Tower Of Song: A Creative Tribute To Leonard Cohen
Featuring Oliver Swain & Glenna Garramone with special guest Daniel Lapp
Saturday, March 22 
Doors 7:00pm Show 7:30pm

“I said to Hank Williams, how lonely does it get?
Hank Williams hasn’t answered yet.
But I hear him coughing all night long,
A hundred floors above me, in the Tower of Song”

When Leonard Cohen sang these words, the Tower of Song was a metaphor for the inspiration that flows between songwriters, each toiling away on their own, but connected by their shared craft. Moved by this concept, celebrated BC singer-songwriters Oliver Swain and Glenna Garramone collaborated to produce a project that is a dialogue through song and a tribute to the legendary songwriter.  Reimagining both rare and classic works of Cohen, the duo have crafted a sound that resonates with both longtime Cohen fans and a younger audience.

Tower of Song began as a one-off tribute night for a packed house at Vancouver’s The Media Club, and has since grown into a nationally touring folk duo.  Produced by Garramone, she invited fellow Victoria musician (Juno nominated) Oliver Swain, and the show gave Swain and Garramone the chance to grow their musical chemistry. Together as Tower of Song the two have arranged some of Cohen’s timeless songs beautifully, for two voices, string bass, piano, guitar and banjo.

Encouraged by the audience response, they continued to present the show regionally, and after several sold-out shows on Vancouver Island and a successful tour of BC and Alberta, Tower of Song put “more power in the tower,” recording their debut album In City and In Forest, with Juno award winning producer Joby Baker. They have since toured twice across BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec, playing more than 200 shows to thousands of people at theatres, festivals and folk clubs across Canada. Highlights include Salmon Arm Roots and Blues Festival, West End Cultural Centre (Winnipeg), Aeolian Hall (London), the Rotary Centre for the Arts (Kelowna), and the Dave Dunnet Theatre (Victoria).

“The tunes are hauntingly lovely. Wonderful takes with close harmonies and violent re-rhythmings. Musically sound. Faithful by being strongly, creatively Cohen, and yet wholly their own.” James N. Porter, Professor Emeritus (Arts), York University

Oliver Swain
2 x WCMA winning and Juno nominated Americana Folk and Roots musician Oliver Swain spent a dozen years in some of North America's most loved roots bands (Outlaw Social, The Duhks, The Bills) before going solo and releasing In a BIG MACHINE in 2011 to rave reviews, #1 spots on the charts, sold out shows and festival appearances across western Canada. A naturalist musician who was drawn to Louisiana and Appalachia several times to discover the roots of American music for himself, Oliver resides in Victoria, BC where frequent journeys into the rugged BC wilderness fuel his songwriting, singing and playing styles. Performing on Banjo and String Bass, led by tremendous vocal abilities, Oliver's live show has attracted a lot of attention over the years including that of Tamara Kater, Executive Director of Folk Music Canada: "Since I first discovered him in 2008, Oliver Swain has been one of my very favorite artists... an evening spent with Oliver Swain will leave you breathless and joyful." Oliver is also the director of The Village Choir and has scored for theatrical productions at the McPherson Playhouse and The Chemainus Theatre Festival. Visit www.oliverswain.com for more info.

Glenna Garramone
Based in Victoria, BC, Canada, Glenna Garramone is equally at home as a solo artist and in collaboration with a wide range of performers. Career highlights include mainstage performances at Telluride Bluegrass Festival, the Vancouver Folk Festival, and Rifflandia, as a keyboard player and vocalist for the band Shane Koyczan and the Short Story Long, with whom she co-wrote for their most recent album, Debris (featuring guest Ani DiFranco).  With a style somewhere between Keith Jarrett and Joni Mitchell, Glenna Garramone's songwriting earned her Grand prize in the Artswells Songwriting Contest, and the award-winning song "Bear Scat" was featured on CBC Radio's North By Northwest with Sheryl MacKay. Inspired by the geography, inhabitants, and spirit of the places she has lived, from Nunavut to Hawaii, Glenna Garramone crafts "raw, emotional, and utterly captivating" songs (John Threlfall, Monday Magazine), using anything from piano, to guitar, to her tap shoes. She also holds a BFA in Writing from the University of Victoria, with a major in Poetry. Glenna is founder and director of The Pandora Chorus, an indie-pop-rock choir. Visit www.glennagarramone.com for more info.

Daniel Lapp
Daniel Lapp is a world-renowned singer, multi-instrumentalist, composer, teacher, archivist, band leader, sideman, producer, promoter and – no kidding – the list goes on. And like the true-blue Canadian he is, Daniel does it all with trademark energy and warmth.  As a fiddler, jazz trumpeter and singer/songwriter, Daniel Lapp has played on over 100 albums and performed across Canada, United States, Ireland, England, Scotland, Wales, Finland and Germany with some of the world’s most renowned Folk and Jazz musicians. Daniel is the winner of the B.C. Fiddle Championship and has appeared as a soloist with the CBC Chamber Orchestra as well as the Prince George, Victoria, and Vancouver Symphonies.  A legendary force in Canada’s fiddle scene, in addition to his outstanding performing, Daniel has been musical mentor to hundreds of students—many of whom have gone on to successful careers in the music industry.