Manitoba Live Music Event

About

Rooted in the prairies of Manitoba, Spruce and the Meadowlark deliver a fresh take on contemporary bluegrass. The combination of complex driving instrumentals and haunting melodic lyrics help to create a new perspective on the marriage of folk and bluegrass. Tim Osmond (banjo), Lucas Kost (guitar), Ashley Au (bass), Aisha Belle (violin, vocals) and Donovan Locken (mandolin) invoke emotion with thoughtful orchestration and dynamic harmonious vocals. Offering a familiar sound that takes the listener on a journey to new places. 

Spruce and the Meadowlark deliver original modern bluegrass written by long time musicians, and soulmates, Aisha Belle (violin, vocals) and Donovan Locken (mandolin). Aisha’s haunting voice has been compared to Joy Williams of the Civil Wars, the combination of complex driving instrumentals and evocative melodic lyrics create a new perspective on the marriage of folk and bluegrass. With help from producer Lloyd Peterson (JP Hoe) Spruce and the Meadowlark will release their much anticipated debut album Spring of 2017.

 Drawn together by the sounds of fiddle tunes drifting through the dark campground of the Winnipeg Folk Festival, Aisha and Donovan spent five hours playing music together. With barely any words being shared the two said goodbye. After a year apart, music brought them together again, this time on the same western Canadian tour. They wed 300 days later. Travelling through the Yukon and Alaska for their honeymoon, the dream and songs for Spruce and the Meadowlark began. Aisha's lifetime of classical and Celtic influence & training and Donovan's addiction to bluegrass sounds meld together creating a harmonious sound that insists you listen.

Add seasoned musicians Lucas Kost’s (guitar), "Manitoba's best Banjo picker" Tim Osmond and Ashley Au (bass) the result is a cinematic lush orchestration with serious drive.