Dec. 09, 2009 - Issue #738: Manraygun

The Ambers: A family affair

The Suchy sisters sing together for the holidays and beyond

Mothers have an effect on us like nobody else we know. They can guilt us into action with a look and when they lay down the law, there's simply no arguing.

When Renee, Stephanie and Amber Suchy decided they wanted to record an album together, their sister Julia said, "No, no, no." It wasn't any kind of rebellion, just that Julia is the only one of the four that never pursued music professionally. Unlike the other three, who have performed and recorded with  bands like the Pursuit of Happiness, the Mocking Shadows and King Muskafa, heading into a studio was not Julia's thing.

"I think the final factor was my mom," Amber Suchy says. "She said, 'Julia, this is a sisters' album and you are a sister, and you sang with them their whole life and you're going to do this.' So she came in and she did some harmonies, and now with this Christmas show that we are doing, it's a sister project; it's a family project."

It's also a dream project. The whole idea for the Ambers started when Renee was living in Toronto, playing with the Pursuit of Happiness. Frontman Moe Berg suggested he would love to produce the sister album, and the seed was planted.

"A few years later, Renee moved back and it was just the right time," says Suchy, who also sings for King Muskafa, "I started writing songs too, and we got a grant, and Renee really pushed it, and we're glad she did."

While the album, Rain and Sun, came out in March, a couple of pregnancies meant the sisters haven't hosted an official CD release quite yet. That is set to happen at the end of December. Before then, the Ambers' infectious pop harmonies will take Canadian-written Christmas songs. The setlist includes music by Bruce Cockburn, Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen, and includes some original Ambers' compositions.

Although Christmas and its songs are steeped in tradition, Renee and Stephanie found plenty of song fodder in their memories about Christmas Eve pajamas and tree hunting with dad and cherry whisky.

"My sister Renee took a memory of the four of us in our childhood," Suchy says. "Every Christmas we would get pajamas made by our nanny, our grandmother, and she would make pajamas, Christmas Eve pajamas for every kid. Stephanie decided to be a show off and she jumped out of her room in her pajamas, jumped on the top of the stairs, and they were really high stairs, and she went ta-da! And she tumbled all the way down. We always remember that."

It turns out that mother does know best—despite her initial reservations, Julia will probably relish singing along on this song. V


Fri, Dec 11 (7 pm)
The Ambers
With Bob Jahrig, Marc Ladouceur
Queen Alexandra Community Hall, $20

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