Reeling with Success, Sirens are Reelin’ in Fans
August 15, 1998
Here’s a warning. If you haven’t been drawn in by this female trio yet, now is the time to catch their live show, before they sail into the heavy winds of cross-country touring to promote their self-titled debut CD and upcoming release Reeling. Sirens are enticing fans around Ontario. They delighted the crowd at Summerfolk Music Festival in Owen Sound mid-August with their music workshops and Saturday evening concert at the amphitheatre. As more and more fans are being drawn to their music, Sirens (Nora Galloway, Jo-Ann Lawton, Donna Creighton) are finding themselves farther and farther from home. The music is eclectic, often hilarious, then moving or driving, thrilling audiences with close, hard-hitting harmonies in songs that are brilliantly written and arranged.
Recently at Summerfolk, I asked Donna Creighton, about the difference between participating in a festival workshop and giving a concert. Creighton explained that music festival workshops are "intimate, more informal and relaxed with a sense of camaraderie... where musicians share the stage and develop a closer relationship with the audience and each other."
At Summerfolk, Sirens shared an "A cappella" workshop with Tanglefoot matching their "full-throated abandon" with proportionately powerful chords and lyrics. Later in the day, when everyone was wide awake and on their toes, Sirens met head to head, and crack for crack with the audacious "Moxy Fruvous" and the jocular "Arrogant Worms". That workshop was appropriately titled Moxy Worms (Pity the Sirens), although the Sirens had the audience and the Moxy Worms guffawing with their hilarious romp in "I wish that I were Gandhi but I’m not!". On Sunday ’Sea to See" with Bruce Guthro, David Leask and Cate Friesen, found Sirens crooning some of their favourite sea-inspired tunes and filling out the solo performances with beautiful impromptu harmonies. The spine-tingling chords woven into Sirens’ arrangements have become their signature sound.
Sirens are currently recording their second CD Reeling and expect its release by the end of the year. Sirens are appearing live an Saturday, September 5th, 8:00 p.m. at Holy Fellowship Metropolitan Community Church, and September 19th, 8:30 p.m. at The CFPL TV Stage, Western Fair. If you miss both of these performances, take a drive up to the Lighthouse Café, in Brighton Friday, September 25th for their 8 p.m. performance. Sirens, self-titled debut is available in HMV Galleria and at Chapters (Masonville) in London.