Singer-songwriter Colleen Brown has a way of evoking fragility and melancholy and, at the same time, power and optimism, particularly on her 2022 solo recording Winging It. After all, it is a breakup album. She’s really really sad but we’ll get through this together, or so she tries to convince us, much like Joni Mitchell did on her classic album Blue. Critics often compare Brown to Joni vocally and lyrically, and it’s totally legit. Brown wears the Mitchell influence on her sleeve and suggests it has to do with their mutual prairie roots. In fact, Brown took the Joni parts in a touring group that recreated The Band’s The Last Waltz.
But don’t be misled. Brown is no cover band. She’s a multi-instrumentalist with a stack of critically acclaimed LPs and EPs in her portfolio. And on a happy note, Brown and her band Major Love (featuring Alberta rock darlings Scenic Route To Alaska) have been in the studio and have been rocking pretty hard in an alt country and soulful pop rock kind of way. Their new music seems to be a cathartic response to Brown’s heartache and loss, proving that music heals and, indeed, everything will be okay. When Brown and her band take the stage, expect some introspection, some dancing and maybe even some Joni.
Biography by Eric Rosenbaum