To call Meredith Moon a “travelling troubadour” is an understatement. She’s spent years criss-crossing Canada, learning various banjo styles and traditional songs. She also met countless people who have been the inspiration for her original songs.
She began writing songs at a young age and then seriously applied herself in her late teens. Using the songs of the folk revival as her starting point, Meredith dove into the traditional roots of what she heard. She also taught herself how to sing from the recordings of the day. It’s easy bet that she also dove into the songs of her father, Gordon Lightfoot. It was around then that she first picked up the banjo.
“I felt it was the instrument that really encompassed traditional Appalachian music,” she said.
Some of Meredith’s original songs appeared on her first album, 2018’s Forest Far Away, but it comprised mainly traditional material. Her next album, 2023’s Constellations, was focused more on space and the universe. With Meredith’s new album, From Here To The Sea, the themes are more water based.
When it came to record Constellations, Meredith enlisted Andrew Collins to be the engineer. With his assistance she produced an album of 11 original songs that chronicled her travels and the people she met along the way.
“Andrew gave me a ton of incredible ideas, so we could call it a co-production,” she said.
The new album, From Here To The Sea, was produced by Colin Linden at Jukasa Studios in Six Nations of the Grand River in Ontario and at Colin’s home studio, Pinhead Recorders in Nashville.
Grounded by the Blackie and the Rodeo Kings rhythm section of Gary Craig and John Dymond, the album has contributions from folks like Julian Taylor, Jerry Douglas and Rebecca Lovell of Larkin Poe. Stylistically the album moves away from Meredith’s trad-based earlier recordings.
“It’s a little bit more folk-rock than traditional banjo music,” she said.
The new album also has somewhat of a full-circle moment for Meredith. As she was exploring the songs of the folk revival in her youth, she loved listening to songs by Bob Dylan. On this new release you’ll hear contributions from George Receli who played drums in Dylan’s band for about 18 years.
Although From Here To The Sea moves into a more contemporary sound, it’s traditional music and life on the road that’s been Meredith’s foundation.
“A lot of my musical influences are people I met on the road, and a lot of my songs are travelling songs, about the places and people I met,” she said.
“If I had just stayed at home, I’d probably still write songs but they wouldn’t be as good as if I had travelled around and had the experiences I did.”
For more on Meredith Moon and From Here To The Sea, go to https://www.meredithmoon.com.
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