This tape is available for download [url=https://stonyplainrecords.bandcamp.com/album/just-a-little-rain-1]from the Stony Plain bandcamp[/url] - grab it there after you read the article below. [img width=682.562px]//7ca49eb9f67ba1319ef136f9d52cd8b8.cdn.bubble.io/f1727747768025x276451112735027330/richtext_content.jpeg[/img] Impeccable timing Cindy Church is set to rise to the top JAMES MURETICH Calgary Herald So much in life is a matter of timing, doing something at the right time and the right place. Cindy Church's timing has been impeccable lately. The group Quartette - that she formed with veteran singers Sylvia Tyson, Colleen Peterson and Caitland Hanford - is arguably the finest vocal country act in Canada and has its second album slated for release at the end of this month. And the success of Quartette has boosted the individual careers of its members, with Church's recently released solo disc - Just A Little Rain - gaining the accolades its exquisitely earthy songs deserve. "I love being 37 and doing what I do right now and bringing what I bring to the party," says Church in a phone interview from her Turner Valley home. 'WISDOM' "That's the way it is in Quartette. We're all older and a lot of the silliness of youth isn't brought to bear. Everyone's doing it for the pure pleasure of it, for the friendship. Everyone has their own wisdom. We just get right down to the bare bones of making music. "Who knows, if we were all 20, even with these same ingredients, it might not have worked. It's the perfect combination of maturity and youthful enthusiasm." That combination shows in her music, both in Quartette and on her solo album. Just A Little Rain is a delightful trip into rootsy country music, mandolin and acoustic instruments riding the range while Church's soulful voice wrings every emotion out of songs written by herself, partner Nathan Tinkham and other experienced Canadian tunesmiths such as Roy Forbes, Chris Whitely and Calgary's Tim Williams. It's the kind of music one would expect from a Nova Scotia native who ended up in Alberta in the early '80s to sing with Ian Tyson. Church describes herself as someone with "eastern roots and a western soul," someone who "sings real music in a real way. It's very basic but you hope it moves people." It does. If anything, Church's timing appears to be bang on in the world of country music, too, as Nashville slowly moves away from "cookie cutter" music to something with deeper roots, what Church calls the "Alison Krauss factor." "What's coming out of Nashville now, especially on the top 40 scene, does not appeal to me in the least. Generally speaking, it's contrived, it's cookie cutter, you can't tell one from the other. I feel sorry for some of these people. They've had their five minutes of fame. "And I really feel that the pendulum has swung as far as it can possibly swing in country music and now it's inching back the other way," says Church, who performs at the Calgary Folk Club and the Saturday Night Special with Sylvia Tyson tonight and Saturday evening, respectively. Quartette was originally scheduled to perform, but Peterson is ill. 'ACOUSTIC APPROACH' "I think there's going to be openings for what I am doing and other acts like myself, people who are taking a more acoustic approach and who are just playing real music." It's about time, too, that artists with the integrity and talent of Church rise to the very top of country music. Once again, Church's timing may be perfect. It certainly feels that it is in sync with her life when she looks out the window of her Turner Valley home. "I do love living in the country. Just complete silence and solitude appeals to me. "At the same time, I like being sur- rounded by people. I like that balance. I spend a lot of time in Toronto now with the way things are going and I enjoy the buzz of the big city but, in the end, I love coming home to Turner Valley. The drive from Calgary to here can be so breathtaking. "The last couple of weeks, all the colors on trees, the mountains clear and looming...my God, I'm so fortunate".
