Cousins loves teaming up with Plaskett
Published Monday November 9th, 2009
Great year | P.E.I. singer wants to break into the next level
HALIFAX - It's about time Rose Cousins got some "me time."
One of the East Coast's most ubiquitous musicians, Cousins is an in-demand collaborator, with her supple voice and insightful songwriting appearing on numerous records over the past year, including those by James Keelaghan, Catherine MacLellan, Jenn Grant and Old Man Luedecke.
Something of a musical good luck charm - after all, Luedecke did go on to get a Juno Award - Cousins' own musical charms finally grab the spotlight again with the release of her new CD, The Send Off, produced by Nova Scotia-born multi-talent Luke Doucet.
Cousins has been unveiling the disc's tender, aching tunes in a cross-continent tour that dips into the U.S. later in November before wrapping up in December in St. John's, N.L.
It's one of the biggest musical journeys she's undertaken on her own, although she's no stranger to the stage this year since crossing the country with Joel Plaskett - including opening for Paul McCartney on the Halifax North Common - after he featured her voice prominently on his acclaimed album Three.
"It's been a really fun year because I've had my own record to write and get ready for as well as climbing aboard the Joel Plaskett train and be a part of his projects," said Cousins over tea.
"I mean, I'm a huge Joel fan and we became friends years ago, but it's a neat thing to be asked to be such a huge part of it, go across the country and play in awesome venues to huge crowds. It's a huge thrill.
"And it was great to be part of a band, to have your parts and play your parts and sing your parts. It was also nice because I was in this period of transition, getting ready for my own record, and I was getting a little tired of focusing on my own songs.
"It was kind of perfectly timed when I wanted to take a break from my own thing, and it was inspiring to be around someone who works so hard and is so creative like Joel."
While it seems that the P.E.I. native's silken voice is some sort of well-kept secret shared by music lovers outside of the East Coast, it feels like 2009 has been about building toward something bigger.
From the extra exposure performing with Plaskett to the higher profile of The Send Off, distributed by Outside Music, she ponders the thought of breaking through to "the next level" with this disc.
"I think the second song, Maybe I Knew, could be my pop hit, were there to be one," she said with the slightest hint of sarcasm.
"I picked one off my last CD too. It was a hit in my own mind. I like to make things up like that.
"I like to think there are some nice bridges from the last record to this one, though. There's the old familiar Rose on some songs, to provide some continuity, but there are differences.
"For one thing, I chose my new producer, Luke, and I picked him because he's amazing, an extremely creative person and an unbelievable player. Talking to him as we were getting ready to record, I knew he was the right person to do this."
Knowing this would be an important followup to her 2006 release, If You Were for Me, Cousins wanted to do her homework before settling into the studio in Toronto with Doucet, a musician known for his own pristine recordings as well as playing alongside muses such as Sarah McLachlan and Chantal Kreviazuk.
But Doucet had enough faith in Cousins' songs that he told her not to over-prepare or over-think their arrangements before coming to Ontario.
"That made me a little nervous because I really wanted to make sure that I was ready for this record, but it lent itself so well to what we were doing," she said.
"It was like a clean palette every time we started a new song. Musicians would come in to play and they hadn't heard the song, and weren't overly influenced by that.
"Pretty much each song took shape on the day we recorded it, and it was really cool."
All that karma from appearing on other people's records paid off, as well, with a lineup of guests including singer-songwriter Melissa McLelland (Doucet's wife), Kathleen Edwards, Blackie and the Rodeo Kings' Tom Wilson, In-Flight Safety's Dan Ledwell, Tanya Davis, Don Brownrigg, David Myles and Jenn Grant.
The friendly voices lend a homey feeling to Doucet's atmospheric production, while Ledwell also contributed the expressionistic cover art, inspired by the first song, I Were the Bird.
Ledwell's soaring, angular creatures connect the song's avian imagery to the album's overall theme of letting go, like releasing a bird back into the wild.
"It's kind of bittersweet, like you've healed it, and it's going back home, but you've formed this relationship with this precious thing.
"But it's also a glorious thing, so it's like the hard things and the great things about letting go. And I've always wanted to write a song that had birds in it.
"I've mentioned birds in other songs, but Erin Costelo wrote this great song about 'the birds that wake the day' and there are lots of amazing bird songs, but I was in P.E.I. watching the shore after hurricane Dan, and I've always been intrigued by the mysteries of birds, being up above everything and thinking that they have this grand perspective."
Looking at Ledwell's simple but effective design, one immediately thinks it would also make a great tattoo.
"Trust me, I've already thought of that," said Cousins.
"And I don't even really like tattoos, but that would be sweet and personal."
More City & Region
Search Articles
More CE Network Sites & Partners:
