Meredith Moon From Here to the Sea (LP, colored Viynl, Ltd.)

(Compass Records) 11 tracks, lavender swirl colored vinyl. Limited edition, includes download code

On her new album, From Here To The Sea, Canadian-born songwriter and instrumentalist Meredith Moon moves away from the Appalachian roots of her previous album, Constellations. The album was produced and recorded in Ontario and Nashville by Colin Linden (Lucinda Williams, T-Bone Burnett, Bruce Cockburn) and features contributions from Rebecca Lovell (Larkin Poe), Lillie Mae Rische & Dominic Davis (Jack White), Julian Taylor, George Receli (Bob Dylan), and Jerry Douglas, among others. It explores paths of blues, folk, and folk rock, and even contains elements of old-time jazz. Moon's signature instrument—the banjo—is still present, as is the roots music that has shaped her sound, but rather than serving as the anchor of the sound palette, it forms a subtle backdrop while her lyrics take center stage. Moon explains that most of the songs on the new album were written immediately after the end of a long relationship. “I left a toxic situation behind me that had lasted for years,” she says, "traveled through the Panhandle of the USA, fell in love with my now husband, and stopped drinking. Much of the visual landscape takes place between New Orleans and Key West. This album is about driving to the ocean to become free and follow love, no matter how far it takes you, and learning to trust yourself again."

Meredith Moon is considered a “jewel” in both the old-time and contemporary folk music scenes for her unusual style of expression, which combines folk-punk influences with traditional Appalachian sounds. Moon began writing songs at the age of eight, grew up with folk music, including the music of her father Gordon Lightfoot, and taught herself to play the guitar at fourteen. A few years later, she found her sound as a street musician on the sidewalks from Halifax to Vancouver. She then spent years traveling by bus and train across Canada and the world, finding inspiration for her unique songwriting style, which is characterized by authentic storytelling.