The Ones Ahead Beverly Glenn-Copeland

• 1Africa Calling05:40
• 2Harbour (Song For Elizabeth)04:38
• 3Love Takes All04:39
• 4People Of The Loon04:56
• 5Stand Anthem05:58
• 6The Ones Ahead04:56
• 7Prince Caspian's Dream04:10
• 8Lakeland Angel03:04
• 9No Other04:09
• Total Runtime42:10

Info for The Ones Ahead

In the tumult of this world, there are constants. People need each other. Every motion brushes against others, moving. None of us are siloed and none of us are still. The music of Beverly Glenn-Copeland drinks deeply from these truths. For decades, the Philadelphia-born, Canada-based singer, songwriter, and composer has drawn myriad musical practices toward a single, luminous conviction: that music can shake us loose from what closes us off from each other. His multifaceted body of work surrenders to the beauty, pain, and great capacity for healing that courses through life; in its unguarded sincerity, it invites you to share in its courage. Glenn-Copeland's new album, The Ones Ahead -- his first collection of new music in nearly two decades -- deepens these explorations, casting searching light into how all of us must dissolve the harms of this world and carry each other forward into the next.

Glenn-Copeland recorded The Ones Ahead in collaboration with producer John Herbermann and Indigo Rising, the band who accompanied him on his inaugural European tour, whose playing lends a cinematic richness to these intricately textured electroacoustic arrangements. After watching a live performance from Glenn-Copeland and Indigo Rising, Herbermann chose to record the album live from the floor, capturing the dynamic interplay among the group. The bond the musicians share and their deep trust in one another shine through these songs. Kurt Inder's elegiac slide guitar glows against Nick Dourado's delicate piano on "Love Takes All," while on "Harbour (Song for Elizabeth)," Glenn-Copeland trades verses with singer Jeremy Costello, who echoes the love ballad's lyrics with warm affection over drummer Bianca Palmer's softly brushed cymbals.


The Ones Ahead weaves together poignant themes: the need for love and mutual care in the face of destruction and uncertainty, the power people have when they reach out for each other, the ways that the wisdom of past generations can guide us along the path forward.


From the stirring, rapturous "People of the Loon" to the gorgeously flowing "Prince Caspian's Dream," The Ones Ahead cultivates a vibrant hope for this world and what it must become to survive. A new chapter in an expansive and unique body of work, Glenn-Copeland's latest album offers flowering wisdom for the world to come, needed now more urgently than ever.

"As with Keyboard Fantasies, The Ones Ahead creates a richly textured sonic world which envelopes the listener from beginning to end. Part of the album was recorded live from the floor and you can feel the energy of Copeland and his touring band Indigo Rising playing together in real time. On opening track ‘Africa Calling’, a rapturously joyful ode to his West African heritage and potentially his most upbeat song yet, he lets percussion take centre stage amid the many layers of vocal and synths. Elsewhere on ‘Prince Caspian’s Dream’, the instrumentation is stripped back as Copeland sings, in a melancholic, almost operatic vocal: “Love is the heart of life, this I know.” It’s a line which sums up the mood of The Ones Ahead, which for all its theatricality and intensity is ultimately rooted firmly in reality, and in tenderness." (Jessica Wrigglesworth, loudandquiet.com)

Beverly Glenn-Copeland

Beverly Glenn-Copeland
The diverse work of legendary singer, composer and transgender activist Beverly Glenn-Copeland has been gathering momentum in recent years thanks to a reissue of the extraordinary folk-jazz explorations of his debut self-titled album (1970) and the widespread discovery of his acclaimed masterpiece Keyboard Fantasies (1986); an ahead-of-it’s-time synth exploration which somehow combines the essence of new-age minimalism, early Detroit techno and the warmth of traditional songwriting.

Throughout a fifty year recording career, Beverly Glenn-Copeland's music has defied categorisation and genre, its only consistency being the extraordinary fusion of vision, technology, spirituality and place.

Beverly Glenn-Copeland (Glenn to his friends and acquaintances) is now in his late-70’s, Glenn-Copeland was born into a musical family and studied the classical piano repertoire from ‘cradlehood,’ listening to his father playing the piano four to five hours a day. He moved from his home-town of Philadelphia to study classical music at McGill University, Montreal in 1961 (focussing on the European song repertoire) before he suddenly felt called to write music that would weave influences from the myriad musical cultures he had come to love.

After many years of absence from the concert stage, Glenn-Copeland has resumed performing with his new band, Indigo Rising, in Canada and Europe. With great joy and appreciation Glenn-Copeland acknowledges his deep connection with the younger generations that are now so enthusiastically embracing his music!

Moved from Philadelphia to Canada in 1961 to study at McGill University. Trained as a vocalist, he released a self-titled debut album in 1970, now a collector’s favorite, before earning a spot as a regular contributor on children’s TV show Mr. Dressup. Over 40 years Copeland remained dedicated to forward movement, writing plays, composing soundtracks and writing music that channels and celebrates the varied cultural influences of his own background. His 1984 self-released electronic album Keyboard Fantasies was reissued in 2016, its visionary approach resonating with the ears of a new generation.

In this lecture at the Red Bull Music Academy Bass Camp Montréal 2017, Copeland spoke with refreshing honesty and generosity about lessons learned, and imparted plenty of timeless advice about the unifying and healing powers of art.

This album contains no booklet.