Artist description Poem de Terre is a multi-disciplinary ensemble melding live folk music and spoken word with contemporary and more established musical forms. Begun in the summer of 1993 by six artists performing in Beyond the Light, the ensemble now known as Poem de Terre has evolved organically to develop a sound and style unique to the Kingston music scene, featuring a strong repertoire of original material as well as rearranged versions of music and spoken word pieces previously performed or recorded by other artists.While the musical style of Poem de Terre's material crosses all genres, at heart the music is folk. Building upon this foundation of folk music, Poem de Terre draws upon many influences to create a music for the new millenium. As much as the music, words are central to Poem de Terre's work, bringing stories and ideas to the community in the form of live performance. Poem de Terre features an ever-changing ensemble cast, ranging in size from four to twelve or more members on stage depending on the occasion (more than forty people have performed as part of Poem de Terre through the years). The one constant is group leader Bob MacKenzie, around whose poetry the group was founded.

Music Style Eclectic contemporary folk music and spoken word performance.

Musical Influences Leonard Cohen, Les Crane, John Hiatt, Delaney & Bonnie, Donovan, Les Paul, and more, very eclectic.

Similar Artists Cranberries, Spirit of the West, Doors, Jethro Tull, Moody Blues, Pentangle, Grateful Dead.

Group Members These classic Poem de Terre performances feature: Malka Berman, Richard Gold, Bob MacKenzie, Maggie McEwen, Tracie Morgan, Ian Revell, and Robin Walker

Albums Windfall (Poem de Terre, 1994), Pyramid (Poem de Terre, 1995), Assume Nothing (BMG, 1999)

Press Reviews With twenty explorative songs and the creativity of several different musicians, Assume Nothing is a project that has produced dazzling results. A balanced combination of spoken word and singing from different vocalists, this album is hard to turn off midway. ... "Pyramid" touches on more serious subject matter than other songs on Assume Nothing, revealing to a fuller extent MacKenzie’s astounding talent as a writer. ... Although this album is entitled "Assume Nothing", it would be safe to assume one thing: this is a CD not to be missed. (Betsy MacDonald, canEHdian.com)"This enhanced CD offers top entertainment value for anyone who has access to CD-ROM technology ... Setting aside the bonus of navigating session notes, lyric sheets, biographies, photos and a complete mystery novel entitled Ghost Shadow, the music on Assume Nothing -- 20 songs, three producers, five vocalists, six instrumentalists, and more than a dozen composers -- stands on its own. It's eclectic entertainment and an intriguing experiment." (Jon Sears, Progressive Independent Community Press)"...Simple songs, simple productions like good home demos. But the best thing about this release is the full length novel Ghost Shadow: Unfinished Sins, 'an action novel', in the Payge Turner thriller series. Good work. And smart to include it on the cd - I can see more writers doing this is in the future. Indeed, Stephen King's got one coming out now. So, if you like BOO in your stories, pick up this cd just for the read." (Ben Ohmart, @nZone.com)

Location Kingston, Ontario - Canada

Copyright notice. All material on MP3.com is protected by copyright law and by international treaties. You may download this material and make reasonable number of copies of this material only for your own personal use. You may not otherwise reproduce, distribute, publicly perform, publicly display, or create derivative works of this material, unless authorized by the appropriate copyright owner(s).