Erin Costelo’s Sweet Marie offered a lot as an album, most of which culminated in no less than five Nova Scotia Music Award nominations. The successful follow-up to Down Below, The Status Quo, Sweet Marie knocked out a sound that evoked the big rooms and glamour of past eras. Fortunately, Juno Award-winner and film producer Amelia Curran was on hand to document the creation process, particularly for this very meta video for “Hands on Fire,” a song all about Costelo’s creation process.
The album itself was crafted over ten days spent in a timbre-frame house in rural Nova Scotia by Costelo, Glenn Milchem, Clive MacNutt, Anna Ruddick, Leith Fleming-Smith, Andrew McKelvie and Andrew Jackson, and the video captures some of the magic of that process.
“Directed by Amelia Curran and shot during the recording of my latest album, Sweet Marie, the video for ‘Hands on Fire’ is a celebration of collaboration and the song itself embodies the struggles and joys of creating something,” says Costelo.
The song details the fervent struggle with which something is created purely for creation’s sake. It might be confused for a bit of alchemy; some headlong Icarian rush into some jazz flute-inspired odyssey. It’s a little bit of que sera, sera, not entirely laissez-faire, but certainly subject to the whims of the muse. As Costelo sings: “we’re building a house on every mistake,” and it’s from within those mistakes that the magic happens.
Tour Dates:
10.17.19 – Portland, OR @ Kennedy School
10.18.19 – McMinnville, OR @ Hotel Oregon
10.20.19 – Bothel, WA @ Anderson School
10.21.19 – Tacoma, WA @ Elks Temple
10.22.19 – Centralia, WA @ Olympic Club
10.23.19 – Troutdale, OR @ Edgefield
10.24.19 – Bend, OR @ Old St. Francis School
10.30.19 – Altadena, CA @ Coffee Gallery Backstage
11.03.19 – Moab, UT @ Moab Folk Festival
11.06.19 – Collingwood, ON @ Crow. Bar and Variety!
11.07.19 – Toronto ON @ Dakota Tavern*
11.08.19 – Hamilton, ON @ Pearl Company
11.09.19 – Ottawa, ON @ National Arts Centre*
*with Jessie Brown opening
**with Jerry Leger opening