Over the Moon
By Melissa Piche Times Contributor
The folk-roots duo Over the Moon are bringing their signature mix of music and storytelling back to Strathmore on Oct. 4 at the Strathmore Travelodge as part of the Musical Arts Society concert series.
“It was quite a few years ago, actually, playing for those people. That was one of the first shows we ever did as a group,” Craig Bignell recalled. “We have a lot of friends there now, so it’s always fun to come back and see them and play for people there in Strathmore, that’s for sure.”
For Bignell and his wife, Suzanne Levesque, the duo who formed the band, the name of the band comes from a personal story.
“That’s how I felt when she met me,” Bignell said with a laugh. Levesque quickly corrected him: “No, no, that’s how we feel about each other.”
The pair have been married for 11 years, together for 13 and now not only tour together, but also run a venue.
“We travel all over the world together playing music and now we bought a theatre two years ago in a little town called Hardisty,” Bignell said. “We worked on it for two years rebuilding it ourselves, doing everything, just the two of us. And we opened in May, and it’s been a huge success.”
Once a movie theatre, the renovated space now serves as an acoustic music studio named Bird Dog.
“We have bigger and bigger named artists coming all the time and now even some international artists. Next week we have a guy from the States named Martin Sexton, who’s a huge, huge famous artist in the acoustic world,” Bignell added.
As their music evolves, their songwriting continues to reflect both place and experience.
“We used to live down south of Longview on a ranch down there, so our writing was all about that area and the foothills. But lately we’ve been working more and more around the world, so we’re getting other stories. More world influences are coming in on our albums.”
Their setlists are tailored to the moment and the players joining them. This time, clarinetist and vocalist Cedric Blary is along for the ride.
“We’ll pick some more swing kind of tunes that feature Cedric doing what he does,” Bignell said. “Cedric’s also an amazing talented bass singer, so we get him to sing one song right at the end and it blows everyone’s mind. We’ll be doing that song for sure.”
What makes an Over the Moon concert unique is their approach to audience connection.
“We don’t take ourselves really seriously,” Bignell explained. “We basically treat our audience like 400 people are coming over in our living room and they’re all our friends and we just hang out and laugh and chat and fool around and that’s what we do.”
As for surprises? The pair laughed as Bignell joked, “I might have a new shirt by the time we get there.”
Over The Moon performs Oct. 4 at the Strathmore Travelodge as part of the Strathmore Musical Arts Society concert series. Tickets are $60 with doors opening at 6 p.m. and dinner served at 7 p.m.
The show beginning at 8pm. Tickets can be purchased by visiting www.strathmorearts.com.