Spotlight on Orit Shimoni - Sing Back to Me
11 years a troubadour - a true road warrior. Orit Shimoni's story is one of creative passion, wanderlust, high adventure, perseverance, and adaptability.
Winnipeg has been home for Orit from the fateful moment she stepped off her cancelled Via Rail train in March 2020 - could there be a more apt metaphor? Taken in by strangers for much of the first year, she's since rented an apartment, become an official Manitoban, and made local friends.
A prodigious songwriter; over the course of Orit's career she's released 11 albums. Her most recent album 'Lorem Ipsum', self-recorded while in COVID lockdown, received critical acclaim and significant airplay on roots oriented radio in Europe and Canada. She'll soon release a new album, 'Winnipeg', with songs written since finding herself here.
Creativity is Orit's life-blood; she's also an author, poet, and more recently, painter.
Life experiences and musical influences seep and weave through Orit's songs creating a fabric that is like fine silk in some cases and rough burlap in others. It's not a stretch to compare her songs to those of the greats like Leonard Cohen, Townes Van Zandt, even Dylan, but make no mistake, Orit's music and her voice is all her own.
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An emotional and powerful listen..Dylan like as it encompasses empathy and condemnation.
- Paul Kerr, UK reviewer, Lorem Ipsum album review
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One of my favorite Orit Shimoni songs is 'Strange and Beautiful Things' from the album of the same name. An up-tempo tune that bops along; it conveys a sense of child-like wonder about the world that is both charming and wistful. This song is especially meaningful to us, as it was while Orit was staying with us that she learned the skills to create the music video for the song - we got to see it mature from very rough beginnings to full-fledged art.
Here's some excellent examples of the breadth and evolution of Orit's songwriting: 'Let's Get Persecuted'; 'Optimism'; 'Bananas'; 'Good Guy With Demons'; 'Chofim'; and one of my favs, 'Song for Townes'.
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Playing impressive fingerstyle guitar, she commands a vocal wallop and her intense, singer-songwriter material covers a lot of ground....Shimoni offsets her somewhat bleak subject matter with a clear gift for banter and storytelling, revealing a strong sense of humour as she adds context to each composition."
- Roots Music Canada
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Please join us for Orit, Belle Plaine and Scott Nolan, at the songwriter's circle 'The Storytellers' on May 25th at The Park Theatre. Tickets are $25 available thru Eventbrite or RSVP / etransfer to ian.mattey@gmail.com
