Category: Music
Finding Her Space - The Newfoundland Herald - September, 2007 - Kevin Kelly
After years of success with her sisters, Newfoundland and Labrador's Teresa Ennis shows her individuality on new solo album.
When most people think of Newfoundland's country/folk trio The Ennis Sisters, it's hard to believe they are music industry veterans with a decade of performances and recordings under their belt. We've all watched the three grow and develop, both in their songwriting and their professionalism as a trio, and they've earned a Juno, along with numerous ECMA and MUSIC NL awards along the way.
Teresa Ennis, the youngest of the Ennis Sisters trio, has seen a lot in her young career, and now she's hoping fans will embrace her solo career as well.
On her first solo album, Space, which was released nationwide last week on Fontana North/Universal Music Canada, Ennis is exploring her love of bluegrass, and you can also tell there's a huge influence from 1970's pop.
It would seemingly be an unlikely muse for a gal not even in her 30s, but the album contains a number of covers of songs from the likes of Bruce Cockburn (Going To The Country), Electric Light Orchestra (Can't Get It Out Of My Head), Supertramp (Downstream), Jackson Browne (Song For Adam) and early Eagles (Train Leaves Here), all of which Ennis puts her own stamp on.
For example, the ELO tune is reinvented as a bluegrass number, and despite the dissimilarity of the originals to Ennis's styles, it still really works in the end.
Ennis, speaking to The Herald via telephone from Nova Scotia, says the solo album wasn't something she had planned to do, but it worked out that way.
"It was more like we were recording songs, with no intention of ever releasing them," she admits of the sessions with producer Joel Hunt. "We had recorded The Lowlands, a song by Gary Scruggs, and we said 'wow, that sounds really cool.' It ignited the flame, so then we started doing a bunch of different songs after that."
Ennis says after recording six or seven songs, thoughts of an album came up.
"We picked 11 or 12 of our favourite ones, and where The Ennis Sisters were on a bit of a break, I figured I could release something."
The 1970's influence on the album shouldn't be that much of a surprise. "I'm a fan," she says of the music from the 'Have A Nice Day' decade, "but I've become much more aware of it since I've been hanging out with Joel."
The fact that there was no pressure on Ennis during the process also helped the songs take shape.
"The way it was done, the way it was recorded, we'd just hang out all the time," she says. "Joel plays a lot of instruments, fiddle, guitar, dobro, anything with strings, basically," she says with a laugh. "We'd be cooking food, listening to an album we really liked, hear one particular tune, and we'd say 'Let's try that.'"
It's also exciting that the album is receiving national distribution because as she points out, "we were doing it for ourselves."
"The fact that people are interested in it, radio stations are playing it is all a bonus, and I'm very pleased and excited about it. I was ecstatic when I heard the news."
Ennis describes the new CD as an "acoustic folk album with a bluegrass sort of feel." It's an apt description, as the gentle music, aided by Ennis's soothing vocals, makes Space a record that easily connects with the listener.
EASYGOING LIFE, EASYGOING SONGSCovering one of Cockburn's first singles, Going To The Country, proved to be a special experience for Ennis.
"That song has such a great feel to it," Ennis admits, and she had a real connection to the lyrics.
"I live in the country in rural Nova Scotia, and it really captures my lifestyle," she says of Cockburn's tune. "Just the feeling of open spaces and driving down a country, twisty-turny road. It fit in really well with the idea of Space, which was the title of the album. It's all about finding time for yourself and peace in nature." Ennis also tried her hand at songwriting on one tune for the album, as Under The Moon is a collaboration between Ennis and manager Andre Bourgeois.
"For me, songwriting doesn't come as natural as it does for Maureen, but it is something that I'm working at. Under The Moon was written in the winter time about two years ago, during a really cold February. February is that kind of month when you want the summer to be here, and I was thinking back to the summer when I'd sit out and see all the stars, and really longing for that time to come again, the warm summer nights and watching the constellations."
Having her home base in Nova Scotia isn't too much different than her original Newfoundland home.
"St. John's is usually pretty easygoing and laid back, and we have a cabin in Cape Broyle, so my lifestyle hasn't really changed much," she says. "The only thing that is different is that we, as sisters, worked together and spent all of our time together, and at some point, you have to become an individual, and sort of, separate yourself and learn to make your own decisions. We still support each other, but it's more about being independent, and I think it was an important move, in that way.
She's also thinking of putting together a band to showcase some of these solo tunes live. As for the future of the trio, she's optimistic.
"We're going to take a little bit of time to regroup and figure it out," she says after the troubles experienced with their last record, Be Here For A While, caused it to be released in a limited edition independently, despite the fact the musical direction of the group was more focused than ever before.
For now, this new album shows Teresa Ennis can make music her own way. As one of the titles so aptly states, I've Endured, and her musical journey can take those past experiences into a promising future. Space is a good beginning step in that journey.
