Getting to know: Two Crows for Comfort

The local folk/roots duo Two Crows for Comfort (Erin Corbin and Cory Sulyma) are this year’s Manitoba Country Music Awards roots artist duo of the year.

The duo has been playing together since 2017 but hasn’t always gone by Two Crows for Comfort. They would go by different names when they started playing shows until they settled on Two Crows for Comfort.

“The name was very unplanned and random; I was originally going to use it in a song. I have a book with a lot of lyrics and lines and things that I would eventually put into songs,” said Cory.

Their songwriting and lyricism stand out through every song when listening to the duo.

“I don’t really have a songwriting process; it’s more chaos. Sometimes I’ll think of an idea, and it’s on the shelf for two years before I come back to it. Sometimes I can work on a song in 15 minutes, and I’m done,” said Cory.

Every song starts differently; some songs start with a vocal melody or a guitar part, but there is no specific formula when writing songs, the duo described.

A difficult decision artists usually have to make is what songs they release and what songs don’t make the cut.

You just know when something isn’t going to work, it’s an instinct. If we are happy with a song and like to perform it live, we will put it out and hope 1 or 2 people like it, Erin and Cory explained.

The duo’s favourite song to perform is The Ballad of Giles Corey that they did at the virtual MCMA Awards in November 2021.

There are many great things about being a musician, but for the duo, their favourite is after a show when people come up to you and say they like your song because it connects to them in some way.

“Seeing how a song you made could impact someone and hear their connection to it is my favourite part,” said Erin.

In December, I was in the audience at Don Amero’s Christmas show, Amero Little Christmas, when Two Crows for Comfort were announced as special guests. This was my first time seeing them perform live, and I was in awe of their harmonies and how their music caught everyone’s attention. The duo sang Refugee King, and Don Amero joined them to sing It’s Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas. Their performance was a great addition to the Christmas show.

Two Crows for Comfort released a self-produced album over the pandemic entitled, Show Me Light with ten songs that showcase their songwriting and artistic abilities.

Listen to Show Me Light on all streaming platforms and keep your eye open for upcoming shows to hear their beautiful harmonies for yourself.