Inspired twin bill brings folk-music magic to Compass listening room
The listening room at Compass Music Center is designed to be a destination, a place where artists can be themselves without fear or pressure to fit a mold.
An extension of the organization's many camps, workshops and lessons, the room is a substance-free concert space that's already heard the sounds of up-and-coming students and internationally-recognized songwriters.
Setting in motion a strong 2023 schedule of touring acts, Compass will host an inspired twin bill this weekend; Sunday's show features songwriters who not only could serve as models for the students who cross the Compass threshold, but have learned to tune to themselves.
Lynne Hanson
The Ottawa-based artist knows how to write, and deliver, every kind of folk song — to the point she's sometimes called "Canada’s Queen of Americana."
The proof is in the music, and Hanson's 2022 record "Ice Cream in November" is a minor marvel. These dozen songs unite reverb-soaked, noir-ish guitars (think Aimee Mann singing "(Ghost) Riders in the Sky"), plaintive pianos, mournful harmonicas and rusted-out strings in service of lived-in rockers and surprisingly tender ballads.
Hanson's natural instrument is silken and cool, yet her syllables often end pointed up, in a twang. The production on "Ice Cream in November" makes an almost-timeless use of background vocals, which come along not only to bolster Hanson's own singing but to respond to it like a cast of supporting characters.
This is music for traveling through many moods — and coming out more yourself on the other side.
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Anya Hinkle
The Virginia-born, North Carolina-based Hinkle stretches her talents and shares her wisdom across the length of "Eden and Her Borderlands," the title of her 2021 record. Hinkle has played in string bands such as Dehlia Low and Tellico, collaborated with the likes of Japanese banjoist Akira Satake and sent music into the atmosphere under her own name.
Projects such as "Eden ... " hint at everything Hinkle's capable of: crafting rich, textured frames out of wood and string, then centering her lyrical portraits of circumstance, connection and the spaces which so often come between the two. Her voice is immediately resonant and relatable, prompting listeners to move toward the edges of their seats and take in all she has to sing.
Hinkle's music reminds us there is magic to the everyday, and satisfying struggle in the song.
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Sunday's concert begins at 6 p.m.; tickets range from $18-$25. Visit www.compasscolumbia.org for more information.
Aarik Danielsen is the features and culture editor for the Tribune. Contact him at adanielsen@columbiatribune.com or by calling 573-815-1731. Find him on Twitter @aarikdanielsen.
This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: Inspired twin bill graces Compass Music Center listening room
