Evening Hymns

Evening Hymns serves as the stage name for Canadian singer and songwriter Jonas Bonnetta, who surrounds himself with a rotating cast of supporting players both onstage and in the studio. Born in Orono, Ontario, Bonnetta first attracted attention through his 2007 debut album Farewell to Harmony, which appeared under his legal name. Concerned that listeners might slot his work into standard singer-songwriter territory, he later adopted the Evening Hymns identity for all subsequent releases. Spirit Guides arrived in 2009 as the project’s inaugural full-length effort, captured across four days inside an art gallery where Bonnetta was employed. The record extended the textural approach of his earlier work by blending acoustic guitars, field recordings, and varied instrumentation. After returning to his hometown to assist with a sawmill his family had recently acquired, Bonnetta endured the loss of his father. He transformed that grief into new material that formed the core of his next album. Settling in Perth, Ontario, inside a modest cabin purchased by the parents of his partner and bandmate Sylvie Smith, he assembled players from the Wooden Sky, Timber Timbre, and City and Colour to track the 2012 release Spectral Dusk. The isolated setting combined with personal loss lent the album a distinctly spiritual quality, shifting between introspective instrumentals and heartfelt tributes to his father.