The Once are a folk trio from Newfoundland that are named after a “unique Newfoundland phrase that means ‘imminently’. Much like the artist that we featured last week Sidi Toure, The Once are newcomers to the Vancouver Folk Music Festival. They are described as sounding like a “heavenly mix of Alison Krauss, Emmylou Harris and Gillian Welch”, yet this doesn’t fully describe the feeling that is transmitted while listening to their latest album Row Upon Row of People They Know.
Row Upon Row of People They Know is the follow up album to their first self-titled album and has garnered much critical acclaim. It has brought this unique trio to a place in which they are arguably within Canada’s top performers.
“Lead singer Geraldine Hollett, has an instrument of rare power; she is a singer who can still a noisy room.”
Hollett performs alongside multi-instrumentalists, Phil Churchill and Andrew Dale which showcase an assortment of instruments including the guitar, mandolin, fiddle and bouzouki, to name but a few.
While The Once’s instrumentation sounds impressive, the thing that you remember the most from listening to Row Upon Row of People They Know are the stories. Wow, what a way to transport you to another place and time.
The particularly poignant Valley of Kilbride tells the story of a Newfoundland Soldier that makes one feel as if you are sitting around the kitchen, listening to a tale of your brave family member; a story that transmits all the sadness and longing of that moment.
The story telling of The Once will be perfectly harnessed and transmitted across the stages of the Vancouver Folk Music Festival because the intimate gatherings across the many stages of the festival allow for the concertgoers to connect with every word and moment in a truly unique way. You never know what you are going to get with the festival’s mixes of musicians. Let’s get excited together to see The Once at the Vancouver Folk Music Festival, July 13-15 2012.
Photo By: Renita Fillatre 
