Andrina Turenne releases music video for “August Lament” ahead of upcoming album, Bold As Logs
Winnipeg, MB-based singer-songwriter Andrina Turenne is set to release her album Bold As Logs on April 28, 2023.
Andrina has graced stages across five continents and has lent her voice—as a member or a guest—to more than 50 albums during her 20-plus years in the music industry. In addition, she has a Juno for best roots & traditional Album, awarded to her former band Chic Gamine.
Bold As Logs contains 11 soulfully engaging songs in French and English, delivered in the spirit of road trips, kitchen parties, and bonfire gatherings. Andrina may have taken her time to move front and centre, but her time is now—and it was worth the wait. As might be expected, some of the songs have been gestating for many years, although some sprung from more recent ideas captured as home demos and voice memos. Andrina whittled them down to 14, which she sent to producer Grant Siemens (Corb Lund), and along with Andrina’s longtime musical partner Damon Mitchell (formerly of Winnipeg’sthe New Meanies), they worked together as a trio to bring the album’s final cuts to life.
While you’re waiting to check out Bold As Logs, take a moment to watch Andrina’s brand new live video performance of “August Lament.”
Watch the video below and learn more about Andrina Turenne via our mini-interview.
First off, care to introduce yourself to our readers?
I’m Andrina Turenne. I’m a musician and artist from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Treaty One Territory. I was born and raised in the large historic francophone community of Manitoba. I am Métis on my maternal side, and Franco-Manitoban on my paternal side. I have loved music and singing for as long as I can remember. I learned to sing and harmonize around crowded campfires with relatives and family friends when I was a kid. Those are still some of my favourite memories. I started writing songs as a teenager and joined my first band at 14 years old. After graduating high school, I spent over two decades recording and touring with bands. I’m so very grateful for the experiences and friendships made in those years. Since 2016, I’ve been working as a solo artist, creating music and sound design for various productions and projects, voicing characters in children’s animation shows, and doing some mentoring, as well as taking time to write and record my own music.
You have unveiled a new music video for “August Lament.” What can you tell us about the creative process behind the release?
I released the studio single for “August Lament” on March 24th and wanted to follow it up with a live performance. Something stripped down to showcase the vulnerable side of the song further. I asked my longtime pal and guitar player extraordinaire Damon Mitchell to join me for this performance. Damon is a main collaborator on the record, and we’ve been playing music together for over two decades now. We shot this video in the BeaverHut, which is my home studio. Many of the arrangements and songs for Bold as Logs were born in this space, so it felt right to shoot it there. My good pals at Centric Productions came to film, and the wonderful Jaxon Haldane captured the audio.
You are set to release your album, Bold As Logs, on April 28. Care to share the writing process of the album?
This album is a collection of new and old songs. Because it’s my first solo record, there were years worth of songs to sift through and consider, going back over a decade for some. I also had lots of new ideas I had been working on, and those ideas were brought to life in pre-production with my incredible collaborators Damon Mitchell and Grant Siemens. When we first started working on this record, I kept saying that I wanted these songs to feel like logs floating down a river. Sometimes the current is strong and hard, and sometimes it’s soft and sweet. Either way, you follow the current and ride it on down. All the songs that made it to Bold as Logs are special to me, from the ones that have lived with me for years to the ones that were born in the process. I’m proud of this record. A lot of love went into making it. It feels like a beautiful snapshot of where I’m at and how I got here.
What’s your favourite thing about being a musician in Winnipeg?
My favourite thing about being a musician in Winnipeg is the incredible network of people I get to work with, perform with, create, and dream with. The Winnipeg music scene is so heavy and has gifted me with some of the most beautiful and long-lasting friendships of my life, not to mention incredible inspiration at every turn. I spent my early years inspired by the many great Franco-Manitoban acts of the 70s and 80s and spent many of my formative years at the Times Change(d) High and Lonesome, playing shows and hearing bands like Nathan, the D-Rangers, The Perpetrators, Righteous Ike and the Spellcasters. That club is a beating heart in this city, and it has played a big part in who I am as a musician today. The special thing about this scene, too is that it is so supportive – people go out to catch each other’s shows, and you’re always being invited to a wacky jam in someone’s basement. The music runs deep and keeps us going. Winnipeg taught me the perfect blend of beauty and grit; I still strive for that balance in my music.
What’s up next for you in 2023?
After the release of my record, I look forward to playing festivals this summer, including the Winnipeg Folk Festival and the Canmore Folk Festival. In the fall, I will be releasing a follow-up francophone EP including the French songs on Bold as Logs and a handful more I recorded last fall. What I look forward to the most this year is sharing this project at long last, putting these songs out there, hoping they resonate with people, and playing as many shows as I can!
Connect with Andrina Turenne:
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