The Once

The Once take their name from a distinctive Newfoundland expression denoting something imminent. This Canadian folk trio has built its reputation on concise three-part harmonies, frequently presented without instruments, and on an engaging combination of traditional numbers with original songs. Both restrained and deeply affecting, the group has demonstrated equal skill in crossing into adjacent styles such as country, indie pop, and Americana, a versatility showcased to strong effect on the Juno-nominated releases Row Upon Row of the People They Know and Departures.

The three members, Geraldine Hollett, Phil Churchill, and Andrew Dale, first came together in 2006 at a summer theater company. Repeated evenings of singing around a kitchen table uncovered a natural rapport that soon reached listeners through their self-titled 2009 debut, itself nominated for the Atlantis Music Prize and financed by a stranger who, after hearing one performance, offered the band five thousand dollars to make an album. They moved to Borealis for the well-received 2011 follow-up Row Upon Row of the People They Know, then issued the independently released holiday set This Is a Christmas Album the following year. After Nettwerk Records CEO Terry McBride heard them at Vancouver CelticFest, he signed the trio, leading to 2014’s Departures, an album that placed greater emphasis on original material. The 2016 We Win Some We Lose EP, recorded after an extended tour supporting Passenger (Mike Rosenberg), brought contemporary instrumentation into the arrangements. That move from a primarily acoustic approach toward a folk-pop texture became still clearer on the band’s fourth album, Time Enough, released in 2018.