Rubyfaced bob zimmerman & Archbishop thom Of yorke. His Horn, and miles davis' Very Own gil evans.sigur r., cohen, paul & john, ms. Piaf, arcade fire, mr. wilson, gershwin, leloup, r. charles, rachmaninov (d.), r. johnson, mr. buckley...
"Leif Vollebekk is a Canadian singer-songwriter with an enchanting voice. On his new album, Inland, he sings gently plucked, sparely arranged ballads in both French and English. There's no shortage of singer-songwriters in the world, but I found Inland to be a particularly beautiful, memorable and moving collection of songs. Vollebekk has a great sense for melody and arranging -- he knows when to give a song space to breathe -- and he's a gifted multi-instrumentalist, playing guitar and piano, harmonica and violin." -Robin Hilton, NPR
Above all though, Leif’s songs are beautiful. Each arrangement seems to flow perfectly as he moves from acoustic to piano to violin or even a rollicking full band affair, but he never adds more than required and constantly displays an uncanny understanding of what listeners need and when they need it. -Herohill
(5/5) -emoragei magazine
His name and blood may be Scandinavian, but Leif is a born and raised Canadian. A graduate from the University of Ottawa, Leif spent the past three years living in between Ottawa, Reykjavik and Montreal. He finally ended up moving permanently to the latter to record the new songs he had been working on. His debut album, Inland, was recorded in Montreal's Breakglass Studios (Wolf Parade, Patrick Watson, Stars, Unicorns). The album will be available on January 19th across Canada on Nevado Records.
His live shows consist of traditional acoustic guitar and harmonica weaved in over more contemporary electric violin textures scintillating through Fender reverb. Leif is often backed by his new band - Lily, Rosemary & the Jack of Hearts - which includes three-piece brass, steel guitar, upright bass and drums. In the past year, he has opened for the likes of Basia Bulat, Elliot Brood, Serena Ryder, C.R. Avery and Royal Wood. Leif has also been featured on both CBC Radio's The Signal and Bandwidth while remaining steadily in the top 40 of Montreal and Ottawa University Radio Stations CHOQ, CISM, CHUO and CKCU.
Festivals that Leif has played all within the past year include the Ottawa Bluesfest, Pop Montreal, NXNE (North By North East), the Scene Music Festival, and the Go Festival. He has just completed a tour of Eastern Ontario and will be touring Canada’s east coast in September.
Hey, I made it off of Shetland Island. Just in time, Stef says you are booked at the Supermarket next week! Will see you then. I am looking forward to it. x
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