New album June in Siberia to be released March 1rst, 2011.
Recorded by Howard Bilerman (Arcade Fire, Basia Bulat, Silver Mt Zion) live off the floor at Montreal’s Hotel 2 Tango, June In Siberia is the full length follow up to 2008’s What The Boat Gave The River. June In Siberia sees
a departure for Mark Berube and The Patriotic Few (Kristina Koropecki
on cello, Patrick Dugas on drums, and Amélie Mandeville on bass) from
their previous experimentation with large-scale arrangements of strings
and horns, choosing instead to hone in on the impressive vocal and
instrumental strengths of each member. Joining the band are four special
guests. Dan Mangan appears on Side of the Road, Emily Loizeau sings a verse in the redemptive eulogy Above the Ground; CR Avery lends a poem in Let Me Go; and Hattie Webb of the Webb Sisters bestows her voice to the blues-piano riff Fela Kuti-inspired ballad My Me Lady. The overall result is a striking and unique blend of indie chamber-folk.
Since the release of What the Boat Gave the River,
Mark Berube and the band have rarely left the road. Their September
2008 Cabaret Juste Pour Rire concert in Montreal, was recorded by the
CBC for Canada Live and was programmed
and aired an unprecedented 8 times on Canadian national and …
New album June in Siberia to be released March 1rst, 2011.
Recorded by Howard Bilerman (Arcade Fire, Basia Bulat, Silver Mt Zion) live off the floor at Montreal’s Hotel 2 Tango, June In Siberia is the full length follow up to 2008’s What The Boat Gave The River. June In Siberia sees
a departure for Mark Berube and The Patriotic Few (Kristina Koropecki
on cello, Patrick Dugas on drums, and Amélie Mandeville on bass) from
their previous experimentation with large-scale arrangements of strings
and horns, choosing instead to hone in on the impressive vocal and
instrumental strengths of each member. Joining the band are four special
guests. Dan Mangan appears on Side of the Road, Emily Loizeau sings a verse in the redemptive eulogy Above the Ground; CR Avery lends a poem in Let Me Go; and Hattie Webb of the Webb Sisters bestows her voice to the blues-piano riff Fela Kuti-inspired ballad My Me Lady. The overall result is a striking and unique blend of indie chamber-folk.
Since the release of What the Boat Gave the River,
Mark Berube and the band have rarely left the road. Their September
2008 Cabaret Juste Pour Rire concert in Montreal, was recorded by the
CBC for Canada Live and was programmed
and aired an unprecedented 8 times on Canadian national and regional
radio programs, drawing Mark a comparison to a “young Leonard Cohen”
from CBC’s Duke Eaton for his lyrical brevity and craftsmanship.
After a sweep of festivals across Canada in the summer of 2009, Mark
Berube and The Patriotic Few closed the year with an invitation to join
Prix Victoire recipient Emily Loizeau at the renowned Olympia theatre
in Paris in December. In 2010 at Paléo, one of Western Europe's biggest
summer festivals, they were called the "Act to Discover" while a short
month before, Mark opened for Irish rockers The Cranberries at the
sold-out 8000 capacity Arena in Geneva, Switzerland. As the opening act
for European songstress Sophie Hunger at a sold out show at La Cigalle
in Paris, he sold out of albums both nights and was touted by the French
press as “a very strong and promising artist ...equally charming behind
the piano or a cappella”
The summer of 2010 marked the release of the acclaimed Tailored To Fit EP and the fall of 2010 saw the song Flowers on the Stones from What the Boat Gave the River appear in the Québecois film Route 132. With a March 1st release
date for band’s new album approaching the momentum continues to build
and build. It will, of course, come as no surprise to anyone that Mark
and the band will be bringing June in Siberia to audiences all over North America and Europe throughout 2011.
Andrew Bird, Nina Simone, Tom Waits, Wilco, Leonard Cohen, Glenn Gould, Abdullah Ibrahim, Brad Mehldau, The Saturday Globe and Mail, Nick Drake, Hugh Masekela
