Sarah MacDougall <br />among Greatest Ones Alive

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Sarah MacDougall

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Touring the nation in support of her second official album – The Greatest Ones Alive – Sarah MacDougall is bringing her music to the Bow Valley for the first time.

MacDougall plays Communitea Cafe in Canmore, Thursday (Jan. 26).

The album’s title track begins, “we were Vikings in the woods, we had ships in our eyes, we had the future planned out, it was so damn bright,” and sets the tone for the whole album.

“I’m trying to mostly express a sense of spirituality and trying to be real in a pretty crazy world, and it’s a pretty nostalgic record too,” said MacDougall, in an interview last week. “I thought a lot about my childhood and friendships, and life and death, it’s trying to touch on the bigger subjects in life.”

Now living in the Yukon, MacDougall was born and raised in Sweden, before moving to Vancouver in 2000.

“It was always a plan, my whole life, to move to Canada, and it ended up that we never did, my parents chose not to,” she said, noting her father was from Canada. “And then when I finished high school I wanted to study music, and at that time there weren’t many music schools to choose from in Sweden, so I decided to study in Vancouver, because it’s by the ocean.

“And then once you start your adult life, things just roll on somehow, and now I’ve been in Canada 12 years.”

Her first album, Across The Atlantic, was released in 2009 and was an eclectic mix of musical styles – mostly country, with a few gypsy tunes thrown in – and a generally melancholic feel.

“Greatest Ones is pretty different from the first album,” said MacDougall. “I wanted to rein things in a little bit more. The first album was pretty wild in its arrangements, and I had more planned out when I went into the studio.

“Because of that, each instrument has more of a part – the songs are better, in my opinion, and it’s more going into the pop rock world – it’s not as country.”

The Greatest Ones Alive has a more uplifting, pop rock feel to it.

“A lot of that writing is me trying to have hope and find a more hopeful and strong place,” she explained. “I thought a lot about what it is I want to convey to people, what it is I want to say, and this world is so crazy and intense and negative and I spent so much time in big cities, there’s so much stress all the time, I just wanted to convey a place where you’re song and make people feel like you have some power.

“And maybe I wanted to convince myself I have power and strength.”

While MacDougall has toured across Canada several times before, and even once worked in Banff, this will be her first time playing in the region.

“I worked at the Banff Centre for seven months as an audio engineer, but that was all I did – I spent all my time in the studio – so no, I’ve never played there before,” she confessed. “This is my first time, it’s exciting.”

The tour, which starts in Jasper, is mostly Alberta dates, though it also includes a few shows in Saskatchewan, Manitoba and B.C.

“There will be a few long drives on this tour,” she said. “Even Alberta’s pretty big.

“It’s mainly an Alberta tour, playing a bunch of mixed venues, house concerts and festivals.”

One song on the album is even about escaping to Saskatchewan, which MacDougall may now be able to do.

“For me, the wind and nature and openness of Saskatchewan justsymbolizes this crazy wild place, and that’s why I had a dream to go there,” she said. “Like you’re in the middle of a tornado.”

Playing with her will be Marie-Josée Dandeneau, from the band Oh My Darling and Bob Hamilton, an award-winning producer who plays with various Yukon bands. Later in the tour, Tim Tweedale from Headwater will take Hamilton’s place.

Seeing MacDougall play live can be a lively event, as audience participation is encouraged with several of her songs, including “Cry Wolf,” where people are asked to howl.

“It wasn’t really anything that I started on purpose,” she said. “On my album I made all these sounds – I duplicated myself 20 times with background talking in the middle of a song – so it started with me trying to get the audience to do that, and then at some point that turned into howling.

“Since the song is about crying wolf, it kinda made sense, it was just something that evolved from live shows. It’s fun to be able to do something that the audience can be involved with.”