Folk Roots Radio Episode 489: feat. Keri Latimer (Leaf Rapids) & More Favourite Albums of 2019

Keri Latimer joins us on Episode 489 of Folk Roots Radio to talk about “Citizen Alien”, the second album from Leaf Rapids, the Winnipeg band she leads with her partner, Devin Latimer – and one of our favourite albums of 2019. Citizen Alien is a wonderful recording that uses Keri and Devin’s own family history to talk about the nature of identity and reflect on what it means to belong, in a world where more and more politicians are using populist nationalistic rhetoric to separate the ‘us’ from the ‘them’. It’s a really great interview – and definitely worth checking out. We can actually only share part of our conversation with you on this episode, but we’ll be bringing the full interview to the website and on demand listening very shortly. We wrap up the episode with more of Our Favourite Albums of 2019 and this time we hear from The MacQueens, Lizanne Knott, Geneviève Racette, Justin Rutledge, The Red River Ramblers, Leanne Hoffman, The East Pointers, Catherine MacLellan and Lee Harvey Osmond (Tom Wilson). Check out the full playlist below.

Interview

Keri Latimer and her partner Devin Latimer, both formerly of Juno Award-winning alt-country quartet Nathan, released “Citizen Alien”, their wonderful second album as Leaf Rapids in May 2019.

According to Keri Latimer, “This is not only a personal record. Every family has stories of people who crossed oceans, who survived, who struggled and tried. People who knew injustice. And though some of those stories now fade into the haze of time, the truth of them remains vivid. On Citizen Alien, the album’s title track, love declared by ancestors leads to separation through the travesty of Canada’s Second World War-era Japanese internment camps; if the same thing happened today, Devin and I would be split up, our children taken away.”

The 10 songs on the new album were co-produced with acclaimed multi-instrumentalist and composer Rusty Matyas (Imaginary Cities, The Sheepdogs) at Paintbox Recording and feature Keri Latimer (vocals, guitar and theremin), Devin Latimer (bass), Rusty Matyas (piano/keyboards/trumpet), Joanna Miller (drums) and Bill Western (pedal steel) with special guests: Alexa Dirks (Begonia), Madeleine Roger, Grant Davidson (Slow Leaves), Myron Schultz, Chris Dunn and JP Hoe.

Keri Latimer sat down with Folk Roots Radio at the 2019 Folk Music Ontario conference for an in-depth conversation about her music and the new album. As well as her work with Leaf Rapids, Keri Latimer also scores for film.

Citizen Alien is included on our long list of Our Favourite Albums of 2019. Check them all out HERE.

Our interview with Keri Latimer from Leaf Rapids went so much further than what we were able to include in this episode. Check out our full in-depth conversation HERE.

For more information about the music of Leaf Rapids, visit leafrapids.org.

Listen

You can listen to this episode again on Soundcloud by following the link below. You can also listen to episodes of Folk Roots Radio, on demand, via Apple Podcasts, Stitcher and Tune-in Radio. (Click on the highlighted link to reach your chosen platform.)

Playlist

Nicolas & The Iceni (Theme)
Lucy She Rises
Roll Right (2019, self)

The MacQueens
You & Me & Everything
You & Me & Everything (2019, Self) CDN

Lizanne Knott
Like I Love My Dog
Bones And Gravity (2019, Self)

Geneviève Racette
Northern Star
No Water, No Flowers (2019, Self) CDN

Justin Rutledge
One Winter’s Day
Passages (2019, Outside Music) CDN

The Red River Ramblers
Orange Blossom Special
Métis Fiddle Music (2019, Self) CDN

Leaf Rapids
Dear Sister
Citizen Alien (2019, Coax Records) CDN

Interview: Keri Latimer sits down with Folk Roots Radio at Folk Music Ontario to chat about the latest Leaf Rapids album “Citizen Alien”.

Leaf Rapids
Citizen Alien
Citizen Alien (2019, Coax Records) CDN

Leaf Rapids
There They Go
Citizen Alien (2019, Coax Records) CDN

Leanne Hoffman
Turning The Truth
What Remains (2019, Venue Records) CDN

The East Pointers
Elmira
Yours To Break (2019, Self) CDN

Catherine MacLellan
Too Many Hearts
Coyote (2019, Self) CDN

Lee Harvey Osmond
Mohawk
Mohawk (2018, Latent Recordings) CDN