many artists and groups from throughout Canada vying for awards in 19 categories to be presented at The Gateway in Calgary, Alberta, Nov. 30 – Dec. 1.
Buffy Sainte-Marie, a singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and social activist, received the Allan Waters Humanitarian Award during the 2017 JUNO Awards ceremonies. Sainte Marie, whose musical career spans more than 50 years, and whose songs have also been covered by hundreds of other artists, is known for her thought-provoking lyrics and her passionate advocacy for indigenous people. Also an educator and philanthropist, Sainte-Marie has sought to protect indigenous intellectual property and championed indigenous artists and performers.
The LYNNeS feature two award-winning songwriters and multi-instrumentalists who have been earning accolades and wining over audiences as a duo with their gritty lyrics and tight vocal harmonies. Lynn Miles has 14 albums to her credit and has won several Juno Awards as well as Canadian Folk Music Awards. Red Molly and Claire Lynch have recorded her song “Black Flowers.” Lynne Hanson has been playing her brand of “porch music with a little red dirt” for a decade, has released six albums, and was previously nominated for a Canadian Folk Music Award as a solo artist.
The Canadian Folk Music Awards were established in 2005 to bring greater exposure to the breadth and depth of Canadian folk music, celebrating and promoting it in all its forms. A complete list of 2018 Canadian Folk Music Awards nominees follows, while more information may be found online at www.folkawards.ca.
Traditional Album of the Year:
▪ Matthew Byrne – Horizon Lines
▪ The Fretless – Live from the Art Farm
▪ Genticorum – Avant l’orage
▪ Babineau/Charrand – Gigues a 2 faces
▪ Buffy Sainte-Marie – Medicine Songs
Contemporary Album of the Year:
▪ Gabrielle Papillon – Keep the Fire
▪ Gunning & Cormier – Two
▪ The LYNNeS – Heartbreak song For the Radio
▪ The Wailin’ Jennys – Fifteen
▪ Donovan Woods – Both Ways
Children’s Album of the Year:
▪ Splash ‘N Boots – Love, Kisses, and Hugs
▪ Jeremy Fisher Junior – Highway To Spell
▪ Edgar, LeBlanc, Cool, Farmeur, Vishten, Savoie, Butler – Grand tintamarre! – Chansons et comptines acadiennes
▪ The Oot n’ Oots – Electric Jellyfish Boogaloo
▪ The Swinging Belles – The Superstar Sibling Detective Agency
Traditional Singer of the Year:
▪ Matthew Byrne – Horizon Lines
▪ Pharis Romero (of Pharis & Jason Romero) – Sweet Old Religion
▪ Lenka Lichtenberg – Masaryk: Narodni pisne
▪ Buffy Sainte-Marie – Medicine Songs
▪ Diana Erb (of Twas Now) – Old Fashioned Way
Contemporary Singer of the Year:
▪ Dana Wylie – The Earth That You’re Made Of
▪ Rob Lutes – Walk in the Dark
▪ Kellie Loder – Benefit of the Doubt
▪ Catherine MacLellan – If It’s Alright With You: The Songs of Gene MacLellan
▪ Dylan Menzie – As The Clock Rewinds
Instrumental Solo Artist of the Year:
▪ Jean-Francois Belanger – Les enrailles de la montagne
▪ Holly Blazina – Transcendencia
▪ Justin Gray (of Justin Gray & Synthesis) – New Horizons
▪ Dan MacDonald – Rural/Urban
▪ Andrea Bettger – Snappy Day
Instrumental Group of the Year:
▪ West of Mabou – The Bridge
▪ Andrew Collins Trio – Groove
▪ The Fretless – Live from the Art Farm
▪ So Long Seven – Kala Kalo
▪ Miller/MacDonald/Cormier – South Haven
English Songwriter(s) of the Year:
▪ Noosa Al-Sarraj (of Winona Wilde) – Wasted Time
▪ Bruce Cockburn – Bone On Bone
▪ Lynne Hanson, Lynn Miles (of the LYNNeS) – Heartbreak Song For The Radio
▪ Dana Sipos – Trick Of The Light
▪ Donovan Woods – Both Ways
French Songwriter(s) of the Year:
▪ Danny Boudreau – Mon ete
▪ Kristine St-Pierre – La promesse
▪ Anike Berube, Natalie Byrns (of Ancolie) – Le soleil en bulle
▪ Benoit Pinette (of Tire le Coyote) – Desherbage
▪ Etienne Fletcher – Face A
Indigenous Songwriter(s) of the Year:
▪ Tiffany Ayalik, Greyson Gritt (of Quantum Tangle) – Shelter as we go…
▪ Sandra Sutter – Cluster Stars
▪ Dennis Shorty – Gucho Hin
▪ Buffy Sainte-Marie – Medicine Songs
▪ Shanit – Apu peikussiak
Vocal Group of the Year:
▪ Good Lovelies – Shapeshifters
▪ Gunning & Cormier – Two
▪ Pharis & Jason Romero – Sweet Old Religion
