Multi-award winning indie folk trio, The Once, from Newfoundland, will appear at the 2018 Orkney Folk Festival
Renowned for haunting interpretations of traditional music and a thoughtful, playful assembly of songs, presented within a distinctly modern sound and artistic freedom, the union of lead vocalist Geraldine Hollett, and vocalist-instrumentalists Phil Churchill and Andrew Dale has collected a trio of Canadian Folk Music Awards, numerous ECMA awards, earned two JUNO nominations for best Roots/Traditional album, and were named Artist of the Year by the Newfoundland & Labrador Arts Council.
With their roots firmly in hand, The Once’s most recent release – 2016’s We Win Some We Lose – saw the trio enter a new era of creativity with a honed creative vision, having spent much of the preceding years in a whirlwind of worldwide touring and recording with English chart-topper Mike Rosenberg, aka Passenger – who they met entirely by chance, in Glasgow.
Throughout their extensive travels, however, the trio’s Newfoundland origins have remained at their very core. Not only does their moniker instigate conversations of home at every gig – “the once” is a common phrase within the Newfoundland vernacular, meaning imminently whilst undefined and somewhat fluid – but whilst their sound has bloomed into one that truly represents their evolving inner artistry, so too has it dug its roots ever deeper into their idolised home island.