Winsome Kind
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Winsome Kind

Vancouver, Canada | Established. Jan 01, 2013

Vancouver, Canada
Established on Jan, 2013
Duo Folk Adult Contemporary

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"Winsome Kind offer up a sweet debut"

Winsome Kind’s press materials read like a romantic fairy tale: the husband-and-wife duo of Leora Joy and former Redgy Blackout member Scott Perrie met a couple of years ago as cast members of a theatrical production, and they got engaged the next year while touring Canada by train. This self-titled debut album was recorded just two weeks before their wedding.

As you’d expect from two hunnybunnies with such a touching back story, Winsome Kind is filled with big-hearted love songs, characterized by bubbly folk-pop melodies and tender lyrics. Joy and Perrie split vocal duties equally, trading off verses on duets and frequently uniting in harmony. The crunchy, toe-tapping “This Much Is True” is particularly rapturous, as the pair’s voices rise to angelic heights with “And I don’t want you to think that I am not afraid/It’s just that I need to say ‘I love you.’ ” Elsewhere, “Intertwined” is filled with lusty confessions that are cuddly rather than salacious, and the string-assisted “When I Wait” is an intimate portrait of waking up next to a still-sleeping partner.

There are a few thematic curve balls in the collection’s back half: “My Goodbye” is a breakup ballad featuring the pivotal line “It turns out I don’t love you anymore” (a moment that, both melodically and lyrically, resembles “You Don’t Love Me Anymore” by Weird Al Yankovic), while “Burning Out” and “Sunrise” hint at emotional turmoil and new beginnings. Given the sweetness of the Winsome Kind’s romance, however, I’m willing to bet that these cuts are about whomever Joy and Perrie were with before they met. - The Georgia Straight


"Winsome Kind Delves Into Happiness and Heartbreak"

Heartening as a streak of sun breaking through a storm, the debut album from husband and wife duo Winsome Kind captures joyful moments from the couple’s own love story while also delving into some of the heartache that came before their nuptials. Even though Scott Perrie and Leora Joy‘s self-titled release is full of the warmth and wonder listeners might expect from recently married spouses, it doesn’t shy away from illuminating the pain associated with previous relationships. However, neither Perrie nor Joy wallow in bitterness or loathing as a result of that heartbreak. Instead, that pain turns to resolve, affirming that the couple have made the correct choices in their lives.

After meeting and falling in love while performing in a stage production in 2012, Perrie and Joy spent 2013 touring Canada by railway, a series of appearances that solidified their personal and professional partnership. Following their engagement, the Vancouver-based singer-songwriters turned to producer Tom Dobrzanski for assistance crafting a record of elegant pop with folk underpinnings. His subtle production complements Perrie and Joy’s silky harmonies, keeping the focus on their supple vocals. Dobrazanski (piano and keyboards) Marcus Abramzik (bass), Sam Cartwright (drums), and Caitriona Murphy (violin) join Perrie and Joy in bringing the nine songs on Winsome Kind to life through effective instrumentation that ranges from delicate and playful (lighthearted ode “Intertwined”) to sparse (acoustic album closer “Sunrise”).

Replete with dark and light imagery that signifies shifts from sorrow to peace of mind, Winsome Kind is bookended by two anthems about moving on. In the jaunty opener “Better Days,” Joy sings of “not sleeping well these days” and the uncertainty of embarking on a new life away from a former love. Eventually bidding heartache adieu, the narrator decides to look ahead to a brighter future. The same sentiment is echoed in “Sunrise” which revolves around finding the courage to leave a problematic relationship behind:

"The road laid out ahead
Is leading somewhere else instead
I keep driving into the night
Cause I know the sun is gonna rise."

Fittingly, Perrie and Joy, who often trade lead vocals, sing the entire number in unison, indicating that they are committed to moving forward from their respective pasts and beginning a new life together.

In between the arc of those two songs, listeners will find plenty to enjoy. Glimmers of encouragement can be found in the reflective “Burning Out,” a meditation on seeking solace in a world gone mad, and the compelling simplicity of the ballad “My Goodbye.” The aforementioned “Intertwined” is a feel good toe-tapper guaranteed to make people smile.

