Emilie and Ogden (Québec)

First, let’s clarify: Emilie and Ogden is Emilie Kahn and Ogden, her harp. Emilie discovered the harp when The Barr Brother’s harpist, Sarah Page, played along with her high school chorus, inspiring her to find an instructor on Craigslist the next day. Emilie says, “I had never felt this way toward an instrument.”A few months later, Ogden entered her world in all its 48-stringed majesty. Together, they became Emilie & Ogden.

So much about this Montreal indie-folk act might appear “sweet”: the whispery quality of Emilie Kahn’s singing; the gilded lacework of her harp playing; the fact that Ogden is the model name of her harp. But there is a steel spine beneath the twinkly exterior. Ms. Kahn, 24, has a clear point of view, and it always boils down to her voice and her instrument, a relationship that’s anything but fickle.

 Her influences by pop-punk music gives Kahn that subtle edge heard in each song and displayed in each of her music videos. The intricate handiwork of Kahn’s songwriting and instrumental aptitude draws the audience closer to the stage witnessing an angelic like sound.

Kahn has recently been touring Canada to promote her debut album released late last year 10 000 which clearly depicts the relationship with her instrument, a romance that refuses to wither through each song – and likely to last the test of time.