little river folk

February 27th marks the return of new south shore resident Jon McKiel to the little river folk stage, and the first time for emerging folk duo Acres & Acres.

Mr. McKiel is an accomplished musician and songwriter, currently putting the final touches on his newest recording due out this year. “Fist fight, fist fight, fist fight.” From this retrained chant, the pacing thud of drums and guitar breaks into squeals of distortion. It’s a short-lived collapse into chaos that punctuates the aptly titled, “Fist Fight,” before it returns to a sure-footed build.

The moment is a telling one. Coming from the pop-rock leanings of his debut album, The Nature of Things (Wednesday Records, 2008), Jon McKiel has taken a decided step aside on his sophomore effort, Tonka Warcloud. The experimental nature of the album ranges from hushed minimalism to crashing dissonance. “Bass Song’s” haunted melody is cast over a thick, murky low-end that acts as a backdrop for the textures of darkness that soon envelope it. “Deathvan” is a gently strummed acoustic number that ruminates, “When they take your body down to the cemetery, they will hook you to a machine that will suck your body clean, and all your insides will wash out to the sea.” “Iceman Coming” is a throw back to the golden age of indie-rock, as it grows from a decaying riff into a glowing chorus. The combined result is McKiel delivering what the National Post calls, “a new sound that showcases harmonies and surprising beauty powering through a heavy sludge.”

Mr. McKiel’s previous record, The Nature of Things, garnered glowing reviews from across the continent, including one from Space Rock City that praised McKiel’s “painted delivery and tragic lyrics.” Following the album’s release, he toured Canada regularly, earning festival slots at Canadian Music Week, Halifax Pop Explosion, Sled Island, and the East Coast Music Awards. He has also toured throughout the US, stopping off at the famous Sun Studio in Memphis, TN for a live recording session.

On a sunny day in May 2008, Kris Pope and Dave Scholten had each finished their Steve-O-Reno’s coffee and were sitting on the concrete wall behind the library. Images of rusty farm machinery and abandoned barns filled their heads as they searched for a name to represent those images and the music they had been playing. One of them said "Acres", the other one said "and Acres", and in the same way that they write a song, or a good friend finishes a sentence, Acres and Acres was born.

After 3 years of heavy touring with ECMA Nominated art rock band Down with the Butterfly, Kris and Dave found themselves obsessed with the values of simplicity and realism. More and more of the songs they were writing seemed to need a stripped down approach to properly tell the story. Inspired by the feel of Neil Young's Harvest album, and guided by an approach not unlike the Cowboy Junkies' Trinity Sessions.

The band's debut album, All Nations is a compilation of live off the floor recordings performed at Spaces Between Studio and at All Nations Church between April 12th 2008 and March 31st 2009. It features some of Halifax’s finest, including Benn Ross (Heavy Meadows, Thrush Hermit), Rose Cousins, Amelia Curran, Don Brownrigg, and The Ukeladies.

The all ages, coffee-house concert begins at 8pm Saturday February 27 at the Petite Riviere Fire Hall. This year little river folk is offering a 2 for 1 student discount on tickets which can be purchased at the door. More information is available atwww.littleriverfolk.com