“Experimental folk for the bathtub”
Meditative, psychedelic, and equally as introspective as it is energizing, Elisa lures listeners into a trance, keeping them engaged with her charming off-the-cuff humour and banter.
XIICC will be released in spring 2025! It’s got 1000 layers of harp, but we promise it’s not as boring as that sounds. Supported by James Meger (Sick Boss), Dan Gaucher (Dan Mangan), with guests Anh Phung, Ted Crosby, and Trent Freeman (The Fretless), the record was produced by David Vertesi and Elisa.
This music was written originally for solo performance (using lots of looping and live processing), and has been designed so that it can be performed on Elisa’s carbon fiber travel harp, and in many different configurations (from solo to quartet), as to accommodate as many performance environments as possible.
Sneak peak of the music (private, unrelased):
Live video:
Elisa’s set enraptures audiences in listening environments like repurposed churches, soft-seaters, and outdoor stages at Folk Festivals, Jazz Festivals, and everywhere in between. Her favourite performance of 2024 was at Peace Valley Folk Festival, where she played the last set of the night at 2am after the headliner, on top of a school bus next to the stage.
“You capped off our festival’s late night perfectly. You have an awesome stage presence, where you cause people to enter a trance, and then break it with humour and banter between. It’s a beautiful thing. If you were soft spoken and gentle between each song it would feel sleepy, but you create really cool moments of intense attention.” (Ben Waechter, Peace Valley Folk Festival AD)
BIO (LONG) - 300 words
Elisa Thorn (pronounced eh-lee-sah) is a versatile harpist, vocalist, and composer who has emerged as a sought-after figure in the Canadian creative music landscape, renowned for her distinctive and contemporary approach to the harp.
Thorn’s original compositions, weaving together elements of folk, post-rock, jazz, expermimental, and indie music, and she aims to create music that balances the abstract and accessible, and sensitivity with boldness.
An avid collaborator, she is passionate about the intersection of composed and improvised music. In 2019, Thorn’s project HUE marked two releases with performances at the Vancouver International Jazz Festival, while her duo, The Giving Shapes, debuted their album “Earth Leaps Up” on the American label elsewhere music in 2020. Thorn is also member of the chamber pop trio Gentle Party, whose albums “Jouska” (2017) and “God Complex” (2022) were long-listed for the Polaris Prize with the Phonometrograph label. Her music has received airplay on national stations such as CBC and KEXP, and she has graced the stages of numerous festivals such as Jazzotpad (Poland), Women from Space (Toronto), Campbell Bay Music Festival (Mayne Island), TONE Fest (Toronto), Constellation Festival (Squamish), Suoni Per Il Poppolo (Montreal), Wonderment (Victoria) and Vancouver International Jazz Festival.
Versatile across genres, Thorn has contributed to recordings and performances with artists such as Tonye Aganaba, Mother Mother, Loscil, Khari McClelland, Wallgrin, Lief Hall and Mauvey. Driven by her community-oriented values, Thorn has ventured into the realms of curation and presentation, focusing on fostering accessibility to challenging and abstract art through deliberate methods of presentation. She currently serves as a co-director for the nonprofit organization Vancouver Improvised Music Society and has curated an outdoor house concert series, Woodland Patio Series, since 2014.
BIO (SHORT) - 100 words
Harpist Elisa Thorn (pronounced eh-lee-sah) finds it hard to describe her music but lately has lovingly been calling it “pretty-shred”. Known for her distinct contemporary use of the instrument, her sound draws influences from folk, indie, jazz, post-rock and experimental music. An insatiable collaborator, she is part of many projects including Gentle Party, HUE, and The Giving Shapes, but is currently focusing on her solo project, which will be releasing its debut album, XIICC, in April 2025. Some triangulation between experimental folk, indie, jazz, this music intends to both surprise you and leave you feeling held.
BIO (SHORTEST) - 30 words
Harp like you've never heard before! Meditative, psychedelic, introspective & energizing, harpist/vocalist Elisa Thorn lures listeners into a trance, keeping them engaged with her charming off-the-cuff humour and banter.
PRESS PHOTOS
(credit: Sewari Campillo)
PERFORMANCE HIGHTLIGHTS
- No Horses Festival (Hornby, BC) - October 2024
- Woodstove Festival (Cumberland, BC) - November 2024
- Peace Valley Folk Festival (Hudson's Hope) - July 2024
- Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival - March 2024
- Northern Exposure Showcase (Wells, BC) - March 2024
- Women from Space Festival (Toronto) - March 2020
- Vancouver International Jazz Festival - June 2019
