Spirit of Rasputin's

Tin Constellations

Saturday, October 24 at 8:00 pm
Westboro Masonic Hall,
430 Churchill Ave.N., Ottawa

Tickets: $25

Online ticket sales close at noon on Saturday.

Tin Constellations latest release, Cobden, is their most ambitious to date. In the words of tin con’s lyricist Brent Smith:  “Cobden is a murder ballad set in a time of turmoil at home and abroad.” Cobden is a concept album in 10 movements. The setting is the Ottawa Valley during wartime. The drama features a narrator (McGoo) who will guide us through the story which also incorporates big harmonies, a melodic narrative, and powerful instrumentation from both strings and accordion – it is a bold orchestral folk murder ballad.

Maria, our heroine, is at home alone in Cobden while her lover is away “fighting a rich man’s war”. Maria finds herself harassed by an assailant but Maria is not weak, a fact her attacker would attest to, if life permitted.

Let me tantalize you with the titles of the dramas’ movements and songs. These will do nothing to diminish the power of the performance but perhaps will provide a guide as you enter the world of Tin Constellations and Cobden.

1. Hedgerow
Welcome to Cobden…a landscape formed by water and ice and time…this valley of winding rivers and sparkling lakes, between the hills of Gatineau and the Petawawa fault.

2. Requiem for a Song Sparrow
A low-swooping hawk scans the surroundings. Alert, observant, without sound. What does she see unfolding below?

3. The Letter
“Maria, my love, keep this envelope in your breast pocket. It need not be spoiled by the light of day. Your heart needn’t break with it’s seal”

4. Foxholes
“I’m writing you a letter, from a foxhole in a farmer’s field, wondering what this looks like to birds.”

5. The Diviner’s Dirge
A shot rang out…it ripples and tears.

6. Cobden
“I’m here, you’re there…he comes around…it’s too much to bear…all I want is you.”

7. Thunder Claps and Lightning Flashes
Maria longs for Josiah, and the day, not far off now, when he will return. “When are you coming home? Where are you tonight?”

8. The Diviner
The collateral violence of war has imprinted itself on the mind of the diviner. He, too, is in a struggle to hold ground: to hold on to his ancient art in the face of pressures brought on by a changing world.

9. By the Light of the Moon
So much is revealed under the cool light of the moon that waxes and wanes as it pulls back the shadows.

10. Hedgerow redux
“When are you coming home?”

Order your tickets today and then join us at the Westboro Masonic Hall on October 24 to experience Tin Constellations live presentation of Cobden. It’s going to be a good one.