The Mountains & The Trees

The Mountains & The Trees

The Mountains & The Trees is the stage name of Jon Janes, a Canadian folk and singer-songwriter act from Pasadena, Canada. It is active from 2006 to the present. Janes performs vocals and plays guitar, banjo, mandolin, ukulele, harmonica, bells and drums, sometimes using more than one instrument at once. He begins his musical career as a drummer before moving into songwriting and fronting his own material under this name.

Style and performance

The project works across folk, indie folk, indie, and singer-songwriter territory, with Janes describing his own approach as folk-pop or folk-n-roll. He uses looping pedals and footwork in live performance to accompany himself, and the act often changes shape, ranging from a duo or trio to a larger group depending on the performance. Crowd members also sometimes join on stage to sing or play.

Recordings

The Mountains & The Trees releases its recordings under a series of small-scale, often handmade formats. Paper Or Plastic appears as a five-song EP in 2006, recorded on a limited budget and presented in creative packaging. It features Janes in several instrumental and vocal roles, with guest appearances from Rick Lambe and Lous MacDonald.

Document follows in 2007 as a 15-track acoustic album recorded over three night sessions at Park St. United Church in Corner Brook. Janes sings and plays guitar and mouth harp on the release, which is designed as a limited-edition run of 90 copies. Its packaging includes a hand-printed case, a photo-postcard, and a packet of dirt and seeds inside a hand-sewn vinyl case made with help from his grandmother.

A third release, the Hop, Skip, & A Jump Promo EP, appears in connection with the East Coast Music Awards in Corner Brook in 2009. It contains four songs with Janes backed by the Valleys & Seas Orchestra.

Airplay and appearances

The recordings receive airplay on CBC and college radio. Janes is also linked with appearances at the East Coast Music Awards, Trails, Tales, & Tunes Festival, North by Northeast, the NL Folk Festival, the Toronto International Film Festival, and Canadian Music Week 2010.