Gypsy Melodies is the latest project of Cornish musician Roxanne Delage

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A well-known Cornish artist who has performed hundreds of live shows in and around Cornwall over the years – and many in far-flung locations – has just launched her latest musical project.

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Gypsy Melodies – A Folk Opry, a 20-song soundtrack, is what Roxanne Delage calls “songs and stories of love and loss, and a long way home, dedicated in memory of my dearest gypsy mother who died 30 years ago.”

The record is produced by Marc Muir, and there’s a 64-page book of lyrics, poems, stories and photos about what Delage said is a retrospective of the good times and the bad during her long life – although she’s just a very vibrant person . 60.

“Throughout my journey, I have had the privilege of playing with dozens of talented and generous musicians who have been instrumental in perfecting my music,” said Delage. “Their names are on every note of this project.

“Among many, I met Marc Muir, a fabulous and respected musician from Cornwall, a few years ago. When it finally came time to put the music together for this anthology, I was drawn to it by chance. He understood the task and produced the soundtrack of my life as if he could read my soul.”

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Gypsy Melodies was written over a period of 15 years; Delage said proudly the entire production, from music, to artwork, to graphics, to social media, to project management, was created locally.

“The talent in this community inspires me,” she said. “I’m at home here.”

Delage, whose debut album, The Way I Am, was released in 2012, knows the area well – having fronted the Roxanne Delage Band, as a duo and in the Roxanne Delage Trio, and everywhere from the Aultsville Theater to the Glengarrian, the acoustic St. Lawrence to Meeting, Williamstown Fairgrounds to OPG Visitor Center Auditorium.

When Delage took a major detour a few years ago and moved to the East Coast, many of her shows were held in cities like Charlottetown and St. John’s.

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“While sharing a testimony at a local event a few years ago, a woman I had just met explained to me the notion of living life wide or living life deep,” Delage recounted “That you can- you plant your roots in one place and grow your life deep like a majestic oak or spread your seeds in the wind like undulating fields of dancing wildflowers. It is neither right nor wrong, better or worse, more or less fulfilling. They’re just different paths.”

The journeys all started early in Delage’s life.

“I had no choice then,” she said. “I followed. New city, new house, new school, new friends, new life. When the time came, for whatever reason, to pack what we could into a box or two and head off on our next adventure—like when, on a whim, we sold what little we had and moved to Alberta – I did it.

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“By the time I was 10, we had moved as many times, if not more. But no matter where I landed, my mother, who I most fondly refer to as my gypsy mother, always did her best to make it home wherever she was. Ultimately, though, as a calling, we would find our way back into this community.”

Her mother, who was born and raised in North Glengarry, had a beautiful voice, Delage said, “an infectious laugh and loved country music. She was a career waitress and although the best waitress ever, she dreamed of being a performer. She once told me I was living the life she would have, given the chance.

“She passed on stick, and now I carry it like a torch, for both of us, to light the way. I am all I am because of her, for better or for worse, and for that I will be forever grateful. This project, like everything I do, is dedicated to her memory.”

Visit www.gypsymelodies.com for more about the project.

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