Calling Northern Ontario home is country-folk artist, Spencer Burton.
This past January, the Canadian artist released his latest album, North Wind via Dine Alone Records– a 10-track project that’s inspired by the beauty of nature and Northern Ontario’s wild spaces.
Recently, I spoke with Burton about his shift toward country-folk music, his latest album and more.
Kyla Pearson: For those who are unfamiliar with you and your music, can you tell us a bit more about how you got your start in music? In 2012, you left behind the much darker country sound of your former solo project, Grey Kingdom, and began releasing country-folk music under your name. Prior to that, you were a member of the punk-rock group, Attack in Black. After both projects, what influenced your decision to pivot towards country-folk music?
Spencer Burton: It was my first love. A place to put my feelings when I had nowhere else to put them. Stories, emotions and thoughts. They all needed a place to go. I think that’s why I turned towards folk music, it seemed a much more fitting home for something like storytelling.
Kyla Pearson: What is the primary message you wish to share through your music? Why is this message important to you?
Spencer Burton: Love. It’s always love. Love through tenderness and love through hard times. I think the world needs more of that. It needs more good feelings. I think if we all focused on love a little more, it would eventually overcome all the terrible things this world has to offer, inevitably making the world a better place. Let’s talk about love!
Kyla Pearson: On Jan 26th, you released your latest album, North Wind via Dine Alone Records. Can you tell us a bit more about the album?
Spencer Burton: I’m not going to get into each individual track on North Wind but I will talk about the album as an entity. Each song and the album as a whole was inspired, unconditionally, by nature and the beauty it can bring. After a few years of uncertainty, I finally found peace and clarity again in Ontario’s northern, wild beauty. This entire album was written in solitude in the north woods. A small cabin, tethered not to the modern world. A place contained within itself. I found inspiration in the wind, water and bird song. These things, amongst a few others, really helped me find myself again and in finding myself I also found a way to bring music back into my life.
Kyla Pearson: Many of the tracks on the album were written in the comfort of solitude in Ontario’s northern woods. What was that writing process like? How has the environment in which you wrote the album influenced the stories you’ve told through it?
Spencer Burton: Like I mentioned earlier, this album was inspired, completely, by nature itself. I found this to be the most therapeutic of all my writing instances. Not every song I wrote in this solitude made its way to the album but the ones that did felt truly at home.
Kyla Pearson: The album was recorded with Andrija Tokic in Nashville, TN. What was it like collaborating once again? Can you also tell us a bit more about the album’s recording and production process?
Spencer Burton: Working with Andy is always a treat. He’s become a friend over the many years working together and I think that’s more important than anything when working in music. Friendship. It’s hard to work on something that contains so much passion and love without a friendly face in the mix. It takes really knowing someone to create like-minded experiences.
Kyla Pearson: Now that it’s finally out in the world, how does seeing it all come together feel? How does it set the stage for what’s to come?
Spencer Burton: There is a sense of pride when it comes to releasing an album, however, there’s also a sense of fear. I can only compare it to parenthood. You’re not sure what it’s going to be like but as soon as it all comes together you know that you’ll love it regardless of the outcome. An album, like a child, holds a special place just like all the others before it. Unique. Loved. North Wind makes me know, more than ever, that I have no idea what is to come. But I do know that whatever comes will be held with love.
Kyla Pearson: According to you, what is the ideal setting for fans to listen to the album to fully experience it?
Spencer Burton: The ideal setting, for listening to North Wind, would be the setting in which it was created. Peaceful solitude. A place where rustling gales bring company to pasture. Where a bird’s song would become so overwhelming that the album’s music would be drowned out completely, leaving one’s ears echoing only with the sounds of soft rippling water and a distant loons call.
Kyla Pearson: Lastly, do you have any upcoming shows where fans can hear you play the tracks off of North Wind Live?
Spencer Burton: If anyone plans on travelling to the Muskokas this summer, I’ll be performing at the Tall Pines Music Festival on July 20th alongside some other incredible artists.
Burton, Spencer. Interview. Conducted by Kyla Pearson, Mar 19 2024.
Unknown. “Featured: Official cover art for Spencer Burton’s latest album, North Wind.” Photo courtesy of PR team. Accessed Jan 31 2024.
Heins, Vanessa. “Featured: Spencer Burton on his farm.” Photo courtesy of PR team. Accessed Jan 31 2024.
