Roots/country singer-songwriter Justine Vandergrift will bring her eclectic music to Found Books in Cochrane on Sep. 22, for a concert that’s sure to leave an impact.
Vandergrift is an Americana recording and performing artist with a knack for melody and lyrics.
She defines Americana as a combination of gospel, soul and bluegrass. She also called it “roots country.”
“I kind of do folk songs with a bit of a country flair,” she added.
She has been writing, recording, and touring her original songs since 2011, with five full-length studio albums, one collaboration and two online EPs to her credit.
Her new release “Mountain Standard Time” came out in March. It reveals a playfulness, confidence, hopefulness, and new depth to her sound.
The Cochranite described her process in writing the title track for her new album.
“I felt like a lot of my songwriting changed for this album – I'm in a better emotional space,” she explained.“My previous work was a lot about heartbreak and love and loss and things like that, that country songwriters like to write about. But in this last album I was really reflecting on a more macro level, how the world is changing.”
As a result, “Mountain Standard Time” is about change and hope.
Vandergrift said she has observed people becoming more negative in the last few years, and wants to provide audiences some relief from that.
“I love the idea of people coming together for good and I do agree that in the last few years it's become a pretty polarized time,” she said. “I think the pandemic did a number on a lot of people in a lot of different ways physically and (in terms of) mental health and isolation and all of that.
“And music is one way you can really connect with people, even if you don't agree on everything politically.”
Her process sometimes starts with writing a poem, which she then puts to music.
She has toured Canada, the U.S. and Europe, and received a nomination for Alberta Country Music Album of the Year in 2020.
“I've been recording since 2011 and touring on and off, and I don't ever plan to stop,” she said.
“I plan to just keep writing and performing alongside other ventures and life.”
That life got a little busier six months ago when her daughter Grace was born.
One of her YouTube videos features grainy black and white photography of people circa the 1950s, posing for the camera outside their modest-looking home. The subjects were not Vandergrift’s grandparents – but could have been, she said.
Her grandparents emigrated from the Netherlands, to settle briefly in Ontario. She was born in Edmonton and the family eventually settled in Lacombe, Alberta.
She moved to Cochrane with husband Brandon a couple of years ago. She loves it here and said they will “hopefully stay forever.”
The concert will open with local musician Noel Johnson, who Vandergrift described as a wonderful songwriter and an even better barber.
Also featured on the 22nd will be Trevor McNeely, who co-produced her last album.
And she'll also be bringing along a good friend and cellist from the UK.
“So we're going to play trio style with guitar, cello and lap steel guitar and lots of harmonies,” she said.
Advance tickets start at $22.63 (includes a copy of her new CD release “Mountain Standard Time”), and if there are any still available on the night of the concert, they will go for $40.
For tickets and more information go to foundbookshop.com.
For a sample of Vandergrift’s music, go to YouTube and search her name, or to her website justinevandergrift.com.
