The Wilderness of Manitoba are an amazing folk group who employ beautiful vocal harmonies along with eclectic instrumentation. Their music is deep, and soothing, and full of ideas. In the past two years they have gone from performances in their houses to becoming loved in the Toronto music scene. They are touring the Western US currently, and soon will be traveling to the UK and Germany to perform at festivals. They have played extensively with Cloud Cult, with members from each band often sitting in with the other. Seeing them together will be a great chance to see them shine.

The Wilderness of Manitoba was kind enough to grant a phone interview from the road. I spoke with Melissa Dalton, who is the visual artist for the band as well as one of the musicians.

Tom Mohrman: Is this your first time coming to Seattle?

Melissa Dalton: Yes it is, we’re really excited. This is our first time on the west coast of the US. We’ve been getting a really nice reception. We know that there are a lot of people in Seattle that like us, so we’re kind of excited.

TM: How does touring in the US compare to Canada?

MD: It’s slightly different, in that there are shorter drives… Because the music scene in Canada is a little bit smaller than down here, I think it’s nice to meet a wider audience here. In Canada, most people listen to our national radio, and have heard us. A lot of people that are coming to the shows that we are playing – maybe half of them know about us, but then at the end of the night they come and tell us they loved it. It’s really nice, new people being into the music that we’re playing

TM: How did you get connected with Cloud Cult?

MD: We played a bunch of shows with them in May, and they went really well. They’re so nice. They’re a really talented group. They’re a big band, they have like eight members… nine members depending on which configuration. By the second or third night a couple of them were playing on a song or two on our set. It was a lot of fun. I think we are going to repeat it on the two shows we are playing with them; the one in Seattle, and the one in Portland. They’re really great. I’m really excited.

TM: Will you be bringing brand new material on stage with you?

MD: We are test-driving a couple of new songs. There’s one for sure that we’ve been performing on this tour. We’re likely to play that on Thursday. We have some new songs that are in the works, and we’ve performed them a couple of times, but mostly just the one new one that we haven’t recorded yet.

TM: Can you give me a short introduction to the Toronto music scene?

MD: The Toronto music scene is pretty huge. There are so many little scenes, like different genres. There always seems to be crossover with different bands. I imagine Seattle is fairly similar in that respect, right? It’s not surprising if a lot of bands know each other, and play shows with each other, and go out and support other musicians that they know playing around the city. I mean we do the same thing… It’s pretty supportive. And also because the guys in our band, Will and Scott, are throwing shows at their house – that’s actually how some of us met, was through the house shows being thrown at the house. It’s just a really rich, vibrant music scene. People really support each other. It’s really great.

TM: Do you think there is a correlation between cold weather and imagination?

MD: That’s an interesting question. I know that Will would have a lot to say about that. I think, yeah, there is kind of a feeling in the winter. I mean, in Toronto it’s cold all year round, but definitely when it cools down, you don’t want to spend as much time outside, obviously… I think it does kind of foster a bit more creativity because you’re inside… I know that a lot of the guys in the band will lock themselves away in the basement for days on end recording demos. It’s a good time to produce things, like music and art. You’re inside anyways, so you’ve got time to reflect. So yeah, I would say there’s definitely a correlation.

The Wilderness of Manitoba are going to be recording a new album this winter to be released in 2012, in the spring or summer. They are currently supporting their first full length: When You Left the Fire.