When Hannah Epperson opens her eyes after performing a long song on her violin, she's always surprised to find the audience still there. While some music festivals suit floaters, who dip in and out of shows in search of something more, there weren't many people willing to part with their seats at the Palace Grand Theatre during her performance in Dawson City.
It's not that Epperson's a virtuoso violinist whose fingers move at a staggering speed; it's more her unusual technique that audiences find entrancing. To watch her play is to watch a musician truly making her own music as she builds and orchestrates her songs, layer by layer, with just a loop pedal, microphone, and violin at her disposal.
Her dancing pizzicato rhythms sometimes seemed slightly at odds with her clear and earnest vocal delivery, but her instrumental pieces were dreamlike and filled the small-but-intimate theatre brilliantly. A cover of Beirut's "My Night With The Prostitute in Verseille" definitely stood out. Songs like "Murder of Crows" and "We Will Host A Party" had political and environmental messages in their lyrics, but for the most part Epperson let her music speak for itself, pausing only briefly between songs to kick off her shoes, open her eyes, and share a few words about herself.
It's not that Epperson's a virtuoso violinist whose fingers move at a staggering speed; it's more her unusual technique that audiences find entrancing. To watch her play is to watch a musician truly making her own music as she builds and orchestrates her songs, layer by layer, with just a loop pedal, microphone, and violin at her disposal.
Her dancing pizzicato rhythms sometimes seemed slightly at odds with her clear and earnest vocal delivery, but her instrumental pieces were dreamlike and filled the small-but-intimate theatre brilliantly. A cover of Beirut's "My Night With The Prostitute in Verseille" definitely stood out. Songs like "Murder of Crows" and "We Will Host A Party" had political and environmental messages in their lyrics, but for the most part Epperson let her music speak for itself, pausing only briefly between songs to kick off her shoes, open her eyes, and share a few words about herself.