▪ The LYNNeS – Heartbreak Song For the Radio
▪ The Fugitives – The Promise Of Strangers
Ensemble of the Year:
▪ The Fretless – Live from the Art Farm
▪ Genticorum – Avat l’orage
▪ Pharis & Jason Romero – Sweet Old Religion
▪ The LYNNeS – Heartbreak Song For the Radio
▪ The East Pointers – What We Leave Behind
Solo Artist of the Year:
▪ David Francey – The Broken Heart Of Everything
▪ Jolene Higgins (of Little Miss Higgins) – My Home, My Heart
▪ Bruce Cockburn – Bone On Bone
▪ Catherine MacLellan – If It’s Alright With You: The Songs of Gene MacLellan
▪ Buffy Sainte-Marie – Medicine Songs
▪
World Solo Artist of the Year:
▪ Jean-Francois Belanger – Les entrailles de la montagne
▪ Elaiana Cnevas – Golpes & Flores
▪ Lenka Lichtenberg – Masaryk: Narodni pisne
▪ Daniel Bellegarde (of Bellegarde) – Anba Tonel
▪ Buffy Sainte-Marie – Medicine Songs
World Group of the Year:
▪ Autorickshaw – Meter
▪ Near East – Near East
▪ Oktopus – Hapax
▪ Lemon Bucket Orkestra – If I Had The Strength
▪ Minor Empire – Uprooted
New/Emerging Artist of the Year:
▪ Annie Sumi – In the Unknown
▪ The Lifers – Honey Suite
▪ Raine Hamilton – Night Sky
▪ Jack Pine and The Fire – Left To Our Own Devices
▪ Mattie Leon – Signal Hill
▪ Aerialists – Group manoeuvre
Producer(s) of the Year:
▪ Lynne Hanson, Lynn Miles – Heartbreak Song for the Radio (The LYNNeS)
▪ Chris McKhool and John ‘Beetle” Bailey – Christmas Caravan (Sultans of String)
▪ Ozan Boz – Uprooted (Minor Empire)
▪ Steve Dawson – Same As I Ever Have Been ((Matt Patershuk)
▪ Suzie Vinnick/Mark Lalama – Shake The Love Around (Suzie Vinnick)
Pushing The Boundaries:
▪ Jean-Francois Belanger – Les enrailles de la montagne
▪ Quantum Tangle – Shelter as we go…
▪ Cindy Doire – Panorama
▪ La Suite – Inventions pour deux violoneux
▪ Beatrice Deer – My All To You
Young Performer of the Year:
▪ Nick Earle, Joseph Coffin (of Earle and Coffin) – A Day in July
▪ Christine Howse – We Were
▪ Markey Mullan – Fiddle Dance
▪ Ben Heffernan – Home
▪ Jessica Wedden – One More Time - Acoustic Music Scene
(HALIFAX - September 20, 2018) – The Canadian Folk Music Awards announced the nominees for their 14th edition today, celebrating this year’s 96 nominees. The nominees hail from across Canada - from Paradise, Newfoundland to Ross River, Yukon - celebrating the breadth and depth of folk music in Canada.
The Canadian Folk Music Awards take place Nov 30 - Dec 1, 2018 in Calgary, Alberta at The Gateway (a.k.a. “The Gate”.) The weekend’s focus events will take shape as two hosted Awards Weekend Concerts, which are open to the public. Tickets and wristbands go on sale October 1, 2018. Tickets are $35 for each night. A wristband will get you into any and all workshops as well as both nights and is only $60. More information about the gala performance and the line-up will be announced shortly.
Awards will be presented throughout both evenings, Nov 30 and Dec 1, at the Awards Weekend Concerts. These concerts combine the most loved events of the Canadian Folk Music Awards’ first fourteen years – the vibrant energy of the live music showcases and the awards gala – the Awards Weekend Concerts will capture the true heart of the folk community, while celebrating the 2018 nominees and the category recipients.
Established by Canada’s burgeoning and internationally-recognized folk music community, the awards currently boast 19 categories. Five nominees are chosen for each category unless there is a tie in which 6 are chosen. A two stage jury process by 100 jurors located across Canada representing all official provinces, territories and languages determine the official recipients in each category. - Spin Count
CBC Kitchener-Waterloo's annual Sounds of the Season event goes live-to-air from TheMuseum on Friday, Dec. 7 with The Morning Edition's host Craig Norris.
From musical guests to interviews and even a cooking demonstration, you can attend this holiday performance in person, listen on CBC Radio One 89.1 FM or watch online from the comfort of your home.
Please give generously to the Food Bank of Waterloo Region. At the Sounds of the Season broadcast event you can donate with:
Food.
Cash.
Credit card gift.
