In 2016 internationally acclaimed singer-songwriter Joanna Wallfisch cycled 1,154 miles down the Pacific Coast Highway carrying little but a ukulele and a loop pedal. She called her journey The Great Song Cycle.
This odyssey, rich with strangeness and delight, gave rise to her new show, The Great Song Cycle Song Cycle, which she is now bringing to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Mixing original music and song with spoken word it is a musical memoir and tribute to the people and places she encountered on the road as she pushed through challenge and triumph, with only her body, two thin wheels, and song propelling her forward.
Wallfisch, a UK jazz and folk musician now based in LA, said: “Everything about the journey was remarkable – from the deep mediation and beautiful loneliness of solitary travel, to the rich, complex, surprising, and sometimes baffling, psyche of America, its people and its landscapes. The journey has continued even after it ended, as I have now translated these experiences into songs and a story which I can share on stage.”
The Great Song Cycle Song Cycle invites audiences to saddle up and enjoy this epic tale of adventure told with vivid honesty, humour, and musicality. From surreal stories about a friendship with inanimate fairground statue named Rex The Travelling Dog, to the dark comedy of a father and son camping trip soaked in whiskey, to mesmerizing murmurations in the sky as Joanna creates birdsong with her voice to depict a ballet of birds soaring over hills of California, and then, in a final flight, Joanna reflects on how the journey is the destination.
Wallfisch accompanies herself on baritone ukulele, kazoo and toy piano, and creates sublime vocal landscapes on her loop pedal, in a show that has been highly praised in the USA. Culture Quest LA says:“Wallfisch’s approach to performance is dynamic. She composes enticing, lush music with impeccable soundscapes … Her voice evokes depth and crystal clarity … her heart’s inner workings unfold in poetic verse.”
As a singer Joanna has a fine reputation with London Jazz News, saying: “She can just trust her presence, allow her light, focused voice to soar free …” She was lauded in The Telegraph for a “Sublime voice … truly unique performance,” while All About Jazz adds: “Wallfisch produces a musical beauty of a many-colored sort that speaks to straight to the human condition.”
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Listings Details
- Venue:theSpace @ Surgeon’s Hall
- Dates: 13-18 August at 12:05
- Box office: 0131 510 2384 and [email protected] 0131 226 0000 /www.edfringe.com
- Venue:theSpace Triplex
- Dates: 20-25 August at 20:35
- Box office: 0131 510 2395 and [email protected] 226 0000 /www.edfringe.com
- Ticket prices: £8.50 / concessions £6.50 / children £4.50
Listen to some of Joanna’s new album Blood and Bonehere
For media information contact Matthew Shelley at [email protected].