Fredericton, NB-Based Folk Roots Group ENGAGE Release Double A-Side Singles “Guitar Strings” And “Mirage”
Sometimes, a great single is only usurped by having two great singles simultaneously, and that’s what New Brunswick/Ontario-based folk roots group Engage has done with its latest double A-side singles “Guitar Strings” and “Mirage.” The songs each stand on their own fantastic merit but when combined make for an enjoyable and alluring one-two punch.
Engage features singer, keyboardist ,and guitarist Carla Bonnell, singer/guitarist Rick Bartlett, drummer Greg Mansfield, and, for these two songs, guest bassist Peter Sisk (who played with Bartlett in the ’80s with the Howard Brook Band). The band has made two uniquely intriguing songs, each teeming with standout moments that would satiate the tastes of folk/roots/country listeners. And according to Engage both “Guitar Strings” and “Mirage” were created in far more peaceful circumstances than the 2023 album The Time Has Come, the Bronze winner of at the International Singer Songwriters Association Awards in Atlanta, Georgia.
“The first album was recorded in part during the 2022 hurricane,” the band says. “This time, we have avoided driving into one to meet our deadline.”
“Guitar Strings,” written by Bonnell and produced by both Bonnell and Bartlett, lends itself more to a lighter, breezier arrangement complementing Bonnell’s voice. Lyrically, the slightly country-leaning gem addresses heartache and the need to strum your guitar sometimes and write a song about it. It’s a song Bonnell wrote in 2014 but “was revisited and recorded in New Brunswick with a whole new feel thanks to Rick’s guitar work on the lead.”
The new rendition came after Bonnell asked friends and fans which earlier song they’d love to see revisited, and “Guitar Strings” got the thumbs up. “The biggest influence in putting this on the album was my mother, Bonnell says. “It’s her favorite of the songs I have written.” As for the inspiration, Bonnell adds it originated from “a situation where I thought someone had my back and they walked away from me.”
Meanwhile “Mirage,” composed, written, and produced by Bartlett and Bonnell, is an earthy, rootsy nugget featuring Bartlett and Bonnell swapping verses for a sweet-sounding result. Chugging along with great guitar works in the bridge from Bartlett, “Mirage” is an endearing, earnest piece of work whose seed of inspiration came from a riff Barlett had in his head for some time.
“One night, while we were hanging out, he mentioned again that he would like me to come up with the melody line and words,” Bonnell says of “Mirage.” “I always had huge anxiety about co-writing, so I had put off previous requests. This night I just said, ‘Well heck, okay!’ I wrote the lyrics and the melody line in five or ten minutes, and ‘Mirage’ was born.”
Using Bartlett’s guitar like a painter’s canvas, Bonnell was able to paint “Mirage” perfectly with her lyrics as the song was culled from finding “a sparkle of hope” in the “middle of darkness” or a trying period Bonnell experienced. Stylistically, the single’s music conjures a mix of the Old West but also some Middle Eastern accents sprinkled in.
“We both felt that we leveled up our skills in ‘Mirage’ by combining our styles and the way we see our world,” Bonnell says.
Engage, seen as a “project” band in 2021 by Bartlett and Bonnell, formed in New Brunswick and features a newly added bass player Vernon Daigle alongside Mansfield. Bonnell, inducted in 2014 into the Minto Country Music Hall of Fame, has two solo albums to her credit including 2014’s The Liberator. She has also worked with producer J.P. Cormier. Meanwhile, Bartlett played in many bands in and around his hometown of Williamsburg and saw his 2015 album with Colton Craft entitled Brighter Days released “under the production” of Billy Sherwood of prog-rock legends Yes.
Since forming Engage the group earned a bronze for The Time Has Come at the 2024 International Singer Songwriters Association awards in Atlanta. Both Bartlett and Bonnell earned top ten mentions in the 2023 World Song Writing Contest for their songs “So Long,” “This One,” “Raven’s Song” and “Dirty Water” off the 2023 effort.
Engage was named after Star Trek’s character Jean Luc Picard’s command, “Engage!” during many episodes. Now with two solid A-side singles in “Guitar Strings” and “Mirage,” the time has come for Engage to make it so when it comes to growing its international fan base with passionate, pristine songs.
Hi, Carla! Good to see you again! Care to introduce yourself to the readers who might only know you from your solo work?