**Standing Room Available After 6:15 a.m.**
Please note, all seats have now been reserved; but drop-ins are welcome to attend between 6:15 a.m. and 8:37 a.m. Donate $25 or more to CBC K-W's Sounds of the Season and receive a limited edition holiday toque! While quantities last. Donations must be made in person at TheMuseum on December 7 at 6 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. Toques must be picked-up and will not be shipped.
Donate online to CBC K-W's Sounds of the Season between Monday, December 3 and Monday, December 31 and you will be entered to win a pair of tickets! Margaret Atwood: From The Handmaid's Tale to Art & Technology; An Evening in Conversation with Dave Bidini will be at Centre in the Square on May 30. Tickets generously donated by The Museum, downtown Kitchener. These general admission tickets must be picked-up and will not be shipped. The winner will be contacted by January 14, 2019.
This year's performers and guests
Nuevo-Flamenco guitarist Juneyt Yetkiner will be the house musician for this year's Sounds of the Season
K-W Glee will join us for our Sounds of the Season show on Dec. 7 at TheMuseum in downtown Kitchener
The husband and wife duo of Diana and Mike Erb make up Twas Now. (Twas Now) - CBC
Discography
Flesh & Bone (2019)
Old Fashioned Way (2017)
Photos
Bio
For anyone who has lived in Kitchener, Ontario since the 1980s, it’s a safe bet they know the enigmatic graffiti adorning a prominent railroad bridge that simply states, “Twas Now.” No one really knows who put it there or what it means, but for the duo of Mike and Diana Erb, they’ve found a message within it that has come to embody their approach to making music.
In adopting the name Twas Now, the Erbs felt it encompassed their vision of combining the oldest forms of folk and country music with modern lyrics and attitude. They proved definitively how capable they are at mining the past with their 2018 Canadian Folk Music Award-nominated debut album Old Fashioned Way, which featured songs by the Carter Family, the Louvin Brothers, Hank Williams and others. Now with Flesh & Bone, the pair put their own songwriting talents on display while musically adhering to roots traditions.
Teaming again with producer John “Beetle” Bailey, whose resume includes work with Serena Ryder, Alex Cuba and Molly Johnson, the Erbs laid down the 11 songs on Flesh & Bone in the relaxed atmosphere of their family cottage, beginning with just their voices and acoustic guitars. Mike began the overdubbing process afterward, which was finished through the help of renowned local players such as fiddler Shane Guse, upright bassist Mark McIntyre, and pedal steel guitarist Steve Wood. In many ways, the Erbs believe Flesh & Bone is the culmination of everything about music they’ve learned on their own to this point, and also the first step on the path toward an entirely new level of creativity.
“We started off by playing traditional folk and country tunes that had two-part harmony carrying most of the song,” Mike says. “Our original music has grown from there, but we still draw from artists like the Carter Family. In fact, we couldn’t help including one of their songs on this record [‘Poor Orphan Child’]. Mother Maybelle’s guitar technique remains the foundation on which we base a lot of our writing.”
Diana adds, “At the same time, we’ve both been inspired a lot recently by Margo Price and Brandi Carlile. Their albums sound amazing, both from a performance and production standpoint, but more importantly they are artists with fierce determination to show the world that women do belong at the top of the music chain.”
That non-traditional spirit boldly shines through on several tracks on Flesh & Bone, particularly “Black Coffee,” written in the wake of personal experiences with the generally taboo subjects of infertility and miscarriage. Another is “Part Of Me,” inspired by friends’ courage to come out, and in the process change the structure of their families through choosing truth and love.
However, they don’t shy away from revealing their sense of humour, most evident on “Confessin’ Profession Blues,” a swinging tune that tackles the age-old dilemma of whether or not the grass is truly greener on the other side of the fence. At this point for the Erbs, it’s hard to tell which side of the fence they’re on, since music is the central focus of their lives more than ever. On top of Twas Now, they operate a successful music school and maintain long associations with others in the K-W music community. Although Mike was doing other things for a time, including serving as bandleader for Dawn Langstroth, and playing around New York City’s Lower East Side with the likes of Hugh Christopher Brown, Richard Julian and Tony Scherr, he never felt the urge to abandon his family’s strong ties to Waterloo Region.
Meanwhile, along with working on music, Diana was and continues to be an accomplished visual artist whose work has been extensively exhibited. She now creates work strictly on commission, given how focused the pair now are on music. “As we keep writing together, the process gets more and more exciting,” she says. “For a lot of the songs on the album, we would take the spark of a lyrical or melodic idea, grab a guitar and start bouncing ideas off each other. Once the ball got rolling, things seemed to come very quickly.”
Mike explains, “We pride ourselves in being perfectionists, meaning we will workshop something until we have exactly what we want to say on the page. It’s a constant cycle of evaluation and editing until a song is ready to record, and in that sense we’re really proud of how all of these songs turned out.”
Twas Now—we can all thank whatever mysterious hand painted those words on that bridge for helping to give us one of the best new duos on the Canadian folk music scene. Although the album is called Flesh & Bone, it’s sure to capture a lot of hearts and minds.
Band Members
Links
