Elgin Music Hall Presents is a new series at the Elgin United Church. The series invites everyone to enjoy evenings of music, guest speakers, and special events, in support of preserving this historic 1894 limestone church. The acoustics are wonderful for live music. Padded pews are the bonus!
The next show in this series is by Minor Gold, an acoustic duo formed by two Australian solo artists, Tracy McNeil and Dan Parsons. Their first album as a duo, the self-titled Minor Gold, was released in 2023. They went on to win the Folk Award at the Queensland Music Awards in 2024. They will be in concert at Elgin Music Hall, 77 Main St., Elgin on Saturday, March 15. Music starts at 7:30 pm. Tickets can be purchased at the door for $28 per person.
The presenter for this show, Trish Bolechowsky, sat down with Tracy and Dan to find out more about this talented new duo.
Q. How would you describe your music?
A. We describe it as if Simon & Garfunkel wrote some songs with The Grateful Dead but then they were performed by Gilliam Welch & David Rawlings. There’s a looseness and groove to our music, and a serious dedication to song craft, harmony and musicianship.
Q. As musicians with established solo careers, what inspired this new duo?
A. The idea of having a writing partner, or a stage partner, really appealed to us. Coming from a solo background, you tend to get a little tired of all the ideas being your own. It’s allowed us to diversify creatively and add excitement to the process.
Q. How does your music fit in or stand out as you tour internationally? Do different audiences respond differently?
A. Generally, our music fits in nicely across North America. Our sound is predominantly a North American sound, with most of our influences coming from there. We got a really positive response in Europe, which was exciting! I think the kind of music we make stands out in that European environment–there’s a certain ‘otherness’ that helps.
Q. What motivates each of you to create and perform? Is it different as a duo? Who writes for the duo?
A. We’re both chiefly motivated by the same thing–growth and learning, improving on every component of our careers. It’s not so different as a duo, maybe it’s more intense at times, but we’ve always been similar that way. We write all the songs together–usually, one of us will start a song on our own, but every single song is the way it is because of the other's involvement.
Q. As life partners who are now touring and performing together, how do each of you handle so much togetherness?
A. It’s a good question, but honestly, it has never taken much work, we just seem to groove pretty well in each other's worlds. We’re lucky like that, and it’s not lost on us. Sharing a common goal and dream tends to keep you in the same conversation cycle, so sometimes one of us will have to ask to change the subject!
Q. What's new for Minor Gold and what are you looking forward to?
A. We’re releasing our new album ‘Way to the Sun’ in July, so we’ll be touring the U.S. and Canada until August and then we head back to Europe. Australia will have us home in October. We have some things on the boil already for Europe in February 2026. In short, a lot of touring!
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