Newfoundland’s Don Brownrigg sounds like home. The displaced islander hangs his hat in Halifax, but the self-proclaimed stray will always belong to the landscape of the Codroy Valley. He celebrates his wandering ways with the release of Wander Songs, a debut full-length, with his wordy friend Tanya Davis at The Khyber on Friday night.
“Tanya will always intrigue me,” says Brownrigg. “And I hope to be there for her whenever she wants, she’s special and unique. And when I sometimes have to force myself to objectively think of how great it is to be a part of her projects, I feel lucky. Sometimes that gets lost because we are such good friends.”
Brownrigg and Davis have shared countless stages, both figuratively and literally, as the duo swap backing instruments, harmonies and melodies on each other’s records and bands—not to mention being new-found neighbours. Over morning coffee at The Pyramid Cafe, the dark haired, soft-spoken, pensive songwriter shares the irony of his recent relocation to Willow Street, as he moved in above the Newfoundland Store.
“Funny isn’t it?” he says. “Kris and I are roommates. Tanya and Catherine are down the road, and Jason Burns lives across the street from them.”
The Windsor/Willow area of town has grown into an artist’s haven: The majority of the musicians listed on Wander Song, including guests such as the renowned Ben Ross on drums, Pope on lap steel, musical engineer Donald MacKay on mandolin, background vocals and spoken word from Davis, and the ethereal sound of Jenn Grant, find themselves within blocks of one another.
“I was very open to them all doing their own thing,” he says. “They’re all so talented and creative. Basically I provided a skeleton of a song and they came in. They are my superheroes, working with them all was very comfortable and natural. The best advice for making an album of your own is to make sure you’re the worst player, least talented, and you’ll be fine.”
Wander Songs is a prolific musical anthology of thought and needs time to steep, like any good cup of tea. With each metaphorical sip, every individual song trickles down your gullet, filling your belly with warmth, eventually settling and soothing your heart.
“My mind is a wanderer,” he says. “The songs, my thoughts, my musings, don’t have general themes; they sort of bounce around many topics. I’ve worn many hats, put many different feet forward, shown many faces. But I’ve found my everything. It is here, getting started in these songs.”
As a collection, Wander Songs seems to be a quest for self, love and friendship. Brownrigg muses about the conversation sparked over breakfast on “Eggs,” the logistics of moving “Bags and Boxes,” the measurement of the passing hour “Time Moves On,” which features a fierce poetical appearance by Davis and a rendition of his uncles’ traditional Newfoundland ballad “Remember Home.”
Reflection, history and memory are thematic elements of Brownrigg’s burgeoning musical career. On the cusp of his 11-track full-length release, he pauses to revisit the steps he took which led him here. Being a self-proclaimed compulsive thinker, he admits selecting The Khyber Club for the CD release was hardly chance: The very first time Brownrigg performed his original material was at open-mic night at the Barrington Street venue. Not to mention that the scratch demos for Wander Songs were recorded upstairs in the legendary Mullet studio and he billed his first gig there.
Brownrigg is humbly apprehensive about the attendance for his CD release, but feels confident he’d be happy to perform in the high-ceiling venue for merely a handful of his friends and his mom and dad. “For me, that would be enough.”
Don Brownrigg CD release w/Tanya Davis and guests, September 14, The Khyber, 1588 Barrington, 9pm, 492-3278
This article appears in Sep 13-19, 2007.