She was born across the Atlantic but musician October Browne, who plays a Home Routes concert in Thompson Oct. 24, has spent a lot of time in Canada and seen more of it than many who were born here thanks to her job as a travelling musician.
“I’m originally from London England,” said Browne in an interview Oct. 16. “I come from an Irish family there.”
And those who attend the concert at 42 Wekusko St. at 7:30 p.m. will know it when they hear Browne speak.
“I’ve been here a long time but I can’t seem to get the Canadian accent,” she says. “As much as I try it’s eluded me.”
This will be Browne’s fourth Home Routes tour.
“I did one in Ontario,” she says. “I did one out in B.C. I went to the islands out there, Salt Spring and Gabriola. Last time I toured I did the prairies. I did Alberta and Saskatchewan. Now I’m doing Saskatchewan and Northern Manitoba.”
And in 25 years as a full-time musician she’s seen plenty of out of the way places.
“I’ve been up to Yellowknife with other bands and to Dawson City a couple of times,” she says.
Thompson will be a first for Browne, however.
“I’ve never been there. It’s pretty far north. I’m very excited to come there.”
Browne will play in Flin Flon and Snow Lake before making the trek to Thompson, then loop back to Cranberry Portage.
“I think it’s going to be fantastic,” she said. “My friend Teresa Doyle did this tour before me and she said it was great.”
Though she plays many instruments, Browne will only have her guitar and her voice on the Home Routes tour.
“I do play other instruments but I can’t drag them all around with me,” Browne says. “I play loads of them but you try flying them on Air Canada. I didn’t even fly my guitar. I just went to Long & McQuade and rented a guitar. It cost me $20 to rent a guitar. It would have cost me $60 to fly it and they might have broken it.”
As befits a multi-instrument musician, the mix of songs that those attending her Northern Manitoba concerts will hear includes a little bit of this and a little bit of that, says Browne, describing herself as a “folkie.”
“When I get to Thompson I’ll be playing what people would like to hear,” she says. “I’m happy to take some requests in my concert. I play some folk music I write, some traditional Celtic music, a few British ballads. It’s a mixed bag really – some guitar instrumentals and some contemporary songs. There’ll be some familiar, some new things and some guitar songs and a couple of things that people can sing along with.”
As an experienced performer, Browne knows what audiences enjoy.
“They know what they like and they like what they know,” she said.
The Home Routes experience as a musician is also about getting back to the roots of folk music.
“It’s back to the days of the bards and the minstrels where they used to play in people’s homes,” Browne says. “I love that. It’s intimate, it’s community-oriented and you don’t have people getting drunk in a noisy bar while they’re listening to you. People are there to listen and they’re there to connect with you. It’s a real community gathering but with a musical focus. I’m very honoured that people welcome me into their homes to play music for them.”
Browne’s concert at 42 Wekusko St. begins at 7:30 p.m. and the cost is $20, with all the money going to the performer.
