Ohbijou

Ohbijou emerged as a Canadian indie pop ensemble whose folksy, multi-instrumental textures evoked the Bowerbirds and Arthur & Yu. What began as a solo endeavor for Brantford, Ontario singer/songwriter Casey Mecijia took shape when she composed the project’s earliest material in the early 2000s; her sister Jennifer, herself a multi-instrumentalist, joined the writing process shortly thereafter. The siblings later moved to Toronto, where Casey enrolled at Ryerson University and Jennifer attended the Ontario College of Art and Design. Once settled, they expanded the lineup to include Heather Kirby, James Bunton, Anissa Hart, Ryan Carley, and Andrew Kinoshita. The Zips and Zings EP marked Ohbijou’s first release in summer 2005, followed a year later by the full-length debut Swift Feet for Troubling Times; its lead single, “St. Francis,” reached number four on CBC Radio 3’s charts that December. Over the subsequent two years the band accumulated recognition while performing extensively across Canada, earning a nomination for the CBC’s 2007 Galaxie Rising Stars Award, securing an Indie Band Residency at the Banff Centre, and appearing at both Toronto’s Virgin Festival and Guelph’s Hillside Festival. Their sophomore album, Beacons, arrived in 2009 via Last Gang Records and Bella Union Records.