A couple years ago, Vancouver singers and long-time friends Haley Blais and Sam Lynch got together to write some songs. One thing lead to another, and this past August they released their debut album Angel So Bad as True Mountain Laurel. And while I’ve seen them play a couple times already this year, one was a free street festival and the other was above a club night with bass thumping through the floor. So I was looking forward to catching them again, especially when they announced the Vancouver stop on their Touched By An Angel Tour would be at the beautiful St. James Hall.

Opening the night was Vancouver alt-folk singer Paisley, taking the stage alone, electric guitar in hand, starting out with “Tall” as her voice filled the room. She continued with songs off her self-titled EP, including “Bird” and standout “The 31st”, which built in emotion and anxiety of the modern world, until she was literally screaming into the mic by the end.
Paisley also slipped in a cover of Phoebe Bridger’s “Bobby” before one last soft song, “Bruise You”, and was an excellent opener for the evening.

There was one odd thing during the set though, which had nothing to do with Paisley; the last few times I’ve been to St. James it was a seated show, but this time the floor was clear. However that didn’t stop the first few people there from sitting down anyway, and as the hall filled, more people were just popping down cross legged. Then when Paisley started, they stayed where they were. So the bulk of the room was seated on the floor for her set, though still quite attentive!

Anyway, it was a quick turnaround before it was time for True Mountain Laurel and that’s when everyone stood up and crowded the stage. Haley Blais and Sam Lynch were preceded by their band, everyone on stage in white and in front of a print of the sun shining through the heavenly clouds as they started off with the title track, “Angel So Bad”. The duo’s beautiful voices intertwined perfectly on songs like “Holy Hell” as they went through songs from the album, enriched by the fiddle and pedal steel like on the fragile “Sunny”.

Their friendship also shone through as they chatted between songs, joking about the problems of renting (and playing) a 12-string guitar, as well as their shared middle name when going into “I Love You Nicole”, which built to a big jam at the end of the song.

After “East of Anything”, the band took their leave as they had played (almost) all of the album, and so Haley & Sam traded off a couple of their own songs, backing each other up. Blais had the crowd softly singing along to the chorus of “Coolest fucking bitch in town” and Lynch tugged on heart strings with “Dog Song”.

As the set drew to a close, one of the band members returned and the audience let out an audible gasp when he pulled out an accordion to accompany “Angel Reprise”, which led straight in to “The Trial”, a haunting song that ends the album.

But they weren’t quite done, as the two jokingly “hid” behind the screen before popping back for one last song, a new tune inspired by a vase the pair found in a thrift shop with two cherubic angels on it that looked like them. It was a sweet song to cap off the night, with Blais even showing off the very vase to the crowd — which, looking back at pictures, had been there on stage the whole time!

I’ve seen both Haley and Sam live a few times before (on more than one occasion, they even joined the other on stage as a surprise guest) and this new supergroup is a fantastic combination of their talents. Here’s hoping for lots more True Mountain Laurel in the future.

setlist
Angel So Bad
Holy Hell
Bird of Prey
Sunny
I Love You, Nicole
East of Anything
Coolest fucking bitch in town (HB)
Hurt (SL)
Survivor’s Guilt (HB)
Dog Song (SL)
Angel Reprise
The Trial
(encore)
[The Vase Song]