As a Prairie resident, Raine Hamilton is used to flat landscapes.
So when the Winnipeg musician comes out to the west coast, she has to get used to the new scenery and the way she positions her eyes.
Mainly, they’re up.
“It’s a different vibe when you’re at the bottom of these mountains,” she said, in comparison to her usual Manitoban view.
“You have this experience of them reaching into this other world.”
As Hamilton noticed her upward gaze — seeing, in her mind, how the earth tries to touch the sky — it made her think about the words “courage,” “wisdom” and “connection.”
Last year, she released a full-length album, titled Brave Land, a concept work that harkens to the mountains’ strength.
The 11 tracks, half of them recorded before the COVID-19 lockdown, are “very transporting,” she said.
And performing them is “a physical sensation of lightening. I’m sharing these songs in a very spiritual state. I feel lifted off the Earth a little bit and holding the space between the worlds at once.”
Hamilton, as well as Quintin Bart (double bass) and Natanielle Felicitas (cello), will be at Coquitlam’s Evergreen Cultural Centre on Oct. 30 to sing her mountain tributes; the string trio will also be joined by Metro Vancouver musicians Wynston Minkler and Doug Gorkoff on its B.C. tour.
For tickets to the Raine Hamilton String Trio, at $35/$32/$16, call the box office at 604-927-6555 or visit evergreenculturalcentre.ca.
