They met and spent their formative years in a remote part of Canada best known as the home of famous folk singer Ian Tyson, a popular brand of beef jerky, and resourceful and independent ranchers. Craig Bignell and Suzanne Levesque, partners in marriage and a musical duo called Over the Moon, exemplify the spirit of their cherished Alberta home in everything they do.
“We’ve certainly got an independent attitude,” says Bignell. “We do everything ourselves, from working on our own cars to rebuilding our own house and even a theater. And we produce and record all our own stuff at home. We're doing everything ourselves and just learning as we go.”
And it seems to be working for this genre-defying Americana/old-time/bluegrass/swing/original song duo. They even include re-imagined big band tunes in their sets. Their latest album, Chinook Waltz, received enthusiastic reviews and a Juno award nomination. They’ve toured China, where they marveled that every audience knew--in English--the words to “Country Roads.” Last February they played once again to passionate audiences at Folk Alliance. There’s a new album in the works. And they’ve just completed a two-month tour of Europe.
Though they have long been professional musicians, Over the Moon is their first time in the spotlight. Levesque grew up in a musical family and spent years playing with her mother in The Travelling Mabels, a popular Canadian act. She’s played upright and electric bass and sang on countless sessions with many performers. Bignell made a living as a percussionist, and for years, he recorded drum tracks for others, appeared on demos, and toured, perhaps most notably, with fiddler Vassar Clements, banjo phenom Scott Vestal, and former Newgrass Revival member John Cowan.
“One day, I told John that I played banjo too, and he wouldn't believe me,” Bignell recalls. “So he said, ‘Next rehearsal, bring it down.’” That’s what Bignell did, and when he kicked off “Rose of Old Kentucky,” he got an interesting response. “They just laughed their heads off. They couldn't believe it. A Canadian drummer played banjo!”
Bignell and Levesque first played together at a party in Calgary about ten years ago and discovered they made beautiful music together—literally and figuratively. The chemistry led to marriage and a new musical direction.
“We were playing together in our living room and practicing and thought maybe we should try getting gigs and actually being legitimate,” Levesque says. “But neither of us had ever had our project. We've always been backup musicians.”
“And we had never had to talk on stage or anything, which was so scary for us,” Bignell continues. “The first show we did, my fingers were shaking. I could hardly move. And after that night, Sue said, ‘I'm never doing this again!’”
And yet they were undeterred. Now, Bignell does most of the emceeing and plays guitar, banjo, and sings. LeVesque sings lead on most songs and plays guitar and bass. They’re also both talented songwriters. Their first co-write--a song called “Over the Moon”--not only became the name for their act but also reflects their good nature, humor, and love for their home in rural Alberta.
“We like to write about stuff that matters to us,” Bignell explains. They write about Candia ranch life and its remarkable characters. In “John Ware,” they tell of a formerly enslaved South Carolinian who rode the range after emancipation and eventually ended up in Alberta as a successful and respected rancher. “That’s a true story,” Bignell says. “When he died, more people came to his funeral than ever before. So he’s a big hero here.”
Other songs are autobiographical. In “I’m Not Cool,” Bignell sings about being unnoticed in the music world until he finds his sweetheart.
Their latest project is renovating an old movie theater in the small town of Hardisty. They hope it will become a showcase for the music they love. “I don't know what to call our kind of music,” Bignell admits. “It’s a fairly rural based sounding music. We really like acoustic music. And we obviously like bluegrass and old time and swing. We figure we can invite people to perform there. And we also want to use it as a recording studio because it sounds amazing in there.”
Whether they’re on the road, recording an album at home, or renovating the Bird Dog Theater, Bignell and Levesque cheerfully share their real-life adventures in story and song—even when the adventures are traumatic, such as when their truck was stolen at Folk Alliance in Kansas City.
“But you know what? People that follow us on Facebook, that's what they like-- all the stuff that happens to us,” Bignell says. “They can read about it in the safety and comfort of their own home. And they follow us all over the world wherever we go. There's always weird things that happen to us wherever we go, and that's what they like. We never post stuff like, ‘Hey, look at us. We're cool.’ Because we're not. We just tell stories about what happens.”