Unifier In The Belly: Idealistic Folkers Stone Poets Seek To Bridge “The Great Divide”
Factions on the left, factions on the right … sometimes it seems as if the only thing we as a people can agree on anymore is to disagree. Loudly.
British-Colombian folk/pop/roots act Stone Poets see the problem, and they refuse to be cowed by it. Lifting their voices in harmony to preach the virtues of… well, harmony, the trio of Cherelle Jardine, Scott Jackson, and Marc Gladstone makes a soft-spoken yet impassioned plea for lowering the cultural temperature on “The Great Divide,” the first single from their new album, HUM∀N.
“Why oh why, can’t we see eye to eye,” the yearning lyric implores, surveying a sad landscape in which hurtful words fly out like bullets from behind walls of self-protection that “block out the sun.” All the while, the gentle flow of the chords and melody points our way toward a paradise where none of this has to be:
I know a place where there ain’t no sides
It’s right in the middle of the great divide
“Humans are becoming increasingly divided into opposing groups,” the band observes. “These divisions are becoming more and more entrenched in society. It’s very disheartening.”
That awareness, they say, determined the thrust of not just the song, but the entire new album:
“We know how powerful music is, and we felt compelled to write songs that would bring people together, spread peace and love, unite hearts and combat hate, one listener at a time.”
It’s a pretty tall order of course, but in trying to fill it, the band is stepping into a sturdy tradition. While they say their ultimate artistic goal is to transcend categorization, you can trace a direct line from a song like “The Great Divide” back to classic idealistic protest folk like the Peter, Paul and Mary songbook and “One Tin Soldier.” Those echoes of the past reverberate in every aspect of the new single, from the lyrical point of view to the way the trio’s voices mesh so gorgeously on the choruses. (The degree to which they all shine individually on the verses is pretty nifty too.)
Stone Poets had originally traveled to Nashville to co-write “The Great Divide” with expat Canadian hitmakers Daryl and LeeAnn Burgess. Though LeeAnn has since passed away, she got to hear the finished track while she was still with us, and gave her blessing to its production quality, performances, and vocal arrangements. Need any more explanation why this crew is newly fixated on how much in life is really worth fighting over?
HUM∀N numbers a hefty 17 such songs of “hope, love and humanity,” ranging from pop tunes and soulful ballads to an instrumental piano piece by Gladstone and Jackson’s spoken word take on William Blake’s “A Poison Tree.” Also included is the previously released single “Gleam and Beam,” which marvels at the capacity for emotional intelligence a mother’s adoring gaze unlocks in a newborn.
The album was co-produced by longtime Stone Poets collaborator Sheldon Zaharko and recorded at Zed Productions, HippoSonic Studios, Monarch Studios, and Grassy Knoll Studio. Additional instrumentation was supplied by Vancouver studio aces and firm friends of the band Jerry Wong, Nick Haggar, Liam MacDonald, Jeremy Holmes, Jordan Aranas, Geeta Das, and Joe Alvaro.
It’s the Poets’ fifth recorded release since coming together in 2011 as a sort of regional supergroup built on the momentum of previous bands and solo projects. They’ve since forged a warm and intimate connection with their fans, through both the quality of their music and the between-songs storytelling they’ve discovered to be a crucial element of their live shows. Everything about HUM∀N —from the music to the packaging that’s festooned with images of homosapien DNA—broadcasts the band’s intention to deepen that performer/fan relationship and extend it to new converts as well. For everybody’s sake.
“It’s time to get the message out to the world,” the group says. “Peace movements are hard to start, but we believe once they start rolling, there’s no stopping them!”
First off, care to introduce yourself?
Hello. Stone Poets is a folk/pop, roots trio from Maple Ridge and Richmond, BC. Together we bring a blend of poetic lyricism and emotionally powerful instrumentation, writing music that we hope sparks hopefulness, a sense of joy, and optimism.
We’re three troubadours that connect hearts & minds through our body of work and our collective authenticity.
