Isobelle Gunn

House of James has concerts Friday or Saturday nights. Normally we don't pay much attention to the ads for those who are playing, but for whatever reason, yesterday we read the ad in the morning paper. Glancing at the ad, one name stood out: Jacob Moon. Jacob Moon is one of our favorite musicians. He is an extremely talented guitar player and vocalist. Upon closer inspection it looked like he was going to be playing that night. A little puzzled as to why we didn't get any of the usual e-mails regarding his concerts we decided to go anyway and see if he was there.
When we got there and had a look at who all was sitting around, it became obvious that Jacob wasn't there, but having paid to come we decided to stay. Settling in with our coffee and books we were treated to an evening of amazing music by two different groups: The Carriers and Isobelle Gunn. The opening act, The Carriers, were a local group who are just getting started in the music industry and while their stage presence and relationship with the audience is still coming along their talent musically speaking was amazing.
The main attraction for the evening was Isobelle Gunn which is a trio from Ontario. As the band explained, the name Isobelle Gunn was the name of a real lady who lived in the early 18th century and was a Scottish immigrant to Canada. Upon arriving she wanted to work for the HBC but being a woman, wasn't allowed. Being of the that stubborn Scottish nature, she didn't take no for an answer and disguised herself as a man. It worked for a couple of years until she gave birth and was found out. They said that they liked the name for the juxtaposition of the beauty of the name Isobelle and the harshness of Gunn, as well as that she was Canadian too. They also enjoyed the name for the expectations that that it raised and broke. When you hear the name Isobelle Gunn, you expect a beautiful woman to walk up alone to the stage. Instead there are two women and a man.
The group formed a few years ago and have done quite well for themselves. They are incredibly talented in terms of musical performance and vocally just as much. Their lyrics are just amazing, being well thought out, beautiful, deep, and actually give you something to think about as well.
When they were finished we decided that we liked them enough to by the two CD's they have come out with so far. Looking at the CD's we found where the whole Jacob Moon thing came from; he plays on over half the songs on their latest CD! Apparently they are good friends and when they get back to Ontario they are going to tour with him. Talking to the band after was wonderful. They are down to earth people and very interesting to talk to. We hope to see them again in Abbotsford and maybe with Jacob Moon as well.