As a folk musician, Lynn Miles finds herself in an enviable situation these days.
Having honed her craft for years, she’s now in the ideal situation of doing exactly what she wants to do, career-wise.
A native Montrealer who now calls Ottawa home, Miles grew up in a home filled with music. Her father played harmonica and was a jazz fan, while her mother was a lover of both country music and opera. Set on a musical journey in her childhood, she has created seven albums and won a 2003 Juno Award, won multiple Canadian Folk Music Awards, Billboard Magazine Top 10 picks and has garnered plenty of critical praise.
As a voice coach, she even spent time with Alanis Morrissette before the 14-year-old recorded her first album.
Miles opens the Live on 7th season, Oct. 14 at the Canmore Miner’s Union Hall. She’ll be accompanied by Prairie Oyster’s Keith Glass on guitar. Her stop in Canmore is one of half a dozen in Western Canada.
Miles’ most recent album, Fall For Beauty, is the culmination of decades of songwriting and performing. “It’s been a long work in progress,” she said. “It’s been four of five years since I’ve done a studio album.
“And the writing took a while… it’s my view of the world, things I see in the papers, what I read about. One of the songs, “Little Bird”, I wrote after reading Gabor Mate’s book In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts. It’s a beautiful book about addictions. “Little Bird” is dedicated to Gabor.
“Another song, “Love Doesn’t Hurt”, I wrote after watching an Oprah show about domestic violence. During the show, she kept saying love doesn’t hurt and just about as soon as I heard that, the song was about written.”
As a songwriter, Miles said she often needs just a song title or idea to pop into her head before a song virtually writes itself in her mind. “I’ve written in themes, you know, unrequited love, blah, blah, blah… But I’m trying to expand my songwriting. I read a lot of non-fiction and I’m immersed in the world and I’ve got my head out of the sand. Even with human relationships, there’s always a new angle; for example, what humans do to each other.”
Miles keeps a book close to hand so that any good ideas can be quickly jotted down for later exploration. With thoughts collected and written down, she sets aside blocks of time for her songwriting.
And all that leads us to the present day and her gig at the Union Hall, sponsored by the Mountain Arts Foundation and CAUSE Kids.
Today, Miles is in the enviable position of working on exactly what she chooses to. At 52, “I’m more excited about music now than ever before,” she said. “I feel freer than ever before.”
Part of the reason for her musical freedom is her Black Flowers Project; she is taking songs old and new and recording them in a simple fashion with minimal accompaniment on piano or guitar. Sparse arrangements allow for more focus on Miles’ songwriting process, storytelling, melodies and lyrics.
“I started the Black Flowers Project about a year and a half ago,” she said. “I’ve got about 600 songs written and I’ve gone into the studio to record a lot of songs with just voice and guitar. And that’s why I feel freer, all my babies are taken care of.
“And with Black Flowers, for some reason, country songs are exploding with me. I’ve always wanted to do country songs and right now, I’m writing more than I have in years. It’s a great place to be.
“And I think turning 50 made a difference. I don’t take crap from anybody, and that’s freeing in a way. In a way, I created my own little rut, it was a genre thing. There was a time when it was all about the big studio and I used to feel like that’s what was in store, that I couldn’t change, that that’s the way everybody would hear a song.
“But now I can change arrangements, do things in a certain way. I’ve got a ballad that I’ve now recorded as a faster bluegrass song. Things like that make you freer.”
As well, Miles has produced a couple of albums for other artists and has immersed herself in songwriting workshops where others can benefit from her years of experience.
“After all these years, I feel I’ve earned my PhD. If you go with the 10,000 hour theory (where 10,000 hours of doing something in particular equals a degree), then I feel there are things I actually do know about.
“I’ve recently done some workshops in Wakefield (Quebec) and they’re a lot of fun. My theory is there are no rules to songwriting, so get together a bunch of people, talk and delve into songwriting. And I love to play and be on stage. If audiences are with me and we’re connecting, there’s nothing better.”
Live on 7th tickets are available for $30 at the door, or for $25 at Second Story Books on Main Street in Canmore.
