Release Date: November 10, 2019

Inspired to make connections to the past, Brendan McLeod of the Vancouver folk band the Fugitives began working on a project that eventually became Ridge, a monologue with music that retells the Canadian military victory at Vimy Ridge in France in April, 1917. Ridge in turn inspired the Fugitives album, Trench Songs, a collection of First World War front-line soldiers' songs updated with new melodies and contemporary roots-music arrangements. It drops Nov. 10, one day before Remembrance Day, on the Toronto folk label Borealis Records.

Trench Songs is The Fugitives fifth record. It was nominated for a JUNO Award for Traditional Roots Album of the Year and for two Canadian Folk Music Awards— Ensemble of the Year and Vocal Group of the Year. Its companion theatre piece, Ridge, (written by band member Brenda McLeod) was a Globe & Mail “Top Arts Pick of 2020”.

Their 2018 album, The Promise of Strangers, was also nominated for Canadian Folk and Western Canadian Music Awards, and won Best Folk Album of 2019 from the German Music Critic's Association.

Before that, 2013’s Everything Will Happen, spent ten weeks on the top ten Canadian folk charts, and earned them a support slot across Western Canada with Buffy Sainte-Marie and an appearance at UK’s Glastonbury Festival.

A folk collective headed by songwriters Adrian Glynn and Brendan McLeod, the band has toured extensively through Canada, Western Europe, and the UK. They're joined by banjo player Chris Suen (Viper Central) and violinist Carly Frey (The Coal Porters). Over the past twelve years, they’ve earned a reputation for unforgettable live shows, brimming with complex harmonies, infectious storytelling and top-notch musicianship. As the CBC has it: “This show is simply brilliant”. Performance highlights include major folk festivals across Canada, headlining slots in overseas americana festivals, and a 2019 sold-out run across Germany.