Winnipeg-based folk singer-songwriter Dominique Adams released her first full-length album, To Keep, last summer.

“The namesake of the record is a message of staying true to yourself through life’s moments, big and small. It’s just maintaining that common thread through all of the different places that life takes you,” described Adams. “All the songs on the record capture those moments at various stages in my life in the last 10 years.” 

For her Winnipeg performance on Jan. 29, Adams is playing all the tracks from To Keep, joined by musician friends and other guests. 

“I’m just hoping to capture […] the collaborative spirit and the community that has made all of these things feel possible. I always want to try and reflect that feeling in the music,” said Adams.

Adams is originally from Alberta and spent time writing songs and singing in choirs. Before moving to Winnipeg, she studied choral conducting at the University of Alberta. For her, music has always been a collaborative process. 

“I spent most of my early 20s more engaged in group music making […] Then I moved to Winnipeg, and I didn’t embark on a solo music career because I was more interested in making music with other people and just experiencing the process with other people,” she said. 

“Everyone [in Winnipeg] is doing the same thing, and we all make music with that group mentality. So it is a wonderful marriage of the two worlds for me […] I still feel very interested in choir […] but I’ve been leaning into songwriting and making music with friends in Winnipeg.”

In addition to Adams’s soft vocals and acoustic guitar playing, To Keep features local musicians Liam Duncan, Austin Parachoniak and Keiran Placatka as instrumentalists or background vocalists. The album is also recorded live with a polished but strong folk, indie sound.

“We recorded everything live off the floor […] We did some overdubs and stuff separate, like some background vocals and electric guitars, but everything else is as it happened in the studio, which just lends itself to that collaborative spirit,” Adams commented. “It sounds and feels live when you listen to it, [it] feels like you’re in the room, but then also, still sounds like a really good recording.”

Adams is set to perform at Festival du Voyageur next month and is currently working on a project with a tour to follow in the fall. She is also opening for William Prince in April. 

Dominique Adams’s album release show will take place at Sidestage on Jan. 29 at 8 p.m. For tickets and more information, visit sidestagewpg.com.