Debut Album of Traditional Canadian Music from Across the Continent, Memorial Hall, To Be Released Feb. 5
Duo to Open Month-Long Tour for Richard Thompson, Including Shows in NYC, Chicago, Seattle, LA, San Francisco, Boston
Clayton Linthicum (of Kacy & Clayton) and Irish Music Award- and Independent Music Award-winner Quinn Bachand join forces for their debut collaborative album, Memorial Hall, out on Jalopy Records on February 5, 2027. An exploration of reimagined cowboy ballads, Québécois harmonica reels, Métis fiddle tunes, Acadian country music, and more, the album’s songs originate from communities across the continent—British Columbia, Quebec, New Brunswick, the Northwest Territories, rural Saskatchewan (where Linthicum is from), Wyoming, and beyond.
Hear/share “Clayton Boone” performance video here.
With Kacy & Clayton, Linthicum has earned millions of online streams, shared stages with Wilco, Ray LaMontagne, and The Decemberists, and performed on NPR’s Tiny Desk (Home) Concert, KEXP, and Jam in the Van. Bachand’s work spans traditional and experimental music, and he has collaborated with Cocteau Twins guitarist Robin Guthrie, accompanied legendary Canadian fiddler Natalie MacMaster, and appeared on Jeremy Kittel’s GRAMMY-nominated album Chrysalis.
Today, the duo shared “Clayton Boone,” a traditional cowboy song first recorded by unaccompanied singer Harry Jackson that evokes the Canadian wilderness. Linthicum and Bachand took the lyrics and created their own musical composition for the song, bringing together Linthicum’s rural Saskatchewan musical roots with Bachand’s British Columbian old-time fiddle playing and Québécois tremolo harmonica.
The duo also crafted their own music for “Utah Carroll,” which was among the first cowboy ballads Clayton heard, from a 1927 recording by Texas’ Carl T. Sprague. Linthicum and Bachand drew on the traditional lyrics to develop their own minor key setting of the ballad, which tells the story of a cowboy who sacrifices himself to save the boss’ daughter from a stampede.
“At My Window” may sound familiar to Wilco or Woody Guthrie fans, but comes from a different source that demonstrates the folk process. Linthicum first heard the song when Nathan Salsburg sent him a Dick Devall recording that Alan Lomax made in the 1940s. Linthicum also learned about “New Brunswick, Gaspesie, Abitibi” from Catherine Lemire, a fellow community radio DJ with a deep knowledge of Québécois country music.
Several of the tunes on the album came directly from firsthand experience with older musicians. When he was 20, Bachand learned “Wally Firth’s / Bobby Ball” from Firth, an Indigenous fiddle player and former Bush Pilot and Trader with the Hudson’s Bay Company in the Northwest Territories, who incorporated Métis influences in his playing. The elder introduced it as a tune that his father used to play at dances around Fort McPherson, where two towns shared a single fiddle.
“Les Souliers Rouges à Lisa” comes from reclusive Québécois harmonica master Robert Legault, who became Bachand’s only mentor in a nearly-forgotten style of traditional tremolo harmonica playing (where the notes don’t bend). Legault was himself taught by harmonica legends like Louis Blanchet and Henri Lacroix. Legault, who passed away at 64, gifted his own harmonica to Bachand and taught him “Les Souliers Rouges à Lisa,” a tune he had composed for fiddler Lisa Ornstein
The cover artwork, Dance Hall (1980), was painted by the late, celebrated Saskatchewan artist David Thauberger. The painting evokes the local community halls that have kept the spirit of grassroots music alive for generations.
“Clayton’s my favorite guitar player in the world,” says Bachand, explaining, “There’s this weird generational gap, where Clayton, who grew up in a rural place, has the same influences as the eighty-year-old guys that I know in Quebec. He’s using a thumb pick and playing with his fingers.”
Far from being old-school, though, Linthicum and Bachand belong to a distinctly new school of interpreters; artists like Nora Brown (the band’s labelmate), Jake Xerxes Fussell and Sam Amidon. Through sparse and hypnotic arrangements, tasteful harmonies, and world-class instrumentalism, the record stands proudly in the traditional music canon, ready to find its way to first-time and long-time folk listeners.
Memorial Hall Track Listing
1. Clayton Boone – Traditional words, music by Bachand/Linthicum
2. Wally Firth’s – Also known as William Firth’s Minuet. Learned from Wally Firth, the Gwich’in fiddler from Fort McPherson, at Glenshiel Retirement Home. Wally learned the tune from his father, William Firth.
3. Bobby Ball – Found in the Ball Family Fonds at the BC Archives, performed by Telegraph Creek fiddler, Bobby Ball.
4. At My Window – Traditional arranged by Bachand/Linthicum
5. Happy One Step – Traditional arranged by Bachand/Linthicum
6. Utah Carroll – Traditional words, music by Bachand/Linthicum
7. Les Souliers Rouge a Lisa – Written by Robert Legault for Lisa Ornstein
8. New Brunswick, Gaspesie, Abitibi* – Written by Larry Robichaud
9. Gilbert’s Duck Dance / Reel du Pendu – Traditional arranged by Bachand/Linthicum/Anderson
Clayton Linthicum & Quinn Bachand Tour Dates (all with Richard Thompson)
January 19 – Washington, DC – Lincoln Theatre
January 20 – Lansdowne, PA – Lansdowne Theater
January 22 – Northampton, MA – Academy Of Music Theatre
January 23 – New York, NY – The Town Hall
January 24 – Boston, MA – The Wilbur
January 26 – Toronto, ON – The Concert Hall
January 30 – Chicago, IL – The Vic Theatre
February 2 – St Paul, MN – The Fitzgerald Theater
February 3 – Lawrence, KS – Liberty Hall
February 5 – Denver, CO – The Oriental Theater
February 6 – Boulder, CO – Boulder Theater
February 9 – Seattle, WA – Neptune Theatre
February 10 – Portland, OR – Revolution Hall
February 12 – Grass Valley, CA – The Center For the Arts
February 13 – San Francisco, CA – The Castro Theatre
February 16 – Solana Beach, CA – Belly Up
February 17 – Solana Beach, CA – Belly Up
February 18 – Los Angeles, CA – The Belasco Theater
Memorial Hall Credits
Recorded and mixed by Quinn Bachand
Mastered by Micah Erenberg at The Secret Beach
*Recorded by Micah Erenberg and Quinn Bachand
Quinn Bachand: Fiddle, vocals, harmonica, bass
Clayton Linthicum: Guitar, vocals, bass, cello
*Kacy Lee Anderson: Rhythm guitar
Front cover:
David Thauberger, Dance Hall, 1980, acrylic, glitter on canvas, 115 x 172.9 cm. The Mendel Art Gallery Collection at Remai Modern. Purchased 1981.
