Driving Through America at Night (2023)
The new album – Munnik’s first in 14 years – is now available. Side A streamed from June, with a set of indie-folk keeping well-crafted words and the acoustic guitar at their heart, fleshed out with additional voices, instruments, and players. Expect surprises – slide guitar and crunchy Rhodes on “Anchors Aweigh”, a trombone cameo on the Beatlesque ukulele cabaret tune “Islington Angel” – but depend on quality writing. Side B dropped in October, with an even more sonically adventurous set of songs. Dreampop synths and saturated vocals marry with big drums and a ukulele strum on “The One that Haunts Me”, and the beautiful closer “Mercy” starts with just an acoustic guitar and voice and grows to a full-strength finish with horns. Available digital download and physical CD purchase from Bandcamp, and streaming in all the major platforms.
Driving Through America at Night: The Ukulele Sessions (2023)
The ukulele has been a part of my musical life since the summer of 2006, the year I released my first EP and played the Ottawa Folk Festival. I took my nephew to a workshop led by ukulele prodigy James Hill, bought a purple uke for $20 Canadian, and never really put it down.
The ukulele is already present on a few of the songs on Driving Through America at Night. But since I was recording it at home, I had the flexibility to do more. So I hatched a plan to record alternate versions of the songs just with uke and voice, with a bit of extra ornamentation where it helped. Two songs don’t appear: “Islington Angel” is already a ukulele-driven song, and to reproduce it here would be to do the same thing, just taking away the drums, bass, and excellent trombone. It seemed a diminution rather than an alternate vision. And “The Date Was Interrupted” sounded properly impoverished on the uke. The strange chord voicings and dark tones couldn’t be reproduced.
In their place, I’ve recorded the sparky “More Tender than Tough” from my last album, I Am with the Hunters. I’ve trotted out the uke version at the occasional open mic, and it’s always fun to play and has gone down a treat. And the song “It’s Because of You” was one I wrote in the summer of 2005, while on the picket line outside CBC. When I started getting earnest about the ukulele, I found it translated to it really well, and it’s a pleasure to offer an unreleased song here.
I Am with the Hunters (2009)
The album title comes from a poem by Leonard Cohen, from his 1964 collection Flowers for Hitler. This collection was written before Cohen began setting his poems to music – before “Suzanne” and everything after. When Munnik read the poem “On Hearing a Name Long Unspoken”, he was moved by the lyricism and how singable the lines were. In an act of pure cheek, he set the verses to music and sent it to Leonard Cohen for his blessing, his co-operation, and of course his permission. The result captures the power of Cohen’s poetry and images with a wholly new musical style. Those familiar with Cohen’s music may be surprised at the sound, but when they hear the words, it will all become clear.
Recorded by Dave Draves and Jarrett Bartlett at Little Bullhorn Studios in Ottawa, Canada, the album features Jasen Colson on drums, Neil Gerster on bass, Ira Pelletier on mandolin, Mario Vaira on guitar, and other friends. For “The Farthest Shore”, Munnik reunited members of Ottawa roots-pop combo Hennessey with Pamela Brennan on background vocals and Michel Pariseau on bass.
Long Shadows in the Afternoon (2006)
Munnik’s first EP has a folk heart with various textures added on. From country to gospel to grunge, the core remains the acoustic guitar and Munnik’s voice and words. He invited a few friends to fill out the sound: Darrell O’Dea on guitar, Jon McLeod on bass, Darlene McLeod on vocals and Peter Rombeek on violin and cello. The album was recorded in early spring of 2006 at Bova Sound, with Phillip Victor Bova behind the board.
Michael Munnik 