Ten songs recorded for an album are standard. What is uncommon is the songs are written, sung, and released by 15 St. Albert youth singer-songwriters who participated in Amplify’s band competition during the past 10 years.
The album, due to roll out Wednesday, Nov. 8 at the Arden Theatre, is titled with the Latin aphorism Ars longa, vita brevis. Roughly translated it means “learning a skill takes time and life is short.”
“It’s a nod to how long it takes a musician to become skilled at their craft,” said Kathleen Bell, City of St. Albert community cultural coordinator, the project’s primary organizer.
Recorded at The Audio Department in Edmonton with guidance from sound engineer Brad Smith, the album delivers a stripped-down folksy acoustic vibe. Styles vary from folk and country to pop and acoustic rock.
“Every track has a distinctive style, but everything blends well together. Part of why it’s so stripped down is because each act only had two hours to record their song. And that’s why there are few embellishments,” Bell said.
The songs vary from Kaylin Kowalyshyn’s Hold On, Ange Caroline’s Life is Better on TV, and Sydney Bourbeau’s Lost in Translation to Jenn Nguyen’s Again, Grayson’s The Shadow and Pretty Peace and Grace Forestier’s Can It Be.
Mya Hill and Jake Coyes pair up of for the folk song Sage while mightbrea & The Sunday Edition deliver their indie-folk version of It’ll Be Okay. Evan, Colin and Liz Salcedo sing the acoustic pop song, Free, while Matteo Sicolo, Cassius Devlin and Tristan Fehr from Revera introduce their acoustic rock song Feet Planted, Eyes Wide.
“Everyone is excited. All the artists are at various levels of their career. Some are professional, while others are starting out. But all of them are excited to work on the project.”
Ars longa, vita brevis launches Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the Arden. Tickets are pay-what-you-can. Hard copies will be given out and organizers request guests register at www.amplifystalbert.ca.