The three of us come from different backgrounds in music; Cherelle Jardine with 4 solo albums under her name plus 4 more with The Jardines and other projects in the roots/country/rock genre; Scott Jackson with a degree in Elizabethan poetry and 2 solo albums in under his name in the vein of singer/songwriter and pop genres; Marc Gladstone with a background in classical music after finishing with the Royal Conservatory of Music. Marc was also the keyboardist in The Jardines with Cherelle… and played keys in Abandon Paris which also featured Scott on lead vocals. There was a show in Richmond where Abandon Paris and The Jardines were both on the same bill and Scott asked Cherelle if she’d like to work on a song he’d been writing – he heard the song as a duet. Marc was in the back room and said, “you guys could write at my place”… and… that’s how Stone Poets was started. That one song grew into weekly songwriting sessions and within a year, our 1st album “Trippin’ on Daisies” was released. Now, 13 years later sees the 5th release HUM∀N for the trio https://stonepoets.hearnow.com.
Tell us about the process of recording “The Great Divide”?
“The Great Divide” – Our song of unity in a time when the world is so divided. Stone Poets went down to Nashville to write a song with renowned songsmiths, Daryl and LeeAnn Burgess. We went down with the title “The Great Divide” and the concept that humans (more than ever) seem so divided on just about every topic and the hope was to write a song that would make people think about the division and start bridging the divide. Out of that writing session the nucleus of “The Great Divide” was born. On returning to Canada, the song went through a few more revisions before it was ready to record. Once again, Sheldon Zaharko, multiple winner of the West Coast Music Award for Engineer/Producer was hired, but this would be the first time Stone Poets recorded at The Grassy Knoll Studio in Maple Ridge with Dave Slote as assistant engineer. Extra guitars (Jerry Wong), bass (Joe Alvaro), and percussion (Marc Gladstone) were added later at Zed Productions. LeeAnn sadly passed away not long after the song was recorded but she got to hear the song and expressed how proud she was of us for the exquisite recording and lush vocal harmonies. She absolutely loved how the song turned out. We pay tribute to her every time we perform The Great Divide and we love that she lives on through our music.
It was important to have The Great Divide on our new album HUM∀N. It ties in with our theme of peace, love, and humanity. The last line of the song “Let’s meet in the middle of the great divide” says it all.
We have to also mention that Indigenous artist Raven Mohan who is among the world’s leading Aboriginal artists, put together our video for “The Great Divide.”
What’s it like being an artist in Maple Ridge and Richmond, BC?
As an independent artist living in Maple Ridge, Richmond, anywhere in the Vancouver area really, it can be hard. There is a shortage of venues that support original live music. Our favourite venues as of late are home concerts or smaller pop-up venues. Original music has a harder time, people love familiarity; that’s why tribute bands are so big right now. For an original act, it takes a while before people start to recognize the name and the music. That being said, Stone Poets have been around for 13 years now and consistently gaining fans. The band is together because we love the music. We love playing live and sharing our music, and our stories, our audiences are very receptive to our music.
Who was the first and most recent Canadian artist to blow you away?
That question would have 3 very different answers from all 3 of us.
Cherelle says Alanis Morissette and The Weeknd (Abel Makkonen Tesfaye).
Marc’s would be Joni Mitchell and The Great Lake Swimmers.
Scott says Daniel Lanois and Half Moon Run.
You’ve been making music for a bit of time now, what’s one piece of advice you can offer to those starting out?
The first thing that comes to mind is to do it because you love it. Because you have to; because there really isn’t a choice…also, when recording, spend some time, and some money to do it right. Basement studios are commonplace now, but unless it’s really amazing you’re only helping to water down the quality of recorded music. You should feel completely exhausted after recording – don’t worry, you’ll recuperate… if you don’t, you probably could’ve done better… don’t be that person.
Live it, breathe it every part of your day.
Perfect your instrument; 10,000 hours of practice is only the beginning and never give up!