An unconventional musical duo may live in Texas but there is rarely a vacancy at a Twilight Hotel show back in Canada.
Twilight Hotel’s Brandy Zdan and Dave Quanberry pen songs that often defy genres and classification as the pair explores avant-garde songwriting and instrumentation.
The act will be bringing their unique sound to the Flare ‘n’ Derrick Community Hall in Turner Valley at 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 12 as part of the Beneath the Arch concert series.
They began their musical partnership in Winnipeg but made a move to Austin, Texas in 2009. While Austin is highly regarded for its live music scene which has fostered the talents of legendary artists such as blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughn, Zdan said she and Quanberry decided to relocate more for personal reasons than professional ones.
“It was mostly just to make a life change,” she said. “A lot of things about the town appealed to us and not just the music. The lifestyle, the weather, the food and the culture were all reasons to make the move. There’s always a lot of art being created in town, just the way some of the buildings are painted, there is an esthetic we both appreciate.”
Though they often are reported as being husband and wife, the members of Twilight Hotel are no longer married but their musical partnership remains intact Zdan explained.
“That’s been going for eight years and it’s still going strong and we’re glad to still be creating music together,” she said.
The duo’s music is often dark, brooding and rich in texture. It’s made all the more haunting when Zdan and Quanberry combine their voices as they do on the song “When the Wolves Go Blind,” the title track of their new album released in January. The video for the song can be viewed at www.twilighthotel.ca
The duo demonstrates their diverse musical talents on the new disc. Quanberry plays three types of guitar, mountain dulcimer, piano and ukulele. Zdan adds lap steel guitar, electric guitar and accordion to the album’s tracks.
On their current Canadian tour the pair is joined on stage by Toronto drummer Pat Phillips.
Zdan said Twilight Hotel welcomes any chance to return to their native land and perform.
“We come back here once a year,” she said. “The majority of our fans are back in Canada and we want to come and play for them.”
The performer explained she and Quanberry have been pleased with the media support they have received at home. She just wished some of the record labels would take a closer look at what they are doing.
“When we release records we always find the people in the press and on the radio are very receptive to them and enjoy the uniqueness of our music,” Zdan said. “But in terms of the music industry, it’s hard to get noticed by it. We’re completely independent in Canada. We don’t have a label. We don’t even have an agent. We have none of those pieces. That hasn’t stopped us from doing what we do. At the end of the day if you have the fans coming to your shows you’re going to be okay.”
Ticket information for Twilight’s Hotel’s 7:30 p.m. show on Feb. 12, at the Flare ‘n’ Derrick in Turner Valley can be found at www.beneaththearch.org
