@_hermitess_ is joining us at the Calgary Folk Music Festival this July 23 - 26, 2026 at Prince's Island Park! 🌻
Jennifer Crighton was first inspired to learn the harp after a Loreena McKennitt concert when she was young. A costume designer for film by day, it’s unsurprising that she would come to experiment well beyond gauzy, dreamlike traditional melodies. As Hermitess, there’s sonic exploration, layered orchestral textures, harmonic voices, hurdy gurdy and pedal-infused electric guitar. She’ll sing a Walt Whitman-inspired ballad, then a psychedelic folk dirge, then a song or two borrowed from one of Shakespeare’s winged spirits.
Crighton has assembled a quartet for live Hermitess performances and acknowledges an expanded community of “sometimes” musical collaborators. She describes Hermitess as the “project of an aging and slightly reclusive witch, dreaming simultaneously in music and images.” With music this intricate, this engrossing and visual, you’ll be grateful Crighton still brings her harp and curiosity out to play.
- Jason Markusoff
🌞 Tickets are on sale now - visit calgaryfolkfest.com to secure your day or weekend passes, lil' folkies! 🌞
Happy Beltane
One year of Death & The Fool 🌸
So grateful to all the incredible people who helped bring this record into the world! ~ also it’s Bandcamp Friday ~
Mayday weekend is pretty busy, come see the Hermitess band in the flesh ~ Contemporary Calgary’s Look Gala tomorrow Satruday May 2nd
Idle Eyes with Jairus Sharif & Elisa Thorn on Sunday May 3rd
Crafts Person Jennifer Crighton shares a glimpse into the process behind one of the costume elements in Act 1. Constructed carefully, piece by piece, strand by strand.
Catch Matters of Rhythm & Harmony running April 23–May 10 at the DJD Dance Centre.
Grab your tickets - link in bio!
Crafts Person: Jennifer Crighton
Costume Designer: Hannah Fisher
Act 1 Choreographer: Sabrina Naz Comănescu
Artistic Director & Act 2 Choreographer: Kimberley Cooper
Music Director: Carsten Rubeling
Tune: “Papa Bois loop” by Carsten Rubeling Quintet
Video filmed and edited by Maddy Faunt
Sumday May 3rd
join Hermitess & @jairussharif on the Mayday weekend at @idleeyescollective , We’re hosting extremely cool Vancouver based harpist @elisathorn for an early all ages Sunday show, that will most certainly be dreamy and psychedelic. 🎷
Tune into @cjswnoise on Thursday April 30th to hear Elisa Talk to Steve in advance of the show. And a ticket give-away.
There will also be snacks, custom drink syrups, and a few racks of vintage clothing!
Link in Bio for Advance Tickets
Green Blade came out a year ago today, during what i like to think of as Calgary’s “ Is It Spring? “ Season~
Here are some magic behind the scenes moments with a whole community of excellent weirdos who decided this project was worth their time ❤️
Since i think we’ve all had enough fake news for a few lifetimes, I’m embracing April 1st as a day to play the Fool, all we have in this life is time, and a lot of things have to be messed up, and maybe be a bit embarrassing before they can go right, but it’s almost always worth spending the time trying! An effortlessly cool, frictionless and convenient world is something we are sold that is often untrue.
Do something fun and strange you enjoy that has no practical application
Put on too many accessories, an over-the-top print or weird shoes
Try something you’ve never done before fully expecting it might be a spectacular failure!
Take the long way around and enjoy the view
2025 has been a year, as an artist this has been a very highs and lows mixed bag for sure. I released the album I have been working on for the past 1.5 years featuring so many amazing people from my musical community. I got a Calgary Arts Development, a Canada Council and an Alberta foundation of the arts grant over the previous year, that enabled me to pay all of my collaborators full professional fees. I came into 2025 so incredibly proud and confident of the work we all did and excited to share it. I produced a music video and a live session performance film with more incredible professionals. Made multiple costumes, embroideries, and hand painted backdrops which were documented by amazing photographers. I organized and self promoted a couple of banger sold-out shows, as well as sharing the stage with some bucket list artists like Sanam, Mary Lattimore, Ora Cogan, One Leg One Eye, Kathleen Yearwood, Brenna Lowrie, Taylor Jade, Aaron Parker, SwanHeards. I performed at Sled island, Purple City, Newworks, The Bandlands Art Dept and closed out SwampFest on a magical little island after our hosts served us snacks in a caldron and fired up their backyard sauna for us. With the help of my publicist and radio tracker and great folks at local stations I garnered national press and charted widely on Canadian and US radio stations, including spending two weeks in the #1 spot on the earshot National Folk charts in October. A piece of my writing about the costume making process and folk customs that inspired my album was published in one of the publications that was instrumental in inspiring the work in the first place. After a serious setback with my first pressing plant I released a beautiful physical vinyl album pressed by awesome to work with Flashback Records in Edmonton, with a lot of beautifully handmade details I’m really proud of.
I am also not young and beautiful, or a dude with a guitar playing rock music… and I felt this especially this year as a 45 year old female creative who also holds down another full time career in film because this gives me personal and creative independence.
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