LISSA ALEXANDER
reporter@pqbnews.com
Layla Zoe’s music has been so popular in Europe that it no longer makes sense for her to live in Canada.
That’s why the former resident recently packed up her Montreal apartment and headed home for the holidays. She visited friends and family locally and will now be heading off to her new home in Germany this week.
“I’ve been talking about it for several years and now is really the right time because now it is really taking off, not just (in Germany) but in many countries in Europe.”
Zoe’s record label is located in Germany, Cable Car Records, and her main agent also resides there.
Last fall Zoe went on tour with her new album The Lily through Belgium, Germany, Switzerland and France and said it was a very successful tour.
“We’ve had reviews from all over the world with the new record and it’s opening a lot of doors for us,” she said of her and her band.
Zoe’s last performance of 2013 had her returning to play the Women’s Blues Revue at Massey Hall in Toronto.
Towards the end of 2013 Zoe was also nominated as Female Vocalist of the Year with the Maple Blues Awards, dubbed Canada’s national blues awards program. The winner will be announced on Jan. 20 but Zoe will be crossing her fingers from Germany.
While Zoe was home in the area for the holidays she joined forces with local documentary filmmaker Richard Boyce for a new video that will be part of his Coastal Tarsands project.
Boyce filmed a music video of Zoe and her song called Our Native Land at Rathtrevor Beach featuring Zoe’s lyrics paired with music composed by local musician and sound engineer Chris Raines. The music video will be released in conjunction with Boyce’s project Coastal Tarsands, documenting Enbridge Tanker Routes.
“I really wanted to do that because I spent every summer of my childhood at Long Beach and of course for me the West Coast is home,” she said.
Boyce is releasing a series of 10-minute video documentaries which are being posted in chronological order on his website as they are produced. Boyce’s video featuring Zoe and Raines’ song will be released soon, Zoe said. Check for the video on Boyce’s website at www.coastaltarsands.ca and on Zoe’s website, listed below.
Zoe will be playing a few countries for the first time this year, including England, the Netherlands and Austria. And she’ll finally have her chance to go to Disneyland, she said, playing Disneyland Paris this month.
Zoe said she may return to Canada if she’s booked again for the Montreal Jazz Festivals or other such events. Although she’s a bit nervous about her move to Germany, she’s made major moves before, she said, and she’s excited about her musical prospects on that continent.
“My music is really something I’ve sacrificed a lot for and I’ll continue to go wherever it takes me and do whatever it takes to get my music out to as many people as I can,” she said.
Visit Zoe’s website for updates, music samples and more: www.layla.ca.
