Mark Berube
& The Patriotic Few

“June in Siberia is quite possibly the band’s most intimate, immediate and heartfelt outing to date.” Uptown (Winnipeg)

Recorded by Howard Bilerman (Arcade Fire, Basia Bulat, Silver Mt Zion) live off the floor at Montreal’s Hotel 2 Tango, June In Siberia (due for release March 1st 2011) is the full length follow up to 2008’s What The Boat Gave The River. June In Siberia sees a departure for Mark Berube and The Patriotic Few (Kristina Koropecki on cello, Patrick Dugas on drums, and Amélie Mandeville on bass) from their previous experimentation with large-scale arrangements of strings and horns, choosing instead to hone in on the impressive vocal and instrumental strengths of each member. Joining the band are four special guests. Dan Mangan appears on Side of the Road, Emily Loizeau sings a verse in the redemptive eulogy Above the Ground; CR Avery lends a poem inLet Me Go; and Hattie Webb of the Webb Sisters bestows her voice to the blues-piano riff Fela Kuti-inspired ballad My Me Lady.

Since the release of What the Boat Gave the River, Mark Berube and the band have rarely left the road. Their September 2008 Cabaret Juste Pour Rire concert in Montreal, was recorded by the CBC for Canada Live and was programmed and aired an unprecedented 8 times on Canadian national and regional radio programs, drawing Mark a comparison to a “young Leonard Cohen” from CBC’s Duke Eaton for his lyrical brevity and craftsmanship.

The summer of 2010 marked the release of the acclaimed Tailored To Fit EP and the fall of 2010 saw the song Flowers on the Stones from What the Boat Gave the River appear in the Québecois film Route 132. With a March 1st release date for band’s new album approaching the momentum continues to build and build. It will, of course, come as no surprise to anyone that Mark and the band will be bringing June in Siberia to audiences all over North America and Europe throughout 2011.

Jenny Berkel’s deep, resonant voice and poetic lyrics have been garnering fans ever since she started performing with her guitar three years ago. In that time, she has played with bands The Wandering Goose and Lady o’Lakes, toured across Canada, busked on the streets of Paris and Belfast, and been nominated for two music awards. This summer she released her first solo recording, Gather Your Bones. Jenny’s songs are both haunting and starkly honest, drawing their substance from personal experience and collective history, free of the all-too-easy cliché of folk lyrics. Her voice is unique — deep and smoky, broad as the Manitoba prairie where she now lives. Born in the heart of Southwestern Ontario, surrounded by disappearing forests and spreading cities, Jenny has always had a deep awareness of changing landscapes and the tenuous thread by which we live and love.

Mark Berube & The Patriotic Few website | myspace

Jenny Berkel website

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