Early 2020 news — Zoe Guigueno

Hey everyone,

I hope this letter finds you well. I just spent a couple weeks on the west coast, hiking in the woods and visiting family and friends around Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands, where I’m from. We always do a polar bear swim on New Years Day down at Campbell Bay on Mayne Island. It is one of the best feelings, a cold water plunge. We walked out to Edith Point afterwards which is where I took the above photo (on my recently acquired K1000!! I am new to cameras and photography and am eager for feedback, criticism, advice, lessons?)

But I’m back home in Brooklyn now and I’ve got lots of music things coming up to share with you.

Today, January 17: Della Mae's 4th album on Rounder Records, Headlight, is now released! So many people were involved in bringing this album to life, too many to list (many featured in this new video!), and there's so much I could say describing the album's themes and inspirations - but I just want to say this: Celia, Kimber & Jenni Lyn - you guys are such hard workers, such incredible musicians, such inspiring people. I'm proud to have made this album with you all.

January 18th: This Saturday night (tomorrow!) I am playing a show in Brooklyn at Pete’s Candy Store, 8pm. This is a “Zoe” show of the songs on my upcoming album. I’ll play guitar and will be joined by Jason Burger on drums (check out his creation, witchduck), Andrew DiMola on bass, and Alec Spiegelman on perhaps bass clarinet and synth (Alec produced my two albums, & has a solo album coming out soon, too!). I'm working on nailing down a release date for my album, and am generally working on booking shows, getting the layout done (I'm working with graphic designer Benedict Kupstas, check him out, he's great). The cover art is gonna be a piece by Brooklyn artist Jeremy Herrmann (check out his instagram: @gerrmtheworrm)

Later in January: Folk Alliance down in New Orleans. I’ll be there with Laura Cortese & the Dance Cards, showcasing the material we recorded last spring in Belgium. That album is coming out very very soon too! On Compass Records! I'll also be doing a solo set at FAI on Wednesday night (at midnight in the Mavens room.)

February 1: I’ll be playing with Elana Brody at the Way Station, up on Washington in Crown Heights (Brooklyn). Elana is a helluva singer, piano player, songwriter. I’m thrilled to play with her again. 8pm. (Also ---- come with us after to the book launch (of photography!) /album (of music!) release of Jeremy Gustin / The Ah, at STEP BONE CUT Bar, on Cook street in Williamsburg. I’m not part of this show, just plugging because I’m a big fan.)

Feb 6: My yiddish-klezmer-band Tsibele is playing at Barbès (Brooklyn), at 10pm. Among our new material is a Yiddish translation of one of my new songs! .. and I'll tell you that Tsibele's doing a three-month residency at Barbès - other dates are March 5th (this one will have a sub bass player) and April 2nd (i'll be at that one).

Feb 14: Valentine’s Day can mean free bungee jumping if you go naked, or a free drink on Southwest Airlines. In my life this year it means I am playing at the House of Love concert series in Red Hook (brooklyn), which is kind of like a mini Tiny Desk as far as my personal dream gigs go. I’ll be playing electric bass with Eau Claire, WI based artist Shane Leonard. Shane’s music is catchy, tight, emotional, direct. RSVP to houseofloveconcerts@gmail.com for a spot. It gets crowded in there.

Feb 23: I’ll be playing a solo set at the Back Room in Berkeley, CA, 8:30pm, on a co-bill with Colin Cotter. Please tell your Bay Area friends! I booked this show since I’m going to be in the vicinity to tape (just let me use that word, it sounds nicer) some more bass lessons for Peghead Nation. Peg what? Peghead Nation is a platform that offers music lessons on a variety of instruments. You pay about $20/month to subscribe and you get at least one new lesson a month and access to articles and various musical resources... and you can correspond with the instructors too. If you or someone you know has always wanted to learn bass, mandolin, guitar, fiddle… but don’t have access to a teacher in your area, or just want to do an online course, check it out.

(That said, I'm also getting more into teaching in general these days, in person or over Skype or whatnot, just putting that out there. If you want to send anyone my way.)

March 6-14: Going to Germany with Michael Winograd & the Honorable Mentshn (have you heard Winograd’s album, Kosher Style? It. Is. Fantastic.) to play a klezmer festival in Fürth! And then will be backing up Geoff Berner at the same fest, which is such a trip. I’ve been seeing Geoff around at Canadian folk festival stages since even before my Fish & Bird days. Geoff in his white suit, down on the stage at the main hall at ArtsWells, screaming about police and disease and religion and corruption and alcohol. One time Fish & Bird and Geoff were on a workshop set at Brandon Folk Fest, and Geoff played Elvis Costello’s scathing “Tramp the Dirt Down”, and afterwards we talked about Ondaatje novels, in the grass behind the stage. Michael Ondaatje wrote one of my favourite books ever, In the Skin of a Lion. He also wrote an amazing novel called Coming Through Slaughter, which inspired the lyrical approach to my song “Northern Ontario” (on my EP Five Songs).

And speaking of Fish & Bird – that’s a band I was in with my longtime BC pals Adam Iredale-Gray, Taylor Ashton, Ryan Boeur and Ben Kelly -- we made albums and toured the expanses of Canada in a Mitsubishi Delica converted to run on waste vegetable oil... both Adam and Taylor play on my new album, and I am playing some bass and singing on Taylor’s new album, The Romantic (coming out Feb 28 on Signature Sounds, that’s another February highlight!!!) and Taylor sings on Adam’s band Aerialists’ wonderful new album, Dear Sienna, which came out last week. I am so grateful for these deep musical relationships that, despite distance, time and turmoil, not only survive, but come out of the ground gloriously like mushrooms after a rain. And I really love this photo Taylor took of me (see below) another lifetime ago, on a F&B tour, while I made a coffee in a parking lot in Jasper National Park before taking a driving shift. This was the first time I’d been down highway 93 in the Rockies and I almost drove off the road for the stunning beauty. I remember that night or the following day writing most of the lyrics to “Columbia Icefield”, which is also on Five Songs, on the back of a WestJet boarding pass.

Ok!! Thank you for reading! More things to come sometime. Hope to see you out there.

Zoe