Night Sun shines again for the 1st time in 25 years

Jemma Dooreleyers | Aug 21, 2024

“We didn’t think anyone would come,” said Ellen Hamilton, the lead singer and multi-instrumentalist for Night Sun/co-founder of Leopard Frog Barn Recording Studio with a laugh, as she addressed a crowd of approximately 130 people who were sitting elbow to elbow and wall to wall in the 200-year-old barn on Leopard Frog Barn Recording Studio’s property.

Sunday, August 18, 2024, was the first time Night Sun, a six-piece folk band with seven albums and almost a decade of touring under their belt, had played together for an audience in almost 25 years.

Their last show before this was New Year’s Eve,1999 at Confederation Basin in downtown Kingston with the audience shivering with cold and anticipation for Y2K. While the venue and the vibe (a warm barn on a calm afternoon in mid-August 2024) could not have been more opposite than their final show, it was apparent that the band found their rhythm after their hiatus with no issue.

According to Hamilton, the comeback concert was more emotional than she and her bandmates had anticipated.

“For me the biggest emotion was gratitude,” said Hamilton, sitting on the back porch of the house, overlooking the lake. “I have so much gratitude for being a musician and getting to play with my friends is just the most wonderful feeling.”

“So today when we saw people there, we got a bit choked up.”

They began rehearsing together again this spring as a group of friends, while Hamilton was working on her newest album, Mending (to be released in September) and decided “well why not play for an audience.”

When the concert was announced, Hamilton had to turn away about 50 people because the barn “simply could not hold enough people, there just weren’t enough chairs.”

“To play together again felt like a full circle moment,” said Hamilton. “When we last played together we had little kids and some of those little kids were adults in the audience today with their own babies and I could not be more grateful.”

Night Sun toured and recorded together between 1994 and 2000 playing folk songs of protest, until the couple, Chris Coleman (a multi-instrumentalist for Night Sun/co-founder of Leopard Frog) and Hamilton moved back to Iqaluit, Nunavut where Coleman established Canada’s Northernmost recording studio. It wasn’t until 2020, when COVID-19 struck, that Hamilton and Coleman decided to return to Coleman’s grandmother’s farm on Loughborough Lake.

“Then during COVID we decided since we were gig workers we all of a sudden found ourselves out of work, so we moved back to this place,” said Hamilton. “So we moved back to this place, renovated and got in touch with our friends.”

When they arrived at the farm, they renovated it extensively to turn it into their forever home and recording studio.

Another reason Night Sun dispersed was that many of the band members Bonnie Dawson (accordion), Les Casson (percussion), Adam Hodge (bass), who are Coleman and Hamilton’s friends, had young children and life on the road became “too expensive and frankly impossible.”

With that in mind, they designed the recording studio and the venue to support musicians and allow them to record without the barriers of cost.

“We bought the family farm and since we’re not farmers, we wanted to give back the only way we know how, with music.”

This means, when a touring artist plays a concert at Leopard Frog (which often occur on Sunday afternoons), 100 per cent of the ticket sales go to the musicians and when they come to record, they have access to many cost-reducing resources.

“We just remember what it was like to be a touring musician and how hard it is so we do what we can to support musicians.”

As soon as they could, after it was safe to do so in 2021, Hamilton and Coleman began the Leopard Frog Barn Concerts, which hosts touring musicians to play concerts in their barn that was built in the 1830s.

The serene, isolated location of the farm on Loughborough Lake also offers a unique inspirational landscape for recording artists and musicians

“It’s been a word-of-mouth event bringing together friends and neighbours who enjoy original music played well,” said Hamilton.

Along with recording music (including Hamilton’s new album, Mending, which will be released in September) and hosting touring musicians, Leopard Frog hosts a music and dance festival called Big Branch that focuses on European folk music, Balfolk. The festival will be held on September 6th this year.

For those hoping to see Night Sun live again, there will be another concert on October 12th in the barn. Until then, keep an eye on their Facebook page for more events.