Manitoba Live Music Event

About

Warren Friesen 
In his hometown of Winkler, Manitoba, Warren Friesen is often identified with the four words. WHERE – WHEAT – GREW – TALL. 

Warren grew up surrounded by fields of wheat in the village of Schanzenfeld, just south of Winkler. It is here where he “learned about work” and he “learned about play - confessed every sin at the end of every day.” He confides that he committed his fair share… of SINS that is. He “had it all, WHERE WHEAT GREW TALL!

He attributes his love of music to his older brother, with whom he shared a bedroom in the basement of his childhood home. He remembers falling in love with the music that cascaded from his older brother’s clock radio into the wee hours of the night. Warren also remembers pressing his ear up against the speaker of the old wood console record player in the family room, dreaming about performing his own music. He also remembers recording some of his early songwriting efforts in an empty grain bin where the reverb was perfect.

It wasn’t until his university days when him and his roommate, Arlen Penner, tinkered with writing and recording songs on a simple 4 Track Recoding Unit. His sister heard some of his early recordings and asked if he would write and sing and perform a song for her upcoming wedding. His response? “You want my first public performance to be at your wedding?! You are a brave woman!” 

In 2013, Warren, together with a few close friends, recorded his first body of original work entitled WHERE WHEAT GREW TALL. 

Warren had so much fun writing and recording WHERE WHEAT GREW TALL, that he immediately began writing songs for a second album. This follow up album is entitled FROM THE WRECKAGE. This second album contains a collection of songs that speak to three main issues:

1) Overcoming the adversities that life inevitably throws our way.
2) Reaching out to others in need.
3) Being bold enough to speak from a place of truth.
 

Bill Dowling

A west end Winnipeg boy, transplanted to the prairies of southern Manitoba, Bill’s had a love of stories in song since the days of the Ting Tea Room and the fledgling Winnipeg Folk Festival. Bill sings his heartfelt stories of all sorts of people, past and present, with honesty, humor, and a musical nod to the rich folk music tradition. That, and a little bit of rock and roll. Bill’s latest, Accidents & Incidents was released in April 2016.