When we think of the accordion, polka music follows closely behind. “But I don’t know any polkas, much to some crowds’ dismay and to the pleasure of others,” says local musician Ingrid Gatin in an interview with the Manitoban. “I started playing [the] accordion six years ago and it has really opened my sense of musicality [ . . . ] The keyboard can be really hard to make sound dynamic. The classic female singer-songwriter is a stereotype that doesn’t really suit me.”

Gatin is a difficult character to place – geographically and musically. After growing up in small-town Saskatchewan, her family moved to Brandon where she spent her formative years experimenting with the piano and classical music and vocal training. After coming of age and doing a little travelling, she came to Winnipeg with plans of busking for her supper. Of course, the keyboard isn’t an ideal instrument for this. Enter: the accordion.

“I started by playing a few Beirut songs and then went directly to writing my own songs, and I think that’s what makes me in love with [the accordion] and creative with it: I didn’t do weird Ukrainian accordion lessons,” says Gatin, careful to follow up the tail end of her comment with a declaration of love for all things Ukrainian.

And so it was the impetus to find a more practical street instrument, paired with the recognition that many of her favourite bands at the time—like Arcade Fire—contained accordion-based elements in them, that inspired Gatin to take a chance and procure one of these intense, abrasive, respirating instruments from a sweet old Italian man with a listing on Kijiji.

Gatin had plans of pursuing an undergraduate degree at the U of W in international development studies once upon a time – a pursuit that was short-lived. She hooked up with local bluegrassers the Magnificent 7s and decided she was better off plying her trade with the fiddlers and pluckers, joining the illustrious ranks of college dropouts like Kanye West and Mark Zuckerberg.

It’s a classic case of the budding Brandonite accordionist being lured away from post-secondary education by bluegrass and the prospect of becoming a professional touring artist, who is later contacted by the drummer of the Arcade Fire to come record part of her album in Montreal.

Gatin has lived in Winnipeg for quite some time now, though over the past couple years she has split her time between Winnipeg and Montreal – she recorded half of her latest album, 1000 Lives, at hotel2tango studios in the latter city.

“I got in touch with the engineer-producer who was also the drummer of the Arcade Fire, and he was interested in my stuff and wanted to work with me,” says Gatin, “He also played drums on three tracks [of the album].”

Though Gatin is still a sometimes-resident of our fair city, she is also enamoured of the art and music scene in Montreal and is excited to open for the duo White Horse at Pop Montreal later this month.

She has developed a taste for the open road. She seeks refuge in the woods of Manitoba and Saskatchewan for prolonged periods of time to write, and is keen on doing an artist’s residency in Europe in the near future. With all of that moving around, Winnipeggers who fail to prioritize seeing Gatin plunge and clack away Thursday evening, Sept. 19, on the third floor of 72 Princess Street, risk awaiting her undetermined return.

Ingrid Gatin + Micah Erenberg
72 Princess, 3rd floor: Sept 19, 8:00 p.m. – Wpg.

Pop Montreal
Sept. 28, 20:00 – Mtl., QC

Manitoba Music at Folk Music Ontario
Delta Meadowvale Resort and Conference Centre — Mississauga, ON

– Thu, Oct 17, 1:40 a.m.

– Fri, Oct. 18, 12:40 & 1:30 a.m.