A Second Childhood
"Chanter Records presents--#GKChesterton's greatest poems sung by the Nicole Ensing Band from Canada, a most amazing album called Riddles & Creeds. Visit the site, read the album notes and hear a preview of the music now. Sounding folksy like Sarah McLachlan, but with more energy and GKC's fantastic lyrics." ~ American Chesterton Society
"It’s a great album. I love the sound…. The best music works on many levels, and that’s one of the things I love about this album. You have, obviously, Nicole’s piano, you have the wonderful musicianship from the other people on the album, but then you have the depth of the lyrics…It’s a fabulous album." ~ Jan Hall, Folk-Roots Radio
News Flash
April 2019
Guelph Today write up on the Art of the Cross. The Nicole Ensing Band will be at station #5.
November 2018
Nicole Ensing guest writes for Canadian author Tanya Packer's blog. (November 27, 2018 post)
June 2018
The Nicole Ensing Band is pleased to introduce new vocalist member Heather VanderSteen. Heather's keen sense of harmony adds a beautiful layer to the band's eclectic sound.
March 2018
The album Riddles & Creeds is mentioned in the article "When Upside Down is Right-Side Up" by Peter Schuurman, in the Reformed Worship Journal. Issue 127
Sept 27 2015
The Nicole Ensing Band is pleased to introduce Bethany Deyell on bass as a new member of the band. We wish Sam Fitzpatrick well in his studies at Humber.
Sept 16 2015
"the album sounds really good and I love the poetry and how you weaved it into song. Congrats!" ~ Mike Janzen Mike Janzen Trio
March 3 2015
Guelph band transforms G.K. Chesterton’s poems into song
"Ensing, sings and plays piano, surrounded herself with a solid band of musicians for this project: Brian Bork (guitar), Sam Fitzpatrick (bass) and Joel Sypkes (drums – and is no longer with the band). The band seems to know when to keep instrumentation to a minimum (“The Great Minimum”) or turned up to 10 (“The Aristocrat”). ~ Robert White Arts Connection.
Jan 18 2015
Gilbert Magazine
"Nicole Ensing's arrangements are simple with very catchy tunes. She has a beautiful untrained voice which, with the style of her music, evokes a mixture of Loreena McKennit, Laura Veirs, and even Florence and the Machine." December issue with review of Riddles and Creeds and interview of Nicole Ensing.
Dec 18 2014
Gilbert Magazine
Recent interview by Dale Ahlquist of the American Chesterton Society for an article in Gilbert Magazine. (published Dec 2014) http://tinyurl.com/q7cpggw
Oct 18 2014
3 new Ontario music releases you need to hear this week...
Adam Clark at CBC Hamilton recommended our song The Rolling English Road on the show In the Key of C hosted by Craig Norris.
October 13 2014
Steven Hayward of Powerline blogs about the Riddles and Creeds album.
CHESTERTON IN SONG!
"For fellow G.K. Chesterton fans out there (and there are a lot of you, it appears), here’s some news you can use. Who knew—I certainly didn’t—that Prof. Ross McKitrick of Guelph University in Canada, who is one of the most important critics of climate change alarmism, is also a music producer! And he has turned his talents to the use of the Nicole Ensing Band, whose debut CD, “Riddles and Creeds,” came out just last Friday. And what marks out “Riddles and Creeds” for note is that it consists solely of the poems of G.K. Chesterton set to music. Talk about a theme album! (And take that, prog rockers!) You can sample some of the tracks, or order the CD, at the “Riddles and Creeds” link above, and you can catch an interview with lead singer Nicole Ensing here. "
Read more...
October 12 2014
Jan Hall of Folk Roots Radio interview with Nicole Ensing and Ross McKitrick from her show on Saturday, October 11/14 is available here.
September 26 2014
Local Singer-Songwriter Nicole Ensing Releases Debut CD “Riddles and Creeds” at Launch Concert Sunday November 2 at 7:30 PM, upstairs at the Albion Hotel, 49 Norfolk St Guelph.
Nicole is a Guelph Ontario-based pianist and vocalist. Classically-trained, in recent years she has branched into jazz and also developed her folk side as pianist for The Wild Oats, with which she has previously recorded two albums. Joining her in the Nicole Ensing Band are Sam Fitzpatrick on upright bass, Brian Bork on guitar and Joel Sypkes on drums. The band’s sound is centered on catchy, well-crafted piano lines that combine folk charm, jazz stylings and rocknroll energy.
In Riddles and Creeds, Nicole reworks some of the best-loved lyrics of British poet G.K. Chesterton (1874—1936) into songs exploring themes of the magic of life, spiritual search and friendship. Chesterton had an enormous impact on 20th century literature, especially through his influence on C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien.
Riddles and Creeds will be released on the Chanter Records label on Friday October 10 2014.
Press
Nicole Ensing is a Guelph Ontario-based pianist and vocalist. Classically-trained, in recent years she has also developed her folk side as pianist in the Celtic band The Wild Oats, with which she has recorded two albums previously. Along with her love of jazz and pop, this combination of influences yields an appealing knack for catchy, well-crafted keyboard lines that draw freely on jazz stylings and folk charm as the mood fits.
Nicole has a warm, genuine voice with understated emotional power and a poignant, evocative tone. Her lyrical, storytelling style draws comparisons with Sarah McLachlan and other singers on the folk end of pop, like Brooke Fraser, Mary Black, Mae Moore and Joni Mitchell.
2014 marks the release of her debut album Riddles and Creeds(Chanter Records). Backing Nicole are Sam Fitzpatrick on upright and electric bass, Brian Bork on guitar and Joel Sypkes on drums. On Riddles and Creeds, Nicole and producer Ross McKitrick have taken some of the vivid poems of G.K. Chesterton and formed them into songs exploring themes of the magic of life, spiritual search, and friendship. Chesterton was a prolific and celebrated writer of the early 20th century who had a formative influence on C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. One recent reviewer noted: “Chesterton's was an extraordinary talent…[his poems] are simply unlike anyone else's. And the best of them are completely unlike each other.” (Carol Rumen, The Guardian June 13, 2011).
The songs on Riddles and Creeds span a range of styles centered on piano-based folk-pop. A Child of the Snows, The Mystery, The Aristocrat and The Rolling English Road are upbeat; By the Babe Unborn and Little Infinity are lilting, almost childlike melodies; Lamentations and Encounters are thoughtful acoustic pieces; and The Convert, A Second Childhood and The Great Minimum and take a decidedly jazzier turn, the latter a haunting ballad with exceptional emotional force.
For more information please download the press kit below.
2010 - present
2010 - present