Major Love brings major fun to Plant the Seeds Initiative

Singer-songwriter Colleen Brown has a music career spanning eight albums over 15 years. She’s been based out of Edmonton most of that time, but in 2016 she moved to Kingston with her partner Elijah Abrams, who also plays bass in her new band Major Love.

“There are always good shows going on,” says Brown of the Kingston music scene, and what attracted her to it. “There’s a real family of musicians and people that love and support each other.”

Major Love is the headliner this Saturday at the Residence Inn by Marriott. It’s the grand finale concert of the three-day Plant The Seeds Initiative, which is part of the Homegrown Live Music Festival’s 10th anniversary. Also on the bill on Saturday evening are Needless Love Endorsement, Tom Savage Trio, and The Wilderness.

Although Brown has seen success across Canada for her solo career, she uses the Major Love moniker for a different side of her musical energy.

“Major Love is always a rock n roll show,” says Brown. “It was intentionally curated to be songs that are fun and danceable and a positive vibe. In the past, I’ve written a lot of music that is emotional, personal, and introspective. As a solo artist, I’d write these songs that are a little more maudlin and going to darker places.”

Fans of Major Love, which is rounded out by Rob Radford on drums and Bryn Besse on guitar, can expect to hear a lot of music from their self-titled debut that was released in August, and some additional material.

“There’s a handful of other songs,” explains Brown. “A bunch of new material, and some songs that are older.”

Although Major Love is the priority right now, Brown is looking ahead to another album under her own name.

“I already have a bunch of songs that don’t belong with Major Love,” she says. “At some point, I will go and release something as ‘Colleen Brown’, something more of a folk-pop, singer-songwritery thing. I have always followed the muse wherever it leads.”

Brown still spends a lot of time in Alberta, playing shows with her “Western Canada” band. She maintains her Edmonton phone number, despite two-and-a-half years living in Kingston, Wolfe Island, Inverary, and Elginburg.

“I still go back and forth all the time,” she says. “But this is home now. Eli and I talked about Toronto, but there’s such a feeling of community here [in the Skeleton Park area]. Even in Edmonton, I didn’t know my neighbours the way I do here”

Catch Major Love at The Residence Inn by Marriott this Saturday, November 10. Advance tickets are $20, and doors open at 8 PM.

ALSO: Read about another Plant the Seeds event, a screening of Live in Kingston on Thursday, Nov. 8 at The Screening Room.