Showing posts with label beverly glenn-copeland. Show all posts
Showing posts with label beverly glenn-copeland. Show all posts

Tuesday, January 13, 2026

Recording: Beverly Glenn-Copeland with Elizabeth Copeland

Artist: Beverly Glenn-Copeland with Elizabeth Copeland

Song: In The Image

Recorded at East End United Church (Burn Down the Capital, Venus Fest and The Music Gallery present), December 13, 2025.

Beverly Glenn-Copeland with Elizabeth Copeland - In The Image

An interesting difference in vibes between this and the last time I saw Beverly Glenn-Copeland. At that show, there was a sense of re-discovery in the air — from audience and performer — as BGC spoke about realizing that the audience for his music that wasn't there when his celebrated albums were made had arrived a generation later; by now, in a packed church, there was a sense of an icon being celebrated. Looking frailer but still in excellent voice, this was a show about joy and celebration, the energy again being sent and received in both directions (indeed, the hall was left fully lit for the full set for the performers to see the audience with whom they were sharing space.)

This was a more stripped-back show, with musical accompaniment mostly limited to Alex Samaras' piano, voice and cheerleading. (Openers Topanga came out to add their voices, and to close things out, as heard here, a whole choir made their way on stage.) Moving beyond "the hits", Glenn-Copeland (along with Elizabeth Copeland, who added complementary vocals and shared some eco-poetry songs when Glenn-Copeland needed a mid-set break) brought out music from the breadth of their career, including the "lost years" they were crafting empathy-raising youth musical theatre shows. That could have made this feel like the corniest glee club meeting imaginable; instead it was fully rousing and affecting. Sometimes you just have to be direct with the cris de coeur.

Tuesday, June 5, 2018

Recording: Beverly Glenn-Copeland and Indigo Rising

Artist: Beverly Glenn-Copeland and Indigo Rising

Songs: Ever New + Sunset Village

Recorded at the Jam Factory, April 15, 2018.

Beverly Glenn-Copeland and Indigo Rising - Ever New

Beverly Glenn-Copeland and Indigo Rising - Sunset Village

On the heels of some recent re-issues, there has been a re-appraisal of sorts for Beverly Glenn-Copeland, who is perhaps as well remembered by a couple generations of Canadians as an occasional performer on Mr. Dressup as a Yorkville folkie-turned-synth-explorer. For his part, in an emotion-filled performance, Copeland confessed that while originally making his music he could sense that his true audience (and musical peers) were not yet born.

Fortunately, this crew, dominated by east coast soft-rockers Jeremy Costello, Nick Dourado, Bianca Palmer and Kurt Inder (plus local Thom Gill) has the tenderness and tenacity to bring Copeland's intricately-layered sounds to life and a love for the same sort of goopy showtune softness and electronic new-age textures that were resolutely unfashionable for so long, returning Glenn-Copeland to the cannon as an icon and influence. Filled with heatfelt spoken passages that stirred the audience as much as the songs, this felt like a special (and cathartic) night for audience and performer alike, and served as a reminder that new chapters, new partners and new songs could be just around the corner for any of us.