Penultimate tour stop for compelling and original band

By Mike Redfern

“One of the most thrillingly nimble musical ensembles the UK has produced in decades” (Prog Magazine) will be delighting a Kimberley audience October 17 when it makes its last but one stop on its Canadian tour at Centre 64.

‘Moulettes’ has hopped across the country from Quebec and Montreal, visiting such out-of-the-way places as Toronto, Winnipeg, Calgary – where they appeared at the Festival Hall – and Lethbridge, to end its tour in B.C. with stops in Kimberley and Duncan.

For anyone who has not heard of ‘Moulettes’ – and don’t put “the” before the name, says band leader Hannah Miller – they are generally described as an English eclectic Art Rock band combining elements of rock, prog, folk and pop.

Formed in 2002 in Glastonbury, England, by Hannah Miller, Oliver Austin and three others who have now moved on, the band has toured extensively in Europe, UK, Canada and elsewhere while finding time to record four albums – Moulettes, The Bear’s Revenge, Constellations, and their recent recording, Preternatural. The band’s final Preternatural CD tour around the UK in December will include stops in Edinburgh and Dublin, at Liverpool’s Philharmonic Hall, and at London’s Cadogan Hall. Pretty impressive venues for Kimberley’s Centre 64 to be listed among!

The band comprises a quartet of multi-instrumentalists with Hannah Miller on five-string cello, cellola, vocals, guitar, synthesizer and autoharp, Raevennan Husbandes on electric and acoustic guitars, vocals and dobro, Ollie Austin on drums, guitar, synthesizer and vocals, and Jim Mortimer on bass, double bass, moog, and vocals. They have appeared with such notables as Anja McCloskey, who appeared with Hannah and Dan Whitehouse at Centre 64 several years ago, John Paul Jones, Herbie Flowers, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Mumford & Sons, Noisettes, The Unthanks, and many, many others too numerous to list here.

As to the name, ‘Moulettes’ is variously defined as ‘a unit of force exerted by a group of small persons, the energy exerted resulting in force disproportionate to their size’, or as ‘a small morsel of food believed to have aphrodisiac qualities’ or as ‘a short story or song, both factual and fantastical in its themes’. If all three definitions are realized at the October 17 concert we’re in for a very entertaining evening.

The show starts at 8 p.m. upstairs in the theatre. A no-host bar will be open before the show and during intermission. Tickets are $25, available in advance at Centre 64 (250-427-4919 or [email protected]) or online at eastkootenay.snapd.com or kimberleyarts.com.

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