Singer-songwriter Brian denHertog is bringing a new collection of songs out of the workshop and onto the stage in Port Alberni.
DenHertog and his wife, musician Jill Russell relocated to Vancouver Island in the summer of 2020, just as the pandemic was locking the world down. The songs on denHertog’s newest album were written over a two year period as denHertog retreated to the workshop in the backyard of his new home and began to chronicle the vast amount of change happening for everyone.
Heart Rings Like A Temple Bell is his fourth album and was written, recorded and produced at home, with denHertog playing acoustic and slide guitar, as well as octave mandolin and vocals. Russell plays flutes and long-time musical collaborator Jon Wood plays lap steel and banjo.
“It was strange to work in isolation instead of being in the studio and playing and working together in real time,” says denHertog. “But the reality is that Jill and I moved to the Island and my pal Jon moved back to Southern Ontario, so we spent a lot of time talking on the phone and transferring song files over the internet.”
Dealing with topics like isolation, social issues, physical and spiritual longing, denHertog says that the collection of songs is ultimately a collection of love songs, in some ways.
“They came into being during a period of great upheaval and social divisiveness, where our sense of community has been battered,” he said.
DenHertog and Russell will be at Char’s Landing in Port Alberni on Thursday, Feb. 15. The show starts at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available online at briandenhertog.bpt.me or call Char at 250-730-1636.