There’s a decided maturity attached to Winsome Kind’s debut that speaks to the level of trust between Perrie and Joy as collaborators. These are not two people attempting to portray a fairy tale existence; they’re comfortable enough in their own skin to let an audience view both the bliss and the blemishes of relationships. While Winsome Kind celebrates the couple’s love, it is Perrie and Joy’s straight forward acknowledgment of difficult breakups that truly allows listeners to appreciate the importance of finally finding the right partner. - Goodnight Hestia


"Two of a Winsome Kind"

From their start together on the set of a musical to their whirlwind romance and musical collaboration aboard a train across Canada, Vancouver singer-songwriting husband and wife duo Scott Perrie and Leora Joy’s love is the heartwarming influence that led to the release of their self-titled album on Oct. 7.

An intricate fusion of folk and pop, the Canadian couple, under the name Winsome Kind, has been changing the face of heartfelt ballads with their romantic lyrics and flawlessly flowing harmonies accompanied by acoustic guitars and upbeat instruments.

Initially starting as a member of Redgy Blackout, Perrie had experimented with solo work, but found the greatest success as a duo with his wife. “Working with your partner and someone who you’re intimate with is musically pretty cool,” he says. “It’s a neat experience. I’m loving it.”

The same has been for his wife, who had previously sung for the Vancouver Chamber Choir before breaking into the music business with her husband. “It’s kind of neat because you can sort of follow your real intuition, somebody that you trust totally.”

The dynamic duo first met on a production of The Buddy Holly Story two years ago. The intimate 11-member cast and 10-week contract far from home created an impeccable bond between the two. “We started chatting that first day,” Joy recalls. A dinner discussion with her mother led her to thinking, “I met this new friend. I think we’re soulmates.”

It was their mutual appreciation of organics that first made the lovebirds click. “We got to talking about health foods and home remedies,” Perrie laughs. “I thought, ‘This woman is really amazing and interesting,’ and I was thinking, ‘Wow, who is this?’”

After their engagement, the pair’s Via Rail trip from Vancouver to Halifax in October 2013 brought on the inspiration to write and rehearse a collection of songs that would later make up their debut album.

“Most of our songs came out of that trip. That was really our first time making music together and collaborating and learning songs and performing and just getting comfortable,” says Perrie. “It was when we came back from that trip that we had a bunch of new songs.”

Their dedication and love for the music they created prompted them to record their album during the busiest time possible: only two weeks before their wedding.

Inspired by the old Scottish word, winsome — meaning attractive or charming in appearance — Perrie and Joy were charmed by its positive connotations and felt that the word fit the music they were creating together.

“We really wanted a name that felt really appropriate for who we are, the kind of people we are, the kind of music we want to make,” says Perrie. “Once we found that word, winsome, we felt like we were on the right track, and we went searching for the other half of the name, and that’s when we came across ‘kind’ and it had a nice ring to it.”

The songwriting process has been a cooperative exercise for the pair, giving each other the inspiration for lyrics and harmonies that are beautifully vocalized. “It’s pretty balanced, pretty collaborative. Certainly some songs I originally wrote and Leora originally wrote. We bring them together and we’ll both have our input and work and try and make things as good as they can be.”

The constructive criticism between the two is what makes their music a success, according to the couple. “‘Better Days’ was a song that Scott wrote on the train, and it wasn’t called ‘Better Days.’ It was my idea to put a positive spin on it,” says Joy. “A month before we went into the studio I said, ‘Maybe I can sing that one.’ That one really changed in pre-production, we found the right key and it worked really well.”

The phrases are divided between both Perrie and Joy, which allows for both talents to have a fair amount of material. “‘Sunrise,’ the last track on the album — that was one that I wrote and Leora described it as I was ‘hogging the melody,’” Perrie laughs. “The melody I had written was ‘too selfish’ so we had to rewrite the melody to sing it in two parts, which in the end turned out perfectly, and it’s one of my favourite songs to perform.”

Touring across Canada with sold-out house concerts in Toronto, Winnipeg, Saskatchewan and Vancouver, the duo has also been offered to perform as far as Maui, Hawaii, and hopes to extend their travels internationally in the future. - CANCULTURE


"Winsome Kind: Falling In Love With the Music - and each other"

The two members of Vancouver’s Winsome Kind were both dedicated performers before they met. They fell in love while performing in a musical together and then got engaged while working on a cross-country train ride as a duo. It’s a really sweet story, isn’t it? Husband and wife in love and making music together.

