Shortly after the October 2021 release of The Wilderness of Manitoba’s sixth album, it appeared in the #1 spot on The Roots Music Report's Top 50 World Album Chart. Founding member Will Whitwham writes the band’s material, and he plays guitar, keys and sings. Now joined by Victoria Carron (acoustic guitar, vocals), Tavo Diez de Bonilla (bass, vocals) and Adam Balsam (drums, vocals), Farewell to Cathedral is a synergistic collaboration that results in bountiful rewards of creative anthemic folk rock and cinematic indie pop. The JUNO award-winning band characterizes itself as an evolving entity, and I plan to check out some of their earlier releases to see how the group’s 12-year journey since its genesis to today has grown and matured.

Sadly, I understand that Adam Balsam passed away just before release of Farewell to Cathedral, with its many songs about loss and how to deal with sadness and melancholy with courage and optimism. Losing a best friend, talented bandmate and kindhearted brother just before a new album release could be quite devastating, but songs like “Oblivion,” “The Well Has Run Dry,” “The Alchemist” and “Send Me to the Fire” will no doubt allow his spirit, passion and love for music to live on. Haunting renditions of “Sometimes” and “In an Honest Way,” reinforce their musical moods as contemplative or inquisitive, yet always hopeful. Recording this album live and organically over just a two-day period, The Wilderness of Manitoba generates warm-heart folk-flavored incandescence throughout a set of lyrically potent originals. (Joe Ross, Roots Music Report)