In the latest installment of The Ottawa Voice Box Sessions, we wanted to give local musician Lindsay Ferguson, a platform to showcase her voice and her popular cover of “Donal Og”. Because of the nature and tone of the song we chose Ottawa’s Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica. The churches ambiance and open door policy provided us with an interesting location to film the acapella performance. Patrons prayed and glided around both the camera and Lindsay, entranced and unopposed.
When you walk into such a space there is an unavoidable weight of something in the air. Secular or devout, the feeling slows you down, almost as if the weight of history is coming down. When we played back the ambiance of Lindsay's footsteps into this space, there was an audible synchronicity between the speed at which she performed the song and the speed of her footsteps; a ephemeral metronome. Initially we intended to solely use Lindsay's voice, but upon hearing the "beat and pulse" it became impossible not to layer her footsteps beneath her words.
On a conceptually level the footsteps even take on a metaphorical permanence, a way of perceiving life as a long walk down a long corridor, a journey ending in release and catharsis. On this journey art is the medium housed by man's great structures, evident in the sculptures and stars painted on the cathedral ceilings. Although Lindsay admitted to not being a particularly religious individual, the space was as unbiased to her as she was to it, its own sacred pre-amp plugged into her soul.
We hope you enjoy the video!
Words by: Craig Allen Conoley
If your interested in more about Lindsay, we reviewed her latest Album "Monkey's Under Stars" in our Review section of the site + you can check out her personal website @ http://www.lindsayferguson.com/