Amy Millan uses Masters Of the Burial to dig up cherished memories

By Jonathan Shipley
Published: September 8th, 2009 | 7:00am

And so it began, as all good things in this world do, with Raffi. Yes, Raffi, that marvelous Canadian children's entertainer who has created some of the most beloved songs; tunes like “Five Little Frogs,” “Peanut Butter Sandwich,” “Shake a Toe,” and “Willoughby Wallaby Woo.” When Amy Millan — member of Stars, frequent contributor to Broken Social Scene, and who has just released her second solo album, Masters Of the Burial (Arts & Crafts) — was three years old, she sang “Willoughby Wallaby Woo” with all her might. Little did she know that Willoughby Wallaby Wenny (Jenny Whiteley) and Willoughby Wallaby Wan (Dan Whiteley) in that famous and often altered Raffi song would later become her roommates, best friends, and even collaborators (Jenny and Dan’s father, Ken Whiteley, produced Raffi's album). “Raffi was my first love,” Millan recalls. “I think he started my obsession with bluegrass.”

Bluegrass and pop music and indie rock and, how she labels her own music, “country twinge toxic roots” have all come out of the young Canadian chanteuse. It started with Raffi, but it really began in a Toronto high school where she met a young singer named Emily Haines. Haines asked Millan to sing backup for her. Millan did, and while attending Etobicoke School Of the Arts, they wrote and recorded songs. The result, Haines’ Cut In Half and Also Double, was self-released in ‘96. “The angst of being a teenager leant itself to songwriting,” Millan recalls. “To be able to articulate that, to be able to turn a phrase,” well, it was important to Millan, and she’d found her calling. “I broke my leg soon after meeting Emily. I was unable to walk. I got a guitar from my mom and just started playing it.”

Well, now she's played with the Canadian likes of Memphis, Apostle Of Hustle, Montag, Jason Collett, and more — and Millan is a True Northerner through and through. “There was such a strong community of bands coming up at the same time. We were good friends. We could lean on one another,” she remembers. “That community infiltrated the world.”

And the world is a better place for Canadian bands. Like Stars, formed by Torquil Campbell and Chris Seligman. Started in New York, the group relocated to Montreal in 2001 and their albums — Set Yourself On Fire, Do You Trust Your Friends?, In Our Bedroom After the War (Arts & Crafts) — get better and better the longer they stay together. And what are the advantages of being a member of Stars while trying to forge your own solo musical efforts? “People will listen to my albums if they like Stars,” notes Millan. And the disadvantage? “My music is nothing like Stars.”

It isn't. Millan’s first album, Honey From the Tombs (Arts & Crafts), was released in 2006 after three years of work on it. “I was on tour the whole time. I was playing with Stars and Broken Social Scene for four years straight.” The album was strongly influenced by country and folk music, loss, loneliness, and melancholia.

Masters Of the Burial continues on that path with stronger, richer results. The songwriting came first. “I like to watch people in my community,” she says when discussing what inspires her words. “I watched friends get together and watched friends break each other’s hearts. I like being able to articulate the words that can't be said.”

Her words these days deal with memories. “I've been obsessed with elephants due to the fact that their memories are so strong.” The cover art attests to that fixation, and the 11 tracks, produced by Martin Kinack, weigh heavily on the notions of memories we keep and pasts that melt away into the ether of forgetfulness.

On a cover of Sarah Harmer’s “Old Perfume,” she sings, “You're like an old perfume that brings back memories / That old forgotten tune that I now recall.”In“Run For Me,” “I've got nothing to live up to and I have nothing to reveal / Go on, run for me.” She also covers Death Cab For Cutie's “I Will Follow You Into the Dark.” “I choose songs because I love them and give them a different feel. It gives me freedom,” Millan asserts.

Freedom is what she's relishing of late. Certainly, Millan stays busy playing as much as she can with Stars and Broken Social Scene, but being able to tour on her own accord — her own words, her own music — is something she's craving, and a nationwide tour begins after the release of Masters Of the Burial. She feels good, in other words. “I have so many talented friends!” she enthuses. And she'll bring some of them with her as she crisscrosses the country. Go to a show. Who knows? Maybe she'll sing “Willoughby Wallaby Woo” to the “woo hoos” of her well-deserved fans.

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