The Acorn

The Acorn

The Acorn is an Ottawa-based Canadian indie folk group that forms in 2003 and remains active. The band centres on Rolf Klausener, who is the principal songwriter, vocalist and guitarist, and includes Keiko Devaux among its members. Its music is associated with folk, indie folk and indie rock, and it also fits within Canadian indie pop.

Early work and formation

Klausener begins writing under the name The Acorn in the summer of 2002, originally as a home-recording project while his other projects are on hiatus. The project develops from experiments inspired by the natural landscape of the Outaouais region and grows into a full band. Early members include guitarist Jeff Debutte, visual artist and guitarist Howie Tsui and drummer Jeffrey Malecki.

Releases

The Acorn’s first full-length release is The Pink Ghosts, a mostly instrumental album about the Ottawa region. It is issued in July 2004 on Kelp Records, the independent community-based label run by Jon Bartlett.

In fall 2005 the band releases Blankets!, a more melody-led record that develops its blend of experimental folk and pop. It receives attention from CBC Radio, independent media and campus radio across Canada.

In late 2006 the band releases the six-song EP Tin Fist on Paper Bag Records. This follows three days of recording at Ottawa’s Little Bullhorn Prods with Montreal friend and pianist Keiko Devaux, and includes three newly written songs as well as older material.

The band later completes Glory Hope Mountain, a song cycle built from interviews Klausener conducts with his Honduran-born mother, Gloria Esperanza Montoya, while researching Honduran native music and culture. The project receives an Ontario Arts Council grant and a City of Ottawa music grant in 2006. The album is recorded in a rented house in Centretown, Ottawa, during the first seven months of 2007, using drums, gut strings, ukuleles and marimbas.

No Ghost is the band’s most recent album in the available record.

Reception and activity

After the release of Glory Hope Mountain, The Acorn appears on the cover of Exclaim! and receives extensive positive coverage in Canada, the United States and abroad. The band is also named to the 2008 Polaris Prize long list. It tours independently and forms links with the wider Canadian indie scene, including Ohbijou, We’re Marching On, Snailhouse, Elliott Brood and Montreal’s People for Audio.