Final serenade at home base

Marissa Burwell’s final show of her recent tour

On Oct 10, an unusually warm Thursday night, friends and fans gathered at the Artesian to welcome Regina-based musician Marissa Burwell home after her nine-show tour across western Canada.

Joining Burwell on this tour through the prairies and mountains was indie pop musician Deer Anna hailing from Hamburg, Germany. According to Burwell, she met Anna in Germany for the Reeperbahn Festival. The two were piled in a car together and found they got along very well, and ended up planning for this tour. 

Though Anna went through a series of unfortunate events shortly before catching her flight to Canada, including getting COVID-19, everything worked out, and their plans came to fruition. 

Together, Burwell and Anna visited beloved venues of Edmonton, Red Deer, Calgary, Rossland, Vancouver, Kelowna, Fernie, and Winnipeg. This tour was Anna’s first time in Canada, and she opened the last show of their tour with lullaby-like tunes that could take one out of their body as they listened. 

She started her set with her song “Flowers On Your Floor” and moved between some of her newer discography, like her newly released single, “Many Little Things,” and the very first song she ever released, “Dawn.” Her set also included a cover of Sufjan Stevens’ “Mystery of Love,” made well-known to many by the film Call Me By Your Name.

The audience was further mesmerized by Anna’s musicianship when she added an accompaniment to her set: her cassette tape player. As she switched the tapes in and out between songs and made sure her guitar was tuned, the player offered subtle and smooth percussive backing tracks into the mic hovering just above it.

Over the course of the tour, Burwell and Anna played a game where Burwell recommended Canadian goodies that Anna would taste test. As reported during her Artesian set, Anna’s favourites were Maynards Fuzzy Peaches and Sour Patch Kids. 

Apparently, Regina gave a bigger cheer for the Fuzzy Peaches while the other cities on tour seemed to prefer Sour Patch Kids. After Anna joined Burwell on stage for a duet, the band presented her with the biggest thing she had yet to try, a float.

Burwell’s set kicked off with “Coward,” a song from her recent EP. More than anything else, though, she played newly written songs. Backed by drummer Chris Dimas, guitarist Darnell Stewart, and bassist Dana Rempel for this hometown show, she did still play a handful of well-loved released songs, including “Francis” from her debut album,Bittersweet, and her latest single, “Catch and Release.”

Over the past five years, Burwell has released two EPs alongside her album and a single, “Scaredy Cat,” which she brought out for this show. Her energy on stage was inviting, charismatic, and warm. 

Known by fans for her bows and black Gretsch Gin Rickey Parlor Guitar, she enchanted the crowd with her honest and touching lyrics like, “I’ll wait for the sun or the rain, either way” and “I can still feel the ground moving away while the soles of my shoes are searching for you.”

All in all, attending any Burwell show guarantees a charming time, whether you’re being soothed by her vocals or intrigued by her catchy indie folk arrangements on guitar and drums. This excellence was displayed especially well on this Thursday evening alongside the talented Deer Anna.