NEW A CAPELLA SONG + VIDEO

This is an a capella tune we wrote using lyrics from a 19th-Century soldier's song by W.F. Thompson. It's the first single off our forthcoming album, 'Trench Songs', out November 10th.

Why does it look so fricking pro? Because it's part of a larger filmed theatre piece called 'Ridge', written by our own Brendan McLeod, produced by the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts, directed by Mike Southworth with cinematography by Byron Kopman.

'Ridge' will have two live in-person screenings at the Pacific Cinematheque on Nov 7th and then will be available to stream online at the Chan's website after that, details here: https://chancentre.com/events/ridge/

New Album 'Trench Songs' Coming in November!

Trench songs were written by frontline soldiers during WW1. Essentially protest songs, they were often parodies of well-known tunes. We’ve rewritten new melodies and music for these words, in order to more readily access the emotional content of the lyrics, and to continue folk music’s long tradition of reshaping songs over time -- the same way soldiers reshaped these songs in the trenches.

It’s the most  stripped down album we’ve done. Other than percussion, the recording was performed by our 4 current touring members, a lot of it live off the floor.

During the pandemic, where war metaphors abound, these songs have given us much-needed perspective around hardship, the sacrifice of previous generations, and, mostly, what vulnerable communities can be forced to endure at the hands of the government and military in a crisis. We think about these soldiers when we sing, and hope you will too.

New Live Video for WW1-era Song, "Take Me Back to Old Ontario"

Branching off of themes from our very own Brendan McLeod’s new solo show ‘Ridge’, The Fugitives have been re-imagining WW1-era soldier songs; updating melodies and music to wartime lyrics so that they might resonate in a new way with a modern audience. In honour of Remembrance Day, here’s the first one, recorded live in a SaltSpring Island cabin. It’s called Take Me Back to Old Ontario with lyrics written in 1915 by Frank E. Balson.

(Directed by Piet Suess).

Branching off of themes from Brendan McLeod's new solo show 'Ridge', The Fugitives have been re-imagining WW1-era soldier songs, updating melodies and music to wartime lyrics so that they might resonate in a new way with a modern audience. In honour of Remembrance Day, here's the first one, recorded live in a SaltSpring Island cabin.