Tamarack (band)

Tamarack is a Canadian folk music group, formed in 1978 by James Gordon, Jeff Bird and Randy Sutherland.[1] Tamarack draws heavily on traditional themes. Their début album Music of Canada consists almost entirely of traditional songs.[2] Later albums included a number of songs penned by band members but maintaining the traditional folk / roots style.

The history and geography of Canada are also popular inspirations. Frobisher Bay and its title track Frozen in Frobisher Bay are named after a bay on Baffin Island in the Canadian Arctic. Leaving Inverarden starts with two stories taken from the history of the fur-trading North West Company in Canada;[3] the title track Leaving Invergarden based on the story of John MacDonald, and the track Magdalen McGillivray about his sister who married William McGillivray.

The members of the group have changed over the years. By 1986, Alex Sinclair had replaced Randy Sutherland. Melanie Doane was a member for a time, performing with them on their 1989 video On the Rideau.[4] Andrea Barstad joined the group in 1989.[5] When Fields of Rock and Snow was released in 1991, Jeff Bird had left and Gwen Swick has joined.[2][3] Molly Kurvink joined the group for the Leaving Inverarden album released in 1995. James Gordon is no longer part of the group when Spirit & Stone (2000) is recorded, which features Alex Sinclair, Molly Kurvink and Shelley Coopersmith.[6][7] Shelley Coopersmith left the group in 2002, being replaced by Duncan Cameron[8]

Tamarack has often been invited to perform at Canadian folk festivals. They have frequently played the Hillside Festival (1985, 1988, 1991, 1994, 1999),[9][10] in Guelph, Ontario which is home base for several members of the group. Other festivals where they have been featured include the Winnipeg Folk Festival (1984),[11] Ottawa Folk Festival (1997)[12] and The Shelter Valley Folk Festival (2010).[13] In 1997 they were inaugurated into the Order of the Porcupine Music Hall of Fame[14] by Sugar Camp Music, a radio show produced by the University of Toronto campus radio station CIUT-FM.

A number of Tamarack songs have been covered by other artists. "Mining for Gold", written by James Gordon based on a traditional theme, was on the Cowboy Junkies breakthrough album The Trinity Session.[15] (Early Tamarack member Jeff Bird has done instrumental work on many Cowboy Junkies albums). Folk singer Laura Smith included the Leaving Inverarden song Magdalen McGillivray on her 2012 album Everything is Moving[16]