Tamarack (band)

{{Infobox musical artist

| name = Tamarack

| image =

| caption =

| image_size =

| origin = Guelph, Ontario, Canada

| instrument =

| genre = Folk

| years_active = 1978–present

| label =

| associated_acts =

| website = http://www.tamarackfolk.com/

| current_members = Alex Sinclair
Molly Kurvink
Duncan Cameron

| past_members = James Gordon
Jeff Bird
Randy Sutherland
Melanie Doane
Duncan Cameron
Gwen Swick
Shelley Coopersmith

}}

Tamarack is a Canadian folk music group, formed in 1978 by James Gordon, Jeff Bird and Randy Sutherland.{{cite web|url=http://www.jeffbird.com/tamarack-musicof.html|title=Tamarack, Music of Canada|publisher=jeffbird.com|accessdate=21 April 2013}} Tamarack draws heavily on traditional themes. Their début album Music of Canada consists almost entirely of traditional songs. 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; 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. Andrea Barstad joined the group in 1989.{{Cite web|last=Sinclair|first=Alex|date=|title=SGB Productions|url=https://www.sgbproductions.com/tamarack|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=|website=}} When Fields of Rock and Snow was released in 1991, Jeff Bird left and Gwen Swick joined.{{cite web|title=Sugar Camp - Tamarack|url=http://www.backtothesugarcamp.com/2006jul.html|publisher=backtothesugarcamp.com|accessdate=21 April 2013}}{{cite web|title=Tamarack|url=http://www.northernjourney.com/cdnfolk/book/artist/tamarack.html|publisher=northernjourney.com|accessdate=21 April 2013|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714195140/http://www.northernjourney.com/cdnfolk/book/artist/tamarack.html|archivedate=14 July 2011}} 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.{{cite web|title=Tamarack - Spirit and Stone|url=http://www.rediscovermusic.com/product/1245|publisher=rediscovermusic.com|accessdate=21 April 2013|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20141103140134/http://www.rediscovermusic.com/product/1245|archivedate=3 November 2014}}{{cite web|title=Trees Canada - Tree by Tamarack|url=http://www.tcf-fca.ca/shop/cd.htm|publisher=Tree Canada Foundation}} Shelley Coopersmith left the group in 2002, being replaced by Duncan Cameron{{cite web|title=- Band|url=http://www.tamarackfolk.com/band.htm|website=Tamarack Folk|accessdate=23 June 2016|ref=tamarackfolk-band}}

Tamarack has often been invited to perform at Canadian folk festivals. They have frequently played the Hillside Festival (1985, 1988, 1991, 1994, 1999),{{cite web|title=Hillside Festival - History|url=http://www.hillsidefestival.ca/pages/history-timeline|publisher=hillsidefestival.ca|accessdate=12 May 2013}}{{cite web|title=Hillside Festival - Past Performers|url=http://www.hillsidefestival.ca/pages/past-lineups|publisher=hillsidefestival.ca|accessdate=3 May 2013}} 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),{{cite web|title=Winnipeg Folk Festival - Past Performers|url=http://www.winnipegfolkfestival.ca/festival/artists/past-performers/#T|publisher=Winnipeg Folk Festival|accessdate=30 April 2013}} Ottawa Folk Festival (1997){{cite web|title=Ottawa Folk Festival History|url=http://ottawafolk.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/history1994-2011-04apr2012.pdf|publisher=Ottawa Folk Festival|accessdate=30 April 2013|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121022101432/http://ottawafolk.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/history1994-2011-04apr2012.pdf|archivedate=22 October 2012}} and The Shelter Valley Folk Festival (2010).{{cite web|title=Shelter Valley Folk Festival - 2012|url=http://www.sheltervalley.com/program10.htm|publisher=Shelter Valley Folk Festival|accessdate=30 April 2013|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130720093929/http://www.sheltervalley.com/program10.htm|archivedate=20 July 2013}} In 1997 they were inaugurated into the Order of the Porcupine Music Hall of Fame{{cite web|title=Order of the Porcupine Music Hall of Fame|url=http://www.backtothesugarcamp.com/halloffame.html|publisher=Sugar Camp Music|accessdate=30 April 2013}} 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.{{cite web|url=http://www.discogs.com/release/465379|title=Cowboy Junkies - The Trinity Session|year=1988 |publisher=discogs.com|accessdate=21 April 2013}} (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{{cite web|title=Laura Smith - Everything Is Moving|url=http://borealisrecords.com/products-page/laura-smith/everything-is-moving/|publisher=borealis.com|accessdate=21 April 2013}}

Discography

class="wikitable"

! Year

! Title

! Label

|1980

| |Music of Canada

| |SGB Productions{{cite web|title=Tamarack Folk - Catalog|url=http://www.tamarackfolk.com/catalog.htm|accessdate=7 May 2013}}

|1983

| |A Pleasant Gale

| |SGB Productions

|1984

| |Ontario: 200 Musical Years{{cite web|title=James Gordon - Career Hilights|url=http://www.jamesgordon.ca/bio-careerhighlights.html|publisher=jamesgordon.ca|accessdate=7 May 2013|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120104170727/http://www.jamesgordon.ca/bio-careerhighlights.html|archivedate=4 January 2012}}

| |

|1986

| |The Tamarack Collection

| |SGB Productions

|1989

| |Shave The Bear

| |SGB Productions

|1991

| |Fields of Rock and Snow

| |

1993Frobisher BayWind River{{cite web|title=Folk Era - Tamarack|url=http://www.folkera.com/windriver/tamarack/|publisher=folkera.com|accessdate=7 May 2013}}
|1993On The GrandWind River
|1993On the Prairies
|1995Leaving InverardenWind River
|1995The Fifteenth Anniversary Concert (live)
|1996Muskoka's Calling
|1997ThirteenWind River
|1995Leaving InverardenWind River
|1998Blankets of SnowSGB Productions
|2000

| |Spirit & Stone

Wind River
|2001TreeSGB Productions

References

{{Reflist}}