With lyrics I wanna be robotic I wanna press reset and I get so hard on myself, singer-songwriter Hannah Georgas is quick to concede that shes super sensitive.
I dont think Id be an artist, I dont think Id be making music if I wasnt so sensitive, she said on the phone from Toronto.
Vulnerable lyrics meshed with the synth pop of her self-titled second full-length album, released last October, earned her Juno nods, new fans and a spot on the main stage during the opening night of this years Vancouver Folk Music Festival, July 19 to 21.
Ode to Mom off that album is the song that audience members want to talk to Georgas about most.
The song is a song I wrote for my mom and its in memory of my dad who passed away three years ago, Georgas said. People just seem to gravitate to that and come up to me and tell me stories of how much that song helped them through some stuff and that theyve lost a family member.
Accolades for her latest album, which include nominations at this years Juno Awards for songwriter of the year and alternative album of the year along with her live performance of Robotic for the awards show have kept the 29-year-old busy touring.
When she hasnt been on the road, Georgas has been holing up in a friends cabin at Horne Lake near Nanaimo writing new songs.
Something about being able to get away from the city and be on my own and be all alone has triggered a lot of inspiration, Georgas said.
Shes focusing on following a line or a melody through to its fruition before she gets set on instrumentation and says her iPhone is full of ideas generated while riding her bike.
Georgas is also recording a cover of the Everly Brothers Bye Bye Love with Graham Walsh of Holy F***, who produced her last album and helped her shift from acoustic to more atmospheric and New Wave sounds.
That song is so heart-wrenching, lyrically. Its very sad but it just feels really happy if you werent someone whod sat down and listened to the lyrics, Georgas said. I was listening to it and I was like, wow, this song is so sad, I want to cover this and make you feel it a bit more.
Georgas isnt sure whether shell play Bye Bye Love at Folk Fest. But she and three other musicians are poised to recreate the electronic elements of her last album.
Georgas only realized her upcoming gig at Folk Fest will be her first solo show there when the Courier asked.
Her last turn at the festival was in 2010 when she and other B.C. musicians ended a 10-day bike tour of the Gulf Islands and southern Vancouver Island as an eight-piece musical collective called The Malahat Revue.
This oversight is likely a combination of her boosted confidence, her efforts to enjoy each moment or just how natural it feels for this native of Newmarket, Ont., now resident of Kitsilano, to roll down the hill to take in the festival at Jericho Beach Park.
Georgas said shed give the same advice to aspiring musicians that she gives herself.
She says life is less about pursuing a moment of pure success and happiness like she thought it was in her younger years.
There are just moments of greatness happening all the time all around you and you need to embrace that and be thankful for that stuff and it can be just enjoying the company you have and the friends that you have and family and life and laughing and love, Georgas said.
There are sure to be many memorable moments over the upcoming weekend for the 36th annual Folk Fest with 66 artists and groups from more than a dozen countries performing on seven daytime and two evening stages. Acts include Natalie Maines of the Dixie Chicks, Steve Earle and the Dukes, The Cat Empire, Kathleen Edwards, Loudon Wainwright III, DeVotchKa and The Waterboys.
Vancouver Folk Music Festival
July 19 to 21 at Jericho Beach Park
thefestival.bc.ca
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