Hermitess is the project of an aging and slightly reclusive witch, dreaming simultaneously in music and images. Sonically, layered orchestral textures, harmonic voices, and pedal driven magic, all conjuring a fleeting fever dream.
Live Performances currently include:
Jennifer Crighton, Chris Dadge, Keith Rodger & Richard Gallant
and sometimes an extended community of musical collaborators that might include:
Clayton Smith, Clea Foofat, Nathan Godfrey, Danny Vescarelli, Aria Janzen, Shara Raska, Julia Gunst, Randee-Lee Ross, Erin Rudling, Aimee-Jo Benoit, Melissa McWilliams, Jolene Toner, Laura Reid, Melyssa Nielsen, Amanda Bassi, Rebecca Bruton, Jeremy Gignoux, Foon Yap, Matt Swann, Eric Hamlin, Kenna Burima and others...
In the spirit of respect, reciprocity and truth, Hermitess honours the land of which she works and acknowledges Moh’kinsstis and the traditional Treaty 7 territory and oral practices of the Blackfoot confederacy: Siksika, Kainai, Piikani as well as the Îyâxe Nakoda and Tsuut’ina nations. We acknowledge that this territory is home to the Métis Nation of Alberta, Region 3 within the historical Northwest Métis homeland. Finally, we acknowledge all Nations, indigenous and non, who live, work and play and help us steward this land, honour and celebrate this territory.
PERFORMANCES
2024
May 25 - East Town Get Down Festival - Venue/Show TBA
May 10 - 12 - Dunn Folkin’ Around? Clearwater, Thompson Nicola, BC
Feb 29 - Palomino Smokehouse, Calgary, AB. W/ Ellen Froese & Denver Venoit
January 25th - Big Winter Classic, Last. Best, Calgary AB - W/ Sunny War, Shy Friend, Zenon+ Lost Decade, Witch Victim, Innerouter
January 6th - St Faiths Anglican Church, Edmonton AB - w/ TRUSTER, Old Mound, Cave to Hades
PAST DATES
Hermitess
by Hermitess
Artwork, Costume & Installation
Hermitess Installation - The New Gallery X Sled Island
Installation - The New Gallery x Sled Island 2016
In 2016 Hermitess Partnered with The New Gallery to present an immersive sound and video installation space during the Sled Island Festival.
The Gallery housed a video installation with technical support provided by Binder Productions, The two channel video projection depicted a solitary Hermitess navigating various landscapes, walking into the ocean, through deep snow, along a river.
The space also played an extended version of the Hermitess record, with a unique installations soundscape prepared and composed by John Hornack.
Two handwoven “Orkney” chairs made from local grasses were placed in the Gallery for viewers to sit in.
During the festival Hermitess also performed a special set in the space.
Tarot cards:
Hermitess - photo by Jennifer Allyson
Tower - Illustration by Geneva Haley
Celestial - Illustration by Paterson Hodgson
Ace of Cups - Illustration by Kiara Albina
Tarot Cards
Each musical release by Hermitess is accompanied by and artwork commissioned by a different visual artist. The Deck of cards functions as a physical download card, and an ongoing and ever-expanding edition which houses the music and story of the project as it continues to change and progress.
Performance Garment created by Jennifer Crighton, Genevieve Larsen & Edwin Isford
Performance Garment 2023
In 2023 Hermitess partnered with pattern drafting expert Genevieve Larsen and artist and fashion designer Edwin Isford and together they made a custom performance garment.
The piece was designed as a play on the angelic connotations often associated with harp musicians. A close inspection reveals fabric with darker vein-like threads running through it. A large pleated ruffle structures the garment, creating a floating shape around the arms and head of the performer.
In performances, the transparency of the garment works like a screen for light, and the shapes and forms accentuate the movements of the player.
Press
It’s a sonic disruption to almost anything else you’ve ever heard, and the whole thing unfolds like a secret garden coming to life after a long, harsh winter, cracking through the Earth bloom by bloom, branch by branch, song by song.
an album of appropriately desolation-evoking, nature-inspired songs for her debut as Hermitess. Akin to the austere spookiness of Chelsea Wolfe or the more subdued moments of Myrkur, Crighton creates her haunted, distant atmospheres by blending her voice with her harp, sometimes cloaked in waves of distortion
- ALL MUSIC