John K. Samson Scores Neil Young-Inspired Project in Winnipeg

BY Alex HudsonPublished Apr 29, 2015

John K. Samson hasn't released an album since 2012's Provincial (and it's been even longer since his band the Weakerthans dropped an LP), but now the songwriter finally has a new project. It's a live score for a piece called For the Turnstiles, which is inspired by Neil Young's classic 1974 album On the Beach.

The project comes at the hands of mastermind Brent Lott, who enlisted Samson to do the original live score with the help of Christine Fellows, Ashley Au and Weakerthans member Jason Tait. Their music will be set to choreography from Winnipeg's Contemporary Dancers, with the performance taking place at Gas Station Arts Centre in Winnipeg from May 7 to 9.

An announcement from Samson explains, "For the Turnstiles is a musical, choreographic and visual response to Neil Young's 1974 album On the Beach." They've written eight songs and there will be accompanying choreography in the form of six dancers and live projections, all inspired by On the Beach.

You can get more info about the project here and buy tickets here.

Samson is also teaming with Christine Fellows for some new songs inspired by the writings of Canadian novelist Miriam Toews. They will perform them at "Torn from the Pages," a Dave Bidini-hosted event at Toronto's Harbourfront Centre Theatre on May 30. Get more info (including ticket details) regarding that show here.

Over the past year, Samson has been slowly rolling out a string of early demos. Earlier this month, he shared the 2001 demo for "One Great City!" Hear that below.

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