Off the Dial

Written by: Rob Latham

For anyone who thought the current dirge of singer/songwriters was becoming all too dull and boring here are two superb Canadian performers who offer an exciting variation.

Edmonton-based Stephanie Bosch, 21, and Daniel Moir, 19, are two very talented performers and songwriters who both share an incredible passion for music.

I meet up with the pair before their gig at the Trees Organic Coffee House, in Vancouver, on Friday night (November 12) alongside local singer Cassandra Bangel.

Speaking to them it is clearly obvious that playing, recording and performing music is what they live for.

Bosch explains: “It’s what I want and there’s no back-up plan. Anything I could settle for wouldn’t be as good as this so not making it scares the shit out of me.

“I’m afraid if I don’t reach what I want to achieve in music I’m not going to be happy in anything.”

The pair performed an impressive acoustic set taking it in turns to play tracks, with Bosch performing songs from her debut album Departures and Moir songs from his debut EP The Country And The Sea.

The evening got off to a good start with Bangel‘s unique blend of acoustic guitar, using both six and twelve-stringed instruments, piano and her spell-bindingly powerful vocals. Performing a host of her own well-written tracks Bangel also offered up an impressive cover of KT Tunstall‘s “Black Horse and the Cherry Tree” and two very entertaining renditions of tracks by The Dresden Dolls.

Bosch and Moir‘s styles vary starkly yet also compliment each other well as they alternate on stage. Moir is clearly a very talented musician, as evidenced by his impressive bluesy-folky style guitar picking as well as a number of guitar solos towards the end of the show.

Moir‘s music is more chilled out, although still retaining a rocky edge, but the general gist of his music carries a more folky feel as portrayed by his Bob Dylan-esque whistling in “The Buffalo Song” and “Laxadasical.” Comparing anyone to the great Dylan is obviously a dangerous game, but Moir possesses a special musical talent that warrants the comparison – not only is he accomplished on guitar and vocals he also excels on the bass guitar, piano, banjo, drums and harmonica.

Both have a great ability for songwriting, Moir‘s style is more relaxed, deep and meaningful whereas Bosch focuses more on the personal emotions that impact upon her life. She has a naturally infectious singing voice with a great knack for writing songs that allow her to easily connect to her audience, such as the singalong “Broken Hearted Fool” with its colloquial style laughing noises and powerful, upbeat chorus.

The pair join up for an impressive cover of “Can’t You See” by the Marshall Tucker Band, which shows off the pair’s talents, in particular a great guitar solo by Moir.

Then Bosch shows off her versatility by playing an acoustic rendition of Marilyn Manson’s “The Beautiful People,” which really portrays the powerful voice she possesses in the strong, loud choruses contrasted by the shows of delicate fragility in her vocals that makes her performance so engaging,  as also seen in the songs “24 Hours” and “1982.”

These two young musicians possess the writing and performing qualities and the musical ambition it takes to achieve great success in music and cannot afford to be missed in concert.

To check out Daniel Moir’s music and upcoming gigs visit his MySpace page or buy his songs on iTunes.

Stephanie Bosch will be on tour through January and returns to Vancouver for a special gig during the Winter Olympics at the specially setup Alberta House at 6pm on Saturday, February 20. Her album is available for free download here or visit her MySpace page for more music and tour dates.

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