Mystikana at 1887 Church in Irondale, Ontario
Friday, August 22nd
Sometimes, it can be a treat to just pick up and go to a live music show… to simply seek out something new…to investigate an act you know nothing about. In this case, there was a cause – and a good one: to support a fundraiser for an historic, pioneer church built in 1887. Here was a family trio of singer-songwriter-musicians known as Mystikana, hailing from the Canadian wilderness somewhere near Bancroft, Ontario. A roughly-recorded live video of these ‘waifs from the woods’ was put forward as a teaser to help promote this event, which was more than enough to pique my interest – but I knew of little else.
As things turned out, magic happened.
Flying under the banner of “Calling all Shadows to the Light,” Mystikana is mother, Kristina – a classically-trained violinist and daughters, Juliana and Ariana, each of whom – like their mother – sing and play a variety of complementary instruments. Although they confessed to being very inexperienced in a ‘live setting’ (this was possibly their third show in front of an audience), the reality couldn’t have been further what everyone experienced on this very special, late-summer evening.
What followed was not the expected innocence which comes with inexperience or the awkward inelegance of neophytes plying their craft to the best of their newfound abilities. Far from it. These were deeply-schooled, if not entirely other-worldly, practitioners offering a full-throated celebration of the human voice – or, more specifically, a grand demonstration of familial, ‘blood’ harmonies like few have sung before them. They may have discovered their gifts through the isolation of preferring to live in the woods or through their endless search for meaning through adventure – but this was a highly-studied, deeply-rehearsed, immensely- skillful exposé into the inspired, creative inventiveness of a family of three souls, closely-stitched together by time and place. How appropriate was this event to be held in an almost acoustically-perfect, antiquated yet significant, church, in fact?
Where did this degree of talent come from? Born to a music teacher mother, whose mother before her shared the same occupation, it turns out that a great degree of the family’s musical education came from this same grandmother. With Estonian, Austrian, German and Irish roots, home listening often focused on the music of Nana Mouskouri, Edith Piaff, Pavlo – all blended together against a backdrop of classical music (most notably Beethoven’s “Sonata In C”) before more curious tastes moved on to acts like Loreena McKennitt – and others whose music bridged the sounds of multiple cultures, teasing a world of musical possibilities. Kristina’s dreams of becoming a concert violinist were dashed when she was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis at age 16. She shifted her focus into songwriting, playing classical guitar (flute, viola) and, ultimately, the all-round musical education of her two talented girls.
Somehow, this exposure to the world of music around them instilled a boundless inquisitiveness which has only just begun to harvest its full potential. Their penchant for keeping things simple and living in the woods has seemingly wrought an acute appreciation for life, for nature and for the bewitching possibilities realized through a forever fascination with the extremes of both darkness and light – and everything in-between.
You’ll find all of this – and more – in their music. It’s beyond simple classification – neither Celtic nor medieval, but with elements of both. Throw in some hues from European folk music from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance but with shades of pop and worldbeat, together with elements of darkwave. A fascination with storytelling and elements of fantasy are merged with a fascination with Tolkien’s Middle Earth, if not the hobbits, elves and trolls who dwell there. Their lyrics – and an evocative collection of music videos to represent these songs – conjure castles and ruins, swirling mists and ancient forests, fabled figures from a mythological past. From their song titles alone, you’ll notice that Greek history, too, plays a strong role in their creative process.
All in all, they draw their key inspiration from reality – life and death, dreams and nightmares, ecstasy and agony, fear and courage, loss and gain, love and indifference, hope and despair. All real-world experience brings with it a learned spectrum of darkness and light and, while Mystikana tend to draw their key influences from the darkness – the experience of hearing these three voices weaving and wrapping themselves around each other with ear-bending flexibility and phenomenal range, accompanying themselves with a bare minimum of augmentation, largely driven by the deep, sinewy strains of Kristina’s impassioned violin – delivers an almost hypnotic display of light and positivity.
The best part? Mystikana was playing to an audience who – for the most part – had no idea what to expect and the experience was immediately heartwarming, if not altogether exhilarating.
From the invigorating “A Call of the Woods” – sung a cappella – to “The Girl”, with its added acoustic guitar and violin, you could almost recall The Friendly Giant’s , age-old invitation… “It’s late. This little chair will be waiting for one of you, and a rocking chair for another who like to rock and a big armchair for two or more to curl up in when you come again to our castle…”. The more animated “Land Of Trees”, with added violin and percussion, was reminiscent of an old Hasidic spiritual melody while a highlight – “I Take A Walk” (with its added birdsongs) – took full advantage of soprano voices while gentle guitar provided its tuneful backdrop, accented by Kristina’s ever-artful violin contribution. Such an ethereal mix proved truly spellbinding in the dimly lit, timeworn church. Two full sets of captivating originals provided an opportunity to sample the wide-ranging variety of songs – as both Ariana and Juliana traded leads, the most haunting of which included “Listen”, “Lake In The Woods” and their first-ever composition, “Through the Earth”. Closing the set with “Mountain Girl”, as if to tease their abilities to approximate true Appalachia by way of Bancroft, this upbeat, country-tinged original was driven home by Kristina’s nimble ‘fiddle’ sounds.
The second half of the performance provided with a near-exotic rendition of “Hades” – Persephone’s testimony of love for her Lord of the Underworld, delivered with sounds of the sea, flute and guitar. Their collective voices soar to places not normally heard, the supporting carrying you high above the clouds as their vocals swirl, spin and swell together – gloriously – drawing you fully into the exosphere. After the deeply introspective “Dark Hearts”, the mind-numbingly beautiful “Reanimation” seemed instantly capable of transporting the listener to a faraway place – a better place. We drank it all in like so much medicine.
An encore was met with a hearty, upbeat rendition of “By Candlelight” – with guitar, violin and percussion, returning the audience to the real world and a full-count heartbeat, as if to bring this rapturous therapy session to a sweet close.
If Mystikana’s ethereal, mood-altering music-making is some kind of 21st Century witchcraft, put this listener down for a good ol’-fashioned coven get-together any time.
“Hades”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNb6MIkh9J4&list=RDMM&start_radio=1&rv=qBF26uJ0GqQ
To help support the church? https://www.irondaleontario.ca/articles/save-our-irondale-church