Here’s my chat with Leora Joy and Scott Perrie aka Winsome Kind.

Scott Wood: Hello Winsome Kind! Scott and Leora, you guys met in Saskatchewan in a production of The Buddy Holly Story. Singing those songs every night must have been fun. What's one thing you love about Buddy Holly songs and one thing that annoyed you about them after singing them non-stop?

Leora Joy: We did sing a ton of Buddy Holly music that summer! Honestly, I never got tired of it, even after 50+ shows. The audience is different every time, and they bring a new energy and excitement. What’s not to like about his music really? It’s super infectious, upbeat, and fun. The only song that annoys me in that show is “Chantilly Lace” and that’s not even a Buddy Holly song!

Scott Perrie: I’ve since performed in that show two more times and I still haven’t got sick of the music. Buddy Holly was an innovator and rock ‘n’ roll pioneer.

Scott Wood: Both of you guys had music and performing careers before you met. What's it like to be able to do your chosen work with your life partner?

Leora Joy: It’s amazing. It can certainly be challenging at times balancing personal stuff and work life, but you have this innate trust and support that I think helps you go farther, be more vulnerable and creative.

Scott Perrie: Yeah, I feel very fortunate to have met someone I can share so much with. It’s been really great making music together and it certainly makes touring a little easier to handle.

Scott Wood: You guys have said that Winsome Kind began when “we started making music together a year ago, when we were travelling across the country on VIA Rail.” What's it like travelling across Canada by train and performing every night or day on the train?

Scott Perrie: Traveling by train is really fun because you get to see parts of Canada that you normally wouldn’t in a car. We’ve had some good times on the train. It takes four and a half days to get to Toronto from Vancouver and by the second day you become a bit of a celebrity on the train. People start recognizing you and when you eat in the dining car, you sit with different people every meal. Once, this couple from the UK bought us a glass of wine and shared the rest of their bottle with us. That was nice. Another interesting thing about performing on a train is that it’s almost always moving. Sometimes it rocks back and forth so suddenly it almost sent me tumbling.

Scott Wood: I notice from your Facebook page that you guys still busk, playing in train stations and street corners. What's been the strangest thing left in your hat?

Leora Joy: We played a lot of farmers markets this past summer, so we’ve had all sorts of local goodies left in the hat. Everything from hand crafted beer, to soap, to kale and strawberries. It’s pretty awesome actually!

Scott Perrie: I held on to a 1967 Centennial Canadian quarter with a picture of a snow leopard on it from last summer. You know, I’ve been busking on and off for almost 10 years now, mostly at Granville Island, and once someone wrote me a poem.

Scott Wood: In Winsome Kind, you guys split the vocal duties. How do you determine what song is a "Scott" song and what song Leora should take the lead on?

Scott Perrie: Ah, we usually flip a coin. Haha, just kidding. For us, figuring out who will sing what is more intuitive. It sometimes depends on whose brain the lyrics came out of, but not always. For example, I wrote “Better Days” and started out singing it and then we decided later on that Leora would take the lead on that one.

Scott Wood: Leora plays the melodica, which is basically a mouth piano. What made Leora take up this unique instrument? Is it difficult to integrate into your music?

Leora Joy: I originally got a melodica to play in a theatre show, because we needed instruments that we could play and do choreography with at the same time. I am a piano player, and so the melodica was the obvious choice for a quick transition. I really started to love it, and it is a great conversation piece and people really love it at the markets. The only challenge is I can’t sing and play at the same time, but we have fun incorporating melodica melodies into our songs.

Scott Wood: Your self-titled debut album was recorded just two weeks before your wedding. “My Goodbye” from the record sounds like a break up song. Are there any limits to what a Winsome Kind song can be?

Leora Joy: We hope we have not set up too many limits for ourselves! I will say as Winsome Kind that we set out to write songs that are authentic, heartfelt, and even if they deal with difficult subject matter, that it is presented in a way that shines some light on the situation. We love life and want to put more positive music out into the world.

Scott Wood: In your band bio, you say that "Winsome Kind is quintessentially Canadian" and you guys have spent time in many parts of Canada, the Prairies, the Maritimes and here in Vancouver on the west coast--as well as traveling across the country by train. Canadian identity is a hard thing to pin down for many Canadians. I'd love to hear you take on Canadian Identity.

