The Wire Megazine Concert Blog: Singer-Songwriter Meredith Moon (Gordon Lightfoot's Daughter) at Peterborough Folk Festival on August 18.

Stars Align for Toronto Singer-Songwriter

Meredith Moon

For the launch of her True North Records album

Constellations.

True North Records announced the signing of Meredith Moon and released her new album, Constellations, a blisteringly honest and astonishing body of work that firmly places her in the footsteps of her father, Gordon Lightfoot.

For the past decade, Meredith Moon introduced herself simply as “a multi-instrumentalist and songwriter,” wowing audiences around the world with her clawhammer banjo and original songs. She didn’t mention that her father is Gordon Lightfoot; she first wanted to prove herself, on her own terms. Which she did: one gig at a time, hitchhiking around North America, riding the rails, making her own connections in DIY spaces and online forums. Now her second album, Constellations, has landed her a global record deal—and she’s ready for her closeup.

Constellations comprises 10 songs that showcase Meredith’s unique voice and captivating lyrics, wrapped in a raw neo-traditional folk sound, with traditional Appalachian step-rhythms and banjo.

But Meredith Moon isn’t someone living in the past. She’s a young woman. She taught herself to play banjo when she was 21 by watching YouTube videos. Then she hit the road playing solo alongside a folk-punk band, tapping into a DIY network that enabled her to book her own tours: across North America, Central America and western Europe, including Croatia and the Czech Republic — many places that don’t often see a young female singer-songwriter playing Appalachian-style banjo. Bars, art spaces, house shows — it didn’t matter to Moon: “I booked everything through the traveling punks and the old-time scene—which are honestly quite similar.”

She only performed publicly with her father for the first time in 2022, opening some Canadian dates for the songwriting legend. “He didn’t introduce me as his daughter. He completely understands and respects why I’d want that. He’d just say, ‘Give it up for Meredith Moon.’ That was really nice.”

Singer-Songwriter Meredith Moon (Gordon Lightfoot's Daughter) at Peterborough Folk Festival on August 18.

So, take the man’s advice and put your hands together and give it up:

follow Constellations until you find Meredith Moon. On her own merits.

Tracklisting

1. Starcrossed (2:10)

2. That Town (3:44)

3. Constellations (4:17)

4. Brokenwing Bird (4:12)

5. Your Cards (3:34)

6. Soldier’s Joy (2:46)

7. Lighthouse County (3:40)

8. Mark Twain (3:19)