Twilight Hotel

Highway Fidelity

by Mary Christa O’Keefe, Calgary Herald

Twilight Hotel is the stage name of Brandy Zdan and Dave Quanbury, Winnipeg multi-instrumentalists whose latest album Highway Prayer plays like a haunted jukebox in a deserted roadhouse, somewhere deep in the South where time has held its breath for the past 50 years. The duo travelled to Nashville to craft their eerily exquisite celebration of Americana that embraces rockabilly, strutting bluesy rags, doo-wop, spooky honky-tonk, Mexicana, and sorrowful rootsy folk. You could say the resulting collection of all-original (but genre-faithful) songs owes some of its charm to vintage production by veteran Colin Linden and contributions by old-timers who’ve played with Tom Waits, Johnny Cash, and The Band, but laurels ultimately belong to the longtime off-stage couple. Quanbury’s silky plaintive croon pairs perfectly with Zdan’s smoky, broken-angel wail as they traverse the southern-gothic aural landscape, but the contentment they radiate makes one suspect all their darkness must be channeled into music.

To find out, we dared them to take our bastardized Newlywed Game challenge to see if they rate as Ian & Sylvia (broken-hearted) or as Johnny & June (till death and beyond): You met at a music festival in 2002.

• What was the first thing you noticed about each other?
  • Quanbury: “I noticed her eyes. I told her that, so I hope she says I noticed her eyes. We made eye contact and I lost my grip.”
  • HER ANSWER: “My eyes.”
  • Zdan: “His cool outfit.”
  • HIS ANSWER: “My brown cowboy shirt and pants.”
• Who’s your sweetie’s musical hero?
  • Quanbury: “She was hooked on The Beatles young, but she also loves Joni Mitchell and we both worship Daniel Lanois.”
    HER ANSWER: “The Beatles, Daniel Lanois, Robbie Robertson.”
  • Zdan: “Daniel Lanois or Tom Waits.”
    HIS ANSWER: “Tom Waits.”
• Favourite studio memory from the album?
  • Quanbury: “I think it’s the same for both of us: Richard Bell playing the Mellotron.”
    HER ANSWER: “He might not get this—he might think it’s the Mellotron, but we were recording the last song and it was kind of emotional for me, and on the outro or last verse there was this thunderclap and it started pouring rain and it was one of those moments the universe tells you you’re on the right track.”
  • Zdan: “Richard Bell getting the sound of the Mellotron.”
    HIS ANSWER: “Mellotron.”
• What classic duet would he/she most like to perform with you?
  • Quanbury: “We’ve been listening to the Alison Krauss/Robert Plant record. There’s an Everly Brothers one on it, ‘Gone, Gone, Gone’.”
    HER ANSWER: “There’s a song on the Alison Krauss/Robert Plant record…shoot! I can’t remember the name!” (‘Gone, Gone, Gone’).
  • Zdan: “One of the Daniel Lanois and Emmylou Harris duets.”
    HIS ANSWER: “Townes van Zandt, ‘If I Needed You’.”
• Most prized musical possession?
  • Quanbury: “Her Harmony Rocket. She calls it ‘The Rocket’. But she just bought a brand new Fender Princeton amp she calls ‘The Prince’. She hasn’t played a live show with it yet, so she’d be fibbing if she said it was her most prized possession, but she might say that just because she’s so excited about it.”
    HER ANSWER: “‘The Rocket,’ but he might say I’d say my new amp, because I’m so excited about it!”
  • Zdan: “Betty. Absolutely.”
    HIS ANSWER: “Betty, my acoustic Parlour guitar.”

Verdict: Johnny & June—even their wrong guesses were close. Looks like Twilight Hotel’s an enduring match.