The Bombadils playing in Truro for Nova Scotia Music Week
Sarah Frank and Luke Fraser were living in Toronto when they looked out their back window and saw eight raccoons. That led to a unique name for a musical composition.
“Squirrels Rule the Day, Raccoons Rule the Night” is a lively piece of music by the couple, who make up The Bombadils, one of the groups playing in Truro for Nova Scotia Music Week.
“It’s our first time playing in Nova Scotia Music Week and we’re looking forward to it,” said Frank. “It’s nice when we have a chance to play in Nova Scotia, and I’d like to take in some other music, meet other musicians and attend some workshops.”
Frank, who is from Alberta, met Fraser, who grew up in Milford, while they were students at Mcgill University. She was studying violin and he was studying classical guitar. They chose to call their group The Bombadils after the musical Tolkien character, Tom Bombadil.
“Our music would be called folk music,” said Frank. “Our greatest influences are bluegrass, Celtic and Irish, and we were both trained classically.”
She began playing the violin when she was four, and now also plays claw-hammer banjo. Along with guitar, Fraser plays mandolin. As well as creating original pieces, they reconfigure old folk song and poetry into something new.
They’ve performed across Canada, the U.S., the U.K. and Scandinavia, as well as in Australia and New Zealand.
“It’s pretty amazing to be able to do that,” said Frank.
“I really like the way music allows us to connect with others. That can sometimes be done easier with music than through conversation. It also has a great healing quality.
“It brings people together who might not have been in the same place otherwise. We met each other through music and we’ve made many friends because of it.”
Frank and Fraser moved to Halifax about a year ago, and their daughter was born last fall. When they have time, they both teach at the Scotia Suzuki School of Music.
Frank and Fraser are also working on music for next album.
More information on The Bombadils, and some of their music, can be found online at http://thebombadils.com/