Moonfruits

Moonfruits is a creator of contemporary folk that addresses our humanity with heart, spirit and wonder. Led by husband-and-wife team Alex Millaire and Kaitlin Milroy, Moonfruits express themselves in both French and English, a reflection of their day-to-day life in Ottawa. The band's harmonies are sometimes haunting, sometimes resounding, with deliberate arrangements specific to each of their song-worlds, featuring guitar, banjo, organ and glockenspiel. As much dreamers as sticklers, they confront dehumanizing capitalism and environmental catastrophe head-on, with a message of solidarity woven into the very fabric of their work.

Moonfruits span the decade of their creation, from street performances in Ontario and Europe to prestigious venues (National Arts Centre, Place des Arts) and festivals (Philadelphia Folk Festival, Ottawa Bluesfest, Festival of Small Halls Ontario). Their village concept album, Ste-Quequepart (2017), is the winner of the Stingray Rising Star, SOCAN, and Trille Or awards, with tours of its half-story-half-song show in Canada, the U.S., France, Belgium and Germany.

Moonfruits collaborates with dozens of acclaimed Canadian bands-from Juno winner Wesli to folk group Tragedy Ann to the Hamilton Philharmonic-and, in 2021, co-wrote, arranged and performed music for Moby: A Whale of a Tale (Art & Water), produced on a schooner in Toronto harbor. This production won four Dora Awards, including Best Ensemble Performance in the Theatre for Young Audiences division.

Moonfruits' stripped-down second album, Salt (2022), offers 12 richly orchestrated songs that explore living, dreaming and raising a child in an age of climate change and growing socio-economic inequality. It tells the story of their families and the kind of communities they hope to help build.

Réveil confronts dehumanizing capitalism and environmental catastrophe, woven between dream and reality, story and song. We find the sleepy village of Ste-Quequepart - whose characters and songs hatched in 2017 - gripped by a swarm of ferrivorous bees. An in-depth questioning of the village's future beguiles, surprises and shakes the audience, calling into question the durability of our home. Guitar, banjo, organ, sampler and orchestral collaboration are all part of this variable-geometry Moonfruits show.