| Jan 30, 2019


After 12 years of touring with the critically acclaimed Sheesham, Lotus and ’Son, including last year’s trek around the British Isles and Holland, Teilhard Frost is taking some time to explore life as a solo artist.

He was in Maberly Saturday night with frequent collaborator Tom Power for the Maberly Quarterly, with caller Sarah VanNorstrand.

He has a new solo album, As The Crow Flies (to be reviewed in next week’s paper), which is a nod to his Sheesham Crow persona.

“The music is similar to Sheesham and Lotus but a little higher up the mountain,” he said. “There’s some a cappella, some banjo tunes, some rare and endangered tunes but mostly it’s just me off the floor.”

Frost said that before Sheesham and Lotus happened, his plan was to be a solo act. But it did happen and they did seven albums together.

Last year, Lotus Wight (Sam Allison) put out a solo album and now it’s Frost’s turn.

“My plan was always to be a single but now that it’s happening, it’s a little nervous not having other guys in the band,” he said. “But on the plus side, as a solo performer, there’s more freedom to do art and there’s also more freedom on the road.

“I can sleep in the ditch if I need to.”

As The Crow Flies is available at “CD Baby and anywhere everybody usually looks for music” or you can order it at www.tfrostmusic.com.

He didn’t rule out a Sheesham and Lotus reunion in the future though.

And speaking of bands getting back together, Power said The Dardanelles will be back in the studio shortly with a likely tour to follow.

“Just last week we rented a cabin in Wakefield, Que.,” he said. “We’ll have a new album in the fall and will be doing festivals like the Newfoundland and Labrador Folk Festival.”

And speaking of Newfoundland, Power credited his connections on The Rock for helping the Dardanelles get started in Ontario.

“Frank and Sandra (White, owners of The Crossing Pub in Sharbot Lake) are Newfoundlanders and when we first started, we could always get a reliable gig at The Crossing,” Power said. “That helped a lot.”

Power spends a lot of time in Toronto these days because of his gig as host of CBC Radio’s “q” but this isn’t his first collaboration with Frost at the Maberly Quarterly.

“I like to play dances, I like to play with Teilhard and this gets me out of the city,” he said.

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