MYRIAM GENDRON + THE MEMORY BAND

Upset The Rhythm presents…

MYRIAM GENDRON
THE MEMORY BAND
Monday 7 April
Grand Junction, Rowington Cl, London W2 5TF
7.30pm | £18 | Tickets: https://link.dice.fm/B9332cba32bb

MYRIAM GENDRON is a Montreal-based songwriter, guitarist and singer. Mayday is the third LP by Gendron; it follows her earlier critically acclaimed albums, Not So Deep As A Well (2014) and Ma délire – Songs of Love, lost & found (2021). Before her debut album, Myriam’s primary musical focus was busking in Paris Metro stations, performing the songs of Leonard Cohen and others, accompanying herself on guitar. Through her day job, working at a Montreal bookstore, Myriam discovered the poems of American writer Dorothy Parker, who was better known for her cutting wit than her verse. Inspired by Parker’s words, Myriam wrote music to accompany a suite of them, then recorded the results in her bedroom. These recordings were issued as her debut LP and continue to delight listeners who discover them with their freshness, clarity and humour. After a brief hiatus, Myriam began exploring the complex folk traditions of Quebec (and beyond), recording the 2LP, Ma délire, which combines traditional and original songs (mainly in French) with arrangements that make space for avant-garde musical interludes by such folks as guitarist Bill Nace (Body/Head) and renowned jazz percussionist Chris Corsano. Mayday is an even more syncretic fusion of these elements. Most of the songs are original, in English and French, blending traditional and avant elements with abandon. Additional players this time include drummer Jim White (Dirty Three), guitarist Marisa Anderson, Montreal bassist Cédric Dind-Lavoie (a fellow fan of trad/avant dynamism), Bill Nace and saxophonist Zoh Amba (whose horn gets the final “word”). Mayday is a thoroughly thrilling effort that creates new vistas of sound while maintaining an intimate and familiar feel. Beautiful work.

https://myriamgendron.bandcamp.com/

THE MEMORY BAND has been navigating its path through the folk music landscape of the digital age since 2003. Led by producer Stephen Cracknell and with a fluid cast of collaborators, the Memory Band blends songs and instrumentals, the traditional with the modern and the sacred with the profane.

Their two-decade adventure has produced six studio albums and side projects such as The Balearic Folk Orchestra and The Accidental. They have a long history of performing music from Paul Giovanni’s soundtrack to The Wicker Man and other film and archive-related projects. In 2024, The Memory Band released ‘Never The Same Way Twice and ‘A Common Treasury’, two volumes of unreleased archive recordings on their own Hungry Hill label, and in 2025, they returned to live performance.

https://thememoryband.com/