We chatted with Tara Williamson about her new tune, “Enfolding”, songwriting and her favourite things around music, including concerts and go-to karaoke tunes! Check it out below:
- What is the story behind “Enfolding”?
“That is actually a very, very long story. But, the short version is that APTN approached me about writing a song inspired by another Indigenous artist’s work. I almost said no (because commission’s are so hard to fulfill), but this song ended up coming to me very naturally and quickly. It is named after and inspired by the Daphne Odjig painting of the same name. I have the piece tattooed fairly prominently on my body, and the song and art has come to mean many things to me over the last couple of years.”
- How do you find inspiration? Is there a particular place or state of mind that gets the creativity flowing?
“My sources of inspiration are continuously changing. But, some consistent states of being are: community, beauty, love, angst, and helplessness. I turn to music when I don’t know how else to express myself. As I’ve matured and grown as a human and musician, those sentiments have shifted, but, the desire to communicate complex feelings has stayed the same.”
- What does your songwriting process look like? When songwriting, do you tend toward lyrics or music initially?
“This is such a hard question because it changes all of the time. I try to always be singing and/or writing as part of my practice. But, often my best songs come to me when I least expect them and I just try my best to be an open vessel. But, fairly consistently, even if I have lyrics in mind already, I prefer sitting at a piano and working out a melody or at least a chord progression as my starting point. In the last couple of years, I’ve worked at writing on a guitar and I’ve learned a lot from that process. But, regardless of how the process starts, when it comes to finessing a song, there’s always a give and take between the instrumentation and lyrics.”
- What’s your favourite concert of all time?
“Ugh. I can’t even. I love live music. Who doesn’t? I probably have more concerts I regret NOT seeing that might make a good list.
If I really have to answer, I’ll say that one of my favourite songwriters ever is John K. Samson – both as a solo artist and as the frontman of The Weakerthans. I’ve seen him play so many times in so many venues, and I love it every time. Being able to sing along and connect to every song in an artist’s catalogue is such a great feeling.”
- What is you go-to karaoke song?
“‘Downtown’ by Petula Clark or ‘Moondance’ by Van Morrison.”
Tara Williamson‘s new song, “Enfolding” hit the airwaves on Friday, March 29th. Check it out below and tune in to hear it on ELMNT FM.