Leora Joy: I’m sure Canadian Identity is a challenge to sum up in a few words! I think part of it is being open to each community we come across, and are invited into. Vancouver audiences are different from Maritime audiences are different from small town Saskatchewan audiences—and we love and respect them all in different ways! We feel very fortunate that we’ve already had that chance to see so much of the country and share our music and really hope that continues.

Scott Wood: Thanks for answering my questions Scott and Leora! Please introduce your favorite Winsome Kind video.

Scott Perrie: We released our first official music video for “This Much is True” last month! It was shot in East Van and at the Freddy Wood Theatre at UBC. If you’re okay with feeling warm and fuzzy you should watch it. - !Earshot


"Winsome Kind"

Husband and wife duo Winsome Kind are as earnest as they come. Two years ago, Scott Perrie (formerly of Redgy Blackout) and Leora Joy (singer, actress) met while performing on a production of The Buddy Holly Story in Saskatchewan. One year later, the two set out across Canada, performing on-board VIA-RAIL from coast to coast. They got engaged, returned to Vancouver, and recorded their debut album just two weeks before their wedding. With possibly the most despicably adorable Canadiana love story ever told, Winsome Kind’s music reflects the buoyancy of being in love.

Released on October 7th, Winsome Kind’s self-titled debut is delightful. These days, it seems like everyone’s putting out “lo-fi garage basement punk,” and “debut” is often synonymous with “nascent” or “underdeveloped”. Winsome Kind is neither lo-fi nor nascent, and has a refined indie-folk-pop sound. Produced by Tom Dobrzanski (of the Zolas), the album is clean and polished, full of tracks that vitally capture Winsome Kind’s musical personality.

Winsome Kind write silvery pop-folk songs about new beginnings, optimism, and love. They pair definite vocal duets with acoustic guitar and a basic accompanying band, consisting of bass (Marcus Abramzik), drums (Samual Cartwright), the occasional speckle of mandolin, and melodica. “Intertwined” features a whimsically winding, Andrew Bird-esque, mandolin hook that I can’t get enough of. “This Much Is True,” encapsulates Winsome Kind’s best sensibilities superbly: their flawless vocal duets, gleeful attitude, and catchy sing-along chorus lines.

Winsome Kind is an album that’s not overreaching in any respect – lyrically, vocally, or instrumentally – which makes for a confident sound and an easy listen. “When I Wait” shows off Leora’s fancifully angelic voice and Scott’s guitar technique. It’s a perfect example of their simply peachy style, which is professional and thoroughly sincere.

The songs on the album are accessible. Though predictable at times, the lyrics are easy to understand and relate to. Each song sounds cheerful; when the subject matter is not about a happy feeling, there is always a silver lining. “Burning Out” is about facing uphill battles with a positive attitude; “Better Days” and “My Goodbye” are about personal growth and letting go of past relationships.

While Winsome Kind might be too merry for my tastes, they may be a better fit for folks who enjoy artists like Serena Ryder, The Head and The Heart, or The Civil Wars.

How does a band from the land of rain, steep hills, and active wear (Vancouver) remain so positively happy? It must be love. I reckon Winsome Kind are as disgustingly happy as their music sounds. - Grayowl Point


Discography

Winsome Kind 2014

Photos

Bio

There’s no mistaking the chemistry when you hear Vancouver’s husband and wife duo, Winsome Kind.  The story of their love is almost as beautiful as their music, which highlights luxurious harmonies and heartfelt lyrics.

Winsome Kind is quintessentially Canadian, connecting with audiences through an endearing essence and zest for life. Scott Perrie and Leora Joy met in 2012 while performing in a production of The Buddy Holly Story in Saskatchewan, and fell in love.  They are each formidable talents in their own right, as professional singers and actors. Together, they create flowing melodies and intricate harmonies, with two exceptional voices which come together with precision and ease.

“The folk-pop affair is rife with vibrant harmonies, and there's a candy store's worth of sweet melodies." -CBC Music

“The crunchy, toe-tapping This Much is True is particularly rapturous, as the pair’s voices rise to angelic heights.” -The Georgia Straight

Band Members