Just Us Folk

Living in a small Saskatchewan village gives you a distinct perspective on life and how people cope with changing times. As the village administrator of North Portal, a community of 113 people smack-dab on the Canada-US border, Lindsay Arnold knows a lot of stories and history of the area. Together with her husband, Mike Davis, she crafts songs that blend the old with the new that you can find in their 2023 full-length album, Endless Turn Of Day Into Night, under the moniker of Last Birds. The album made it onto many “best of” lists and won “Alternative Country Album of the Year” at the 2024 Saskatchewan Country Music Awards. This came on the heels of nominations for multiple awards in 2021 and 2022 following the release of their self-titled debut EP.

“I know a lot about the people who’ve lived there, which informs what we write about,” said Lindsay at the 2024 Folk Music Ontario conference.

Combined with their own experiences, the songs of Last Birds confront the questions of whether or not people in rural communities are able to continue their way of life in this modern world.

“I worked at a seed cleaning plant/flour mill that closed a year and a half ago,” said Mike. “Luckily I was able to find other employment.”

Both Lindsay and Mike have been able to pursue their creative outlets while holding down day jobs. Lindsay is a visual artist whose drawings and paintings have been shown throughout Canada and the US, and are part of the Saskarts permanent collection. Her stop motion video work for singer-songwriter Alexis Normand won two Music Video of the Year awards. Lindsay is also responsible for the cover art of Last Birds albums.

Mike has been working as a professional musician since his teens, spending the last 30 years fronting a variety of rock bands before finding his niche with a country/folk sound. He’s a board member of SaskMusic and an avid metal detectorist.

Before they formed Last Birds, Lindsay and Mike were part of Hook & Nail, a trio whose debut album, Ghosts Of Taylorton, was released in 2018. Endless Turn Of Day Into Night was self-produced with assistance from Jeff D. Michel (the third member of Hook & Nail) at Crushed Pickle Studios in nearby Estevan.

Although Mike has been involved in music for basically his whole life, he and Lindsay didn’t consider doing music together until they’d been married for 10 years.

“So we’ve developed this history of music together as a couple,” said Lindsay, citing influences such as Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, The Milk Carton Kids and Pharis and Jason Romero, and other duos who also rely on just two voices and two guitars.

“Those are the influences we can agree on,” she added with a laugh.

The decision to perform as a duo came in November of 2019. The pandemic lockdown the following year was a blessing in a way as it gave them time to write and rehearse. They were able to take part in some online performances as they refined their sound. By the time they were able to perform in front of a live audience it was like a breath of fresh prairie air.

“We’re kind of a quieter act,” said Mike. “We tell stories besides singing the songs.”

The plan for this year is to record another full-length album. They have about a dozen songs so far but are hoping for a few more to choose from. Coming up in May is a tour of the UK.

“We’re bringing our 16-year-old daughter with us, so it should be a bit of an adventure as well as a tour,” Mike said.

For more on Last Birds and Endless Turn Of Day Into Night, go to https://lastbirds.com.