Brave the Cold and Warm Your Heart- The Olympic Symphonium and Snailhouse @ Casa TONIGHT!

Posted on January 15, 2009

You don’t need to turn on the news to know that we’re in the middle of what’s probably some of the coldest days of the year out there. Forgive me for mentioning this, but there doesn’t appear to be a whole lot going on this month in Montreal in terms of music. Maybe it has something to do with the weather that seems to slow everything down. In my opinion it’s just one more reason to jumps on the good ones to help you beat the winter blues. Granted, it’s a bit difficult to motivate yourself to go outside for anything today, but if the cold is worth braving for one reason today, it’s for a show featuring The Olympic Symphonium and Snailhouse, taking place at Casa del Popolo tonight. I swear nothing could make your heart warmer on those cold January nights.

The Olympic Symphonium is a trio from Fredericton (N.B.) featuring members from Grand Theft Bus and Share amongst a myriad of other musical projects from the Maritimes. The three musicians rotate instruments and vocal leads for pretty much every song. Their music is quiet, subtle and soft, and the melodies are wonderfully developed and sustained with excellent harmonies. Their first album Chapter 1 (2007) has played so much on my CD player that it’s about to call it quits. Good thing they’ve just released a brand new album late this fall. According to our music editor, Jeremy, “It’s a beautiful album”, which I don’t have a hard time believing since the few songs I’ve heard from it sound great.

Tonight, they are sharing the stage with Snailhouse (a.k.a. Mike Feuerstack), which needs little introduction, but what the heck. Lead signer of The Wooden Stars and also a new permanent member of Bell Orchestre, musically speaking, it seems that everything Feuerstack touches turns to gold. He has also released a new record this year which, in my opinion, is his best one yet. It grows on you like an old cheese and just gets better and better the more you get acquainted with it. Snailhouse usually features a different set of backup musicians, and if my feelings are right about this one, The Olympic Symphonium will probably be the ones backing up Feuerstack for his set. It should be beautiful and heartwarming. You owe it to yourselves to come check it out on such a cold, cold night.

Photos by SarahBrideau.com