Meet the Band

Origins

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A Métis singer/songwriter with a pop/rock meets folksy Americana style, Cynthia Hamar was born in the town of Drayton Valley and grew up on a farm close to the small mining town of Entwistle about an hour west of Edmonton, Alberta.

With four older siblings heavily into music and arts and no television at home, she grew up mimicking the songs they would play and drawing anything she could imagine. Hamar grew attached to finger picking styling and songs with rich stories and emotion such as Bruce Cockburns “ All the Diamonds” making her stage debut at the age of seven in the local church her mother and her would attend, singing Amy Grant tunes to accompaniment tracks. At 15, Hamar picked up the guitar, having developed a taste for grunge rock through artists such as Ani DiFranco and Radiohead, Hamar began writing and performing her own eclectic style in coffee shops, street corners, churches and pubs. Hamar married and moved to British Columbia and had 3 children over 3 years in Kamloops, BC.

In 2007, having moved again to Fort St John, BC, Hamar recorded and self released her first studio album and briefly toured western Canada, the album was nominated for a GMA but did not really get too much attention. Hamar decided to steer away from over production and gear more towards raw and acoustic recordings. Her second independently released album “Acous.ti.cal.ly” recorded at Red Glow records in Fort St John, BC was released in 2010 and accomplished just that. Shortly after Hamar’s family moved back to her hometown of Entwistle and she began to engage in the Edmonton music scene.

While recording with her nephew Spencer Ford for a compilation album, Hamar met Tim LaRiviere at his studio DSD Recordings. Hamar admired LaRiviere’s calm nature and approached him about helping with her next project. LaRiviere not only accepted but dove into the project with passion.

2014&15 brought a new era for Hamar, she began writing and performing with her oldest son. A few months into recording with LaRiviere she decided to remove some of her own songs and add some of her sons and title the album “ The Son & I” LaRiviere personally travelled to England to have the album mastered by Alex Wharton (the Beatles, Radiohead, Coldplay) at Abbey Roads Studios. The album was released to radio spring 2016 by Tinderbox Music, charted on numerous college radio stations across Canada and the US as well as acquired TV licenses with TLC, Discovery Network and a TV show set to air fall 2017. LaRiviere is often a member of Hamar's band and brings along former bandmate Mark Scholtz on drums. 

2017 was filled with gigs across Canada, Via Rail Artist on Board from Vancouver to Toronto, and lots of new songs waiting to be recorded. 2019 Hamar decided to pursue a Bachelor degree of Music at Grant MacEwan in Edmonton, AB. Only time will tell what will come next-one thing for sure;

New Music coming soon!