It’s great seeing you all again as well! It has always been a dream of mine to have my own project to work on. During my solo career, I had to rely on other musicians, usually in-house, which was a wonderful experience. However, every musician puts a different feel on your song and then you add production so there were often many changes in the sound of my songs over the course of a couple of albums. Engage fell into my lap, it was not even on my radar. I was still focusing on songwriting and trying to at least put out one single per year. It was tiring, to say the least, and a lot of times highly frustrating, but I never gave up. When I was running HGB Canada Radio, I was seeking out local artists in New Brunswick who had radio-ready music and were writing their own material. Because of the path I had taken in my career, I felt that there was something else I could do to help get that music heard. These were the days before the major streaming platforms. Someone told me Rick Bartlett had just finished a CD with Billy Sherwood from the prog band YES and suggested I should contact him. I did and was able to put his music on the station. Fast forward a few more years and I needed a guitar player to play a gig in New Brunswick and I didn’t know anyone who wasn’t already committed, willing, or flexible enough with payment. Another colleague suggested I ask Rick which I did and we rocked the house. Fast forward one more time and I moved back to Fredericton, NB in 2019, to spend time with my grandparents as I knew they didn’t have much time left. That’s when I was re-introduced to Rick as I was invited to help out in a music group by another colleague. I agreed when I knew Rick was playing lead, as I knew the quality of work he had been doing. I was raised here in New Brunswick, and I was really glad to be back home after many years of living in Ontario. Rick and I became fast friends and our friendship grew around the songwriting and performing of our own material. At that point, natural progression occurred we began playing as a trio which grew into a full band with many changes in that band. I called it a project because I wasn’t sure I wanted to commit to it as I didn’t have a lot of time on my hands with work responsibilities. I ended up having a car accident 9 months after my grandparents passed away 19 days apart in 2020. That left a huge hole in my life, as they raised me alongside my mom. The next year was trying to get my mobility back, my timing, and my ability to think! I had a concussion and other injuries. I am lucky to be alive without more massive injuries. I worked steadily to get my timing back and get rid of the confusion that would occur in the middle of playing a song. During this time, we were already a band and we started working on recording at home as a project to see what we could do. I am happy to say my skills have returned and this second album of Engage, has been much easier to work on. I guess life morphed me into where I am now as an artist who has a really cool bunch of guys to work with.
Your 2023 album The Time Has Come earned a Bronze at the International Singer-Songwriters Association Awards. How has this recognition influenced the band’s approach to making music?
Being acknowledged by your peers whom you have never met all over the world, is a very freeing experience. Even though we validate ourselves all the time to keep doing what we are doing, it was a very special recognition. We knew the album was made at home and probably had a lot of deficiencies. So having our fan base, vote us into the Finals and then come out with a win, solidified for us that this is our calling. We are to communicate ideas, feelings, and experiences that we all share, through music. We now know that our music is valuable, even though we may be buried under a mound of other amazing talent all over the world, – some people noticed and gave us a formal nod. So now, look out! We have been let loose. We are finishing this 12-song album, which includes our two releases, and we have already started writing the third Engage album. We don’t feel pigeonholed anymore. We just write and see what the song wants us to produce in the instruments, vocals, and feel.
Both “Guitar Strings” and “Mirage” have unique qualities that stand out individually. How did you decide to release these two songs together as a double A-side?
We wanted to show people we are still as diverse as ever with our sound. These two songs are so far apart in style yet have that “ Engage” sound still flowing through them. We wanted to showcase to people our variety that is born out of myself and Rick’s musical influences. We make the joke that we have only just begun and I believe we have. Guitar Strings was written by me in 2014, and I have played it live in many of my shows. People seemed to resonate with it. My Mom and Rick were determined it should be on this album. They won the vote!
Mirage was so different as it ended up being a co-write, the first one ever for me and Rick together. I have to say I was so excited about what we ended up with. It was my first crack at a co-write with anyone. Rick had co-written before. He had this rift that he didn’t feel he was supposed to write the melody line and lyrics. He had asked me before, but my confidence was shot after the accident. This past year he mentioned it again, I pulled away from it, and then said okay fine. And everything flowed out so easily! It is also the first song we have presented as more or less a duet. That’s why Mirage received the nod.
The production for these singles was much more peaceful compared to The Time Has Come, which was partially recorded during a hurricane. How did the calmer recording environment affect the final sound of the songs?
We are still doing everything at a home studio. And these two songs weren’t affected by a hurricane. Who drives into a hurricane anyway just to record!! People were driving out of Nova Scotia and we willingly drove into Nova Scotia. We do I guess! It does take some of the stress off as we always have deadlines, financial timelines, and storms! Now, just a little side note we were recording the drums on our third track on this album on Nov 1, in our drummer Greg Mansfield’s garage when a huge wind, rain, and thunderstorm suddenly appeared. We found out just a couple of days ago, an F0 tornado touched down nearby. I guess Engage just likes the excitement of storms! But that’s the fun of it. We just love rolling with the flow. Everything happens for a reason and we enjoy every moment of the process and hopefully, that translates in the music you hear from us.
Your band’s name was inspired by Jean-Luc Picard’s command “Engage!” How does this Star Trek reference resonate with the spirit of your music?
Remember that first band I was telling you about where I agreed to help out when I knew Rick was going to be a part of it? Well, the keyboard player used to point to the rest of us when he wanted us to kick in on time to his keyboard intro. Rick and I started hollering Engage every time he did it. We wanted him to take that name for the group but he didn’t think it was a good one so we kept it for ourselves when things turned around a couple of years later. Rick may have another view on this but it’s likely close to mine, but the Prime Directive applies as well. My nerd is showing here! When Jean-Luc says Engage, there is purpose. They are heading somewhere and moving a pretty big ship through sometimes friendly and not-so-friendly zones throughout space. Just like music, you never know if people are going to like it or be hostile to it. It’s subjective to the listener. Like Captain Picard, we lay in a course, and we Engage and the ship moves where our coordinates state to go. Anything can happen on the journey, and hopefully, we have the crew that can move about in parts unknown with us to discover whole new worlds and people! We explore our own music at every point of the process. We definitely are explorers of a different sort.
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