Powerful art is often brought out by tensions – polarizing people and places that influence those around them. No one knows this Edmonton artist Ann Vriend.
Her latest album, For the People in the Mean Time, is inspired by the neighbourhood she has called her home base for the last six and a half years – the McCauley area in Edmonton.
The neighbourhood is described by Vriend as a tough one. It is a community where there is the vibrancy of different cultures and languages, beautiful architecture and old churches, but there is also homelessness, addiction, despair and mental illness.
Vriend said these contrasting ideas are found on her latest album.
“I think it reflects upbeat hopefulness and joyful, energetic soul music, but also the grit and dirt of the streets — the album is "low-fi" in the sense that it isn't cleanly digital or polished- it is purposefully rough,” Vriend said in an email interview.
She explained that the album lyrically deals with tough subject matter, embracing the mess of the inner city, in both its ups and its downs.
“I guess that's pretty much exactly what soul music from the '70s was all about, too. The people making it weren't coming from nice picturesque, suburban environments, they were coming from the grit and tension of inner-city streets,” she added.
Vriend said that a soul record is something that she had wanted to make for a long time, and the time felt right on this album. It also felt like a bold move according to Vriend, but one she was glad she took.
Bold moves are something that is on Vriend’s mind at the time of the interview, especially when it comes to where she calls home.
“It's painfully funny you should ask me that,” Vriend said, commenting on whether she will stay in the city of champions.
Currently on tour in Europe, she said a German record label had recently asked her if she would consider moving to Europe.
Although Vriend said she has a lot of committed fans in Edmonton and Canada, things are going a lot better in markets outside of her home country.
“There are lots of great musicians in Edmonton, actually, but I think the general population hasn't really caught on to that yet,” she said, explaining that Rexall Place will sell out for big acts, but it's still really tough to get anyone to come to a local show.
“In my heart, I would like to be able to stay, but there needs to be a viable way to do that,” said Vriend.
Vriend will play Legacy Guitar and Coffee House Dec. 6.
