An intimate night with William Prince and Cécile Doo-Kingué
William Prince and Cécile Doo-Kingué kicked off the second night of Hillside Inside on Feb. 9 at the Royal City Church.
Multi-talented guitarist and singer-songwriter Doo-Kingué electrified the stage with her opening performance. Her music is an intoxicating blend of blues, soul, and afro-beat that ignites the spirit of anyone within earshot. Oh, and she sometimes sings in French.
Doo-Kingué’s guitar solos smoked, blistered, screamed; her powerful vocals shook the walls. She and her band played a set that uplifted the human soul, and left the audience wide-awake, hungry for more.
Then, the mood shifted: Juno award-winning folk singer-songwriter Prince humbly walked onto the stage, sat down, and began to play songs rich with life. He is a quiet man with the presence of a world-weary old soul. With just his voice and acoustic guitar, Prince turned the mood of the evening into a quiet storytelling world with the intimacy of a campfire session.
Prince was born and raised on the Peguis First Nation of Manitoba. While on stage he talked about the experience of listening to his preacher father sing in church and how it influenced his music. That night, he performed songs etched in folk-country roots.
Prince’s songs are somber and play out in the imagination of the listener like old stories, photographs, or prairie-myths. His voice is deep and rich; he has a presence that instantly absorbs the listener. Between songs, Prince reflectively strummed his guitar and told stories from his life: on becoming a father, on finding his way, and on what’s important in the world.
Sometimes, music can transcend the mundane day-to-day experience of life and make us feel truly alive, which is exactly what happened that night. The music was directly aimed at people’s souls. The listeners’ response was overwhelmingly joyous.
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Feature photo by Adam Maue.