The Good Lovelies will perform live at the National Arts Centre (NAC) for their eighth of ten stops in their 2021 Christmas tour on Dec. 17.
After last year’s virtual tour, the contemporary folk and Juno award-winning band—made up of lead vocalists Caroline Brooks, Kerri Ough, Sue Passmore and accompanying musicians—is making its return to in-person performances with a tour across Ontario.
This year also marks the band’s 15-year anniversary. Brooks said her emotions about being able to hit the road for a tour again are very real.
“It’s been a really emotional time to be off the road. So to be able to come and play to people and to feel safe about it. It’s a relief,” Brooks said. “It’s like a mix of relief, being overwhelmed and just so looking forward to it.”
Heather Gibson, executive producer of Popular Music and Variety at the NAC, said when it comes to live music, there’s nothing else quite like it. She said she appreciates the discoveries virtual art has allowed her to make, but she lives for the connection between artists and audiences.
“We can see concerts on screen or listen to them on our compressed digital devices and it gives us an idea of what the artist is expressing,” Gibson said in an email to the Charlatan. “When we stand or sit in front of them, dance to their music and feel what they are expressing it’s an entirely different experience.”
Although travelling around for live performances over the holidays takes the band away from their friends and family, Brooks said the band’s stop in Ottawa always makes them feel at home.
“When we come back to the NAC, it always feels like we’re coming home,” Brooks said. “We know what it’s gonna be like, we know what the audience feels like, the staff is amazing. Ottawa is just so beautiful at Christmas.”
Gibson shared a similar sentiment to Brooks’. She said the Good Lovelies are always a welcome fixture in NAC programming.
“I’ve worked with the Good Lovelies for a large part of my career and for me they are a bit like home,” Gibson said. “Their Christmas show is nearly sold out which to me says the audience feels the same – they are just a part of our holiday season.”
Not only are the Good Lovelies a large part of the holiday season at the NAC, their show is also helping out another local organization: Ottawa Riverkeeper. Last year, the band donated a portion of their ticket sales from their Ottawa show to this environmental organization and this year will be no different.
Laura Reinsborough, CEO of Ottawa Riverkeeper, said the timing of the band’s donation speaks to their generosity.
“At a time when so many musicians have struggled to find their place during the pandemic… The fact that they are giving to Ottawa Riverkeeper during this time is just really extra meaningful,” Reinsborough said.
Donations such as the one from the Good Lovelies can be helpful to maintaining the health of the river in many ways, according to Reinsborough. She said the Ottawa Riverkeeper’s pollution hotline is one area that’s always in need.
“It’s hard to be able to get funds year over year that are dedicated to answering those calls,” Reinsborough said. “That’s staff time that we usually don’t have the capacity to fundraise for.”
In addition to the charity of the Good Lovelies Christmas tour, the band also tries to offset their carbon footprint as travelling musicians.
At the end of February, Brooks was one of several Canadian musicians who founded Music Declares Emergency Canada, a group of professionals from within the music industry who are determined to work towards a carbon neutral future.
She said with factors such as travel-related expenses or backstage styrofoam containers, the music industry is quite consumptive.
“There’s a lot of conversations in the industry about how to shift our consumption patterns, how to encourage people coming to shows to take public transit or what infrastructure is needed to support the music industry to become more carbon neutral,” Brooks said.
Despite this, and while doing what they can to improve their industry, Brooks said she hopes this year’s tour audiences enjoy the same sense of nostalgia she gets when she steps onto each stage of their Christmas tour.
“There’s like a sense of family and joy in the room,” Brooks said. “It’s a feeling that lingers and I really hope that people can let go of the last few years and just come together and have a lot of joy. Just to feel some joy.”
Featured image by Jen Squires.
