Canadian piano sensation makes her first trek to the East Coast.

Piano 35 compressed but still high res (Silhouette 5) — www.jeniethai.ca

Edmonton based musician Jenie Thai is currently touring across the country in support of her latest album, Only The Moon. On this, her sophomore release, Thai blends folk, jazz, blues and boogie-woogie influences into a stellar piano driven collection of songs that has been earning her national attention.

“Only The Moon has opened great doors,” said Thai. “It’s connected me to a wonderful community/scene of people in Toronto and other parts of Canada. It garnered a nomination for Female Artist of The Year at The Edmonton Music Awards, and it’s given me the opportunity to tour and meet so many folks across this vastly beautiful country.”

Out west, Thai performs regularly with a full band and on occasion, picks up accompanying musicians for performances outside of her Edmonton home. On this tour, she’ll be flying solo when she arrives in Fredericton to play at Grimross Brewing Company.

While touring small stages across the country in what is largely a guitar dominated scene can present challenges to anyone choosing to work outside of the six-string format, Thai feels that the differences between a solo piano performer and someone playing guitar are minimal at best.

“I don’t overly concentrate on the difference between the ways a piano and a guitar emote because whatever instrument I play, I merely think of it as a tool to express emotions,” she said. “With that being said though, I think that the piano has pros and cons in terms of audience connection. There is definitely a physical barrier between the audience and I, and you can’t see my hands move the same way you can when there’s a guitar, but the piano has a voice of it’s own because you can combine notes in a way you can’t on the guitar. And in terms of funkiness, they are on equal playing grounds.”

This tour marks Thai’s first trip to the East Coast, where she’ll be playing several intimate venues throughout Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.

“This is my first time heading as far east as the Atlantic,” said Thai. “Before this tour, my farthest trip east was Aylmer, Quebec. But everything is east of Edmonton.”