By Andrea Simms-Karp
Local flutist Rozalind MacPhail is known for pushing the envelope. The Ottawa musician has already skirted convention by bringing her flute around to local rock clubs, playing with some of the city’s better-known songwriters and bands.
Now, McPhail is stepping into a different role: with a new album out, she is trying her hand — and her voice — at songwriting.
She picked up the guitar last winter at the suggestion of a friend, and she has already written and recorded a handful of tunes.
“Every night, just before I went to bed, I would try it out,” she says, describing how she wrote the songs and learned the guitar.
Her new release, recorded partly with local songwriter Lindsay Ferguson, is a raw but beautiful collection of songs called Gas Station Sessions — seven songs for seven years.
Out of the seven tracks, three are written and sung by Ferguson, and the rest by MacPhail, who plays the flute on each track.
The tunes are beautiful. MacPhail’s lovely voice has taken a backseat to her flute until now, but the change is welcome. She writes about things that anyone can relate to — themes such as being misunderstood, heartbroken, or fed up with a lover, run throughout the disc.
As though making the leap to songwriting wasn’t enough of a change, MacPhail is undertaking an even larger project.
She has decided to pack her bags and head to the Banff Centre for the Arts in Alberta, staying as an artist in residence and working on her new craft. After that, she will move to another city.
MacPhail says she knows leaving Ottawa won’t be easy, but she feels it is something she needs to do.
“I decided to leave in December of last year,” she says. “But I wanted to live one of each season in the city first before I moved, so I could really enjoy it.”
Sure enough, she has used the time well. In the past year, one could easily find MacPhail sharing stages with a long list of local musicians, as well as some from farther away: Andy Stochansky, Great Lake Swimmers and the Constantines are among them.
Ferguson says she was honoured to contribute some of her songs to MacPhail’s CD, but admits it is always sad to see a great musician leave the local music scene.
“Roz has a real passion for music. She knows she’s going to be doing it for the rest of her life.”
Ferguson also says that making the leap to songwriting is not so unusual for a flutist, especially when you are trying to build up your career.
“It’s the next step,” she says. “You don’t want to depend on everyone else forever.”
Ferguson admits she admires MacPhail for picking up a brand new instrument so quickly, saying that she has a secret longing to learn the cello.
But MacPhail’s transformation surprised some of her peers. Local singer-songwriter Neil Gerster, who used to play in the Lighthousekeeprs with MacPhail, says he was “absolutely shocked” by the news that she had started singing and writing.
But he says that moving from Ottawa might not be such a challenge for her, since she was always looking for new musical horizons.
“Her commitment is to music more than any specific scene,” he says. “There are more opportunities elsewhere.”
MacPhail will be saying goodbye to the city in a final concert at Zaphod Beeblebrox on Nov. 27. Tickets are $10 in advance, or $15 in advance with a CD.
A host of local songwriters will be joining her throughout the evening, and all money raised will go towards her residency at the Banff Centre for the Arts.