Goosbumps guaranteed: Amy Cunningham and Lili Maurer at the Redroom
By Liz Arnason
This weekend Rossland Radio’s live music series will be hosting Amy Cunningham and Lili Maurer performing both traditional and original music with bone-chilling two-part vocal harmonies. Although each voice is incomparably different, the two melt together with such ease that it’s hard to imagine them apart. Maurer, alongside the distinct rhythm of her mandolin, presents a low, raspy and nearly haunting voice that acts as a well defined bass note lulling each song with a strong, smoky backbone.
These are juxtaposed are Cunningham’s vocals, in a fashion that blends nicely with the alto. She sings crisply higher notes in a way that is whimsical and almost bird-like. Her voice easily grabs the listener’s attention and perfectly compliments the acoustic guitar she strums. The result: goosebumps. I find it hard to believe when they tell me that they have only played together a handful of times.
Cunningham: “We jam at parties; we jam in living rooms and on beaches.”
Maurer: “This will be the first time we actually get to perform together.”
Cunningham: “But we played jam nights at the Shovel.”
They haven’t performed much together, but both musicians have been singing for as long as they can remember.
Maurer: “I guess my whole life, music’s been a part of it. I still don’t take it seriously, but I guess I’ve taken it a little more seriously in the last three years or so.”
Cunningham: “My parents said I started singing before I started talking; it wasn’t a conscious decision, just something that I always did. I come from a musical family; there were always guitars around, so that’s why I picked it up.”
Both hail from Ontario, and it took coming to Rossland to create what has become an incredible sound. Maurer has been playing her mandolin, Amanda-Lynne, for just over a year.
Maurer: “It fits in my kayak….I like the sound of it, and I like the style of music it’s supposed to play.”
Maurer and Cunningham will be performing this Saturday night with an array of instruments playing both their own tunes and some songs borrowed from others and re-vamped with style. The show starts at 9 pm, in The Redroom Lounge. There’s no cover and drink specials all night.
