Angels gather March 3 to lift one of their own, country singer Cadence Grace

By Will McGuirk

The Canadian country music community will gather Sunday to carry an Angel who’s suffering. Country musicians with roots across the land, will take to the stage March 3 to raise funds for Cadence Grace, a member of the three-piece, Runaway Angel, and one of slowcity.ca’s own. Cadence has been battling cancer for some time.

Country Kicks Cancer’s Ass, organized by her fellow Angel Stacey Zegers (Ann Chaplin is her other Angel) kicks off at 3 p.m. at the Rock ‘n Horse Saloon in Toronto. Proceeds form this Grand Ol’ Opry-style session will go towards Cadence’s care as she undergoes bone marrow transplant surgery.

The event features Jessica Mitchell, Leah Daniels, Eric Etheridge, Kelsi Mayne, Kris Barclay, Ben Hudson and Julia Haggarty, Small Town Pistols and many more. There’s a 50/50 draw and a silent auction with some rad prizes including tickets to the CMAO and CCMA awards, Havelock Jamboree and a guitar signed by Brett Kissel.

Artists choose their own road, they pave the way for the rest of us but its a lonely road at times. When one falters however there are a whole lot of hands ready to help and this is one of those times. So if you can help, lets get Cadence back on her bike, back on her road to recovery.

Tickets available here ->

---

updated and edited by Blake Purdy Feb 28 2019

One, Two, Three - Folk gather for Mariposa on July 5, 6 and 7 2019

By Will McGuirk

There is a singularity to folk music, the solo singer/songwriter singing their own song, and yet folk is plural - its as if the individual broaches the universal. Once again the Mariposa Folk Festival, possibly the original collective voice of the folk singer, has managed to balance the one with the many and this year has built a line-up which pushes the limits of what a folk festival can accommodate, perhaps more-so than in any of the previous years I have been attending, while still remaining true to its roots which stretch back decades to 1961.

The Mariposa Folk Festival 2019 runs July 5, 6, 7 at Tudhope Park in Orillia, on it should always be noted on the lovely Lake Couchiching.

This year Jason Isbell who went solo after Drive By Truckers and Swedish duo, First Aid Kit will headline.

Other solo acts include Carole Pope, Christine Lavin, Courtney Marie Andrws, Hawksley Workman, Jennifer Castle, Kalyna Rakel, Martin Sexton, Melanie, Scott Cook, Shakura S’Aida and Steve Poltz.

Fred Penner is also on the line-up as is fellow children entertainers Sharon and Bram. So I think at some point these three will hook-up.

Indigenous duo, Digging Roots, Freddy and Francine, The Lifers plus a couple of four-pieces, Coig and My Son The Hurricane fill out the line-up.

There will be a few more acts to be announced and we’ll post as the info comes in. Check out the very fine website for more details on artists and tickets.

---

---

Jaunt has dancing 'On Your Mind", new single drops like a mic

Dance like no one is watching but someone was and they had a camera and the video for ‘On Your Mind’ the new track from bedsit noodlers, Jaunt, will put a much needed smile on your winter weary face. The song is a Bahamas meets blip-hop sing-a-long and now a dance-a-long. Dig in, and let yourself be swept away.

Born Ruffians headline Springtide Music Festival in Uxbridge

After a very successful first year featuring Great Lake Swimmers, the good folks at Springtide Music Festival in Uxbridge are going to do it all again this year. Springtide 2019 has announced its headliners for the downtown fest which takes place April 26 and 27. AND . . . drum roll. . . Born Ruffians, Zeus and Birds of Bellwoods. Three great bands to celebrate with. There will also be many local acts in a variety of locations across the loveliest of downtowns. These intimate showcases are the very core of the fest so make sure you garb a wristband (on for early bird pricing, $30 now)and take it all in. We will update y’all as more acts are announced.
Get ‘em here ->

---

---

Band friends The Strumbellas and Dizzy get themselves back to the Garden

By Will McGuirk

Oshawa’s loss is Hamilton’s gain - could apply to so much across all sectors but in this case its the Hammer which gets The Strumbellas’ fab-fancy folk picnic with Dizzy Saturday, July 6 2019. The big show takes place at The Arboretum at Royal Botanical Gardens., in HAMILTON! The Strumbellas are of course our Oshawa pal David Ritter (keys), and Simon Ward (vocals, acoustic guitar), Jeremy Drury (percussion), Isabel Ritchie (strings), Jon Hembrey (guitar) and Darryl James (bass). They have been building audiences and awards pretty much from the get go and will keep building when their new album, “Rattlesnake”, drops March 29. The strum-fest also features Dan Mangan and Donovan Woods and of course Juno nominees from Oshawa Dizzy and it is all presented by MRG (and I do believe there are a couple of few Shwakats in there too). Gates open at 3:00 p.m. All ages / 19+ areas / Free admission for children under 10 accompanied by an adult

Tickets available Friday March 1 ->

Slowcity.ca Open Mic - the answer is blowin' edition: Melissa Etheridge, Fabrizio Cammarata, Susto, Radical Face, Don Brownrigg and Wintersleep

Slow city is the windy city with all sorts of musical tumbleweeds rolling in. Music can soothe the savage wind, with gusto and none more gusto than Melissa Etheridge, back on the scene with a new album, The Medicine Show, and song, happy to have Mel rise up . The stage is open, let’s see what answers the wind blows in.

Melissa Etheridge , Fabrizio Cammarata, Susto , Radical Face , Don Brownrigg and Wintersleep

---

---

---

---

Don Brownrigg - April 17, The Burdock, Toronto

---

Be sure to 'Catch Up and Slow Down' with Poor Nameless Boy

What a good day today was - catching up with someone I haven’t seen in a decade and discussing projects and politics, hanging with my crew -a zine publisher, musicians, a DJ and filmmakers over cold local craft beer and buying art and catching up with artists and pals and family and young singers and yes in this February dreary town all of this - a pal from this town who works in PR sent me this today and it is perfect for all of us slow-citizens building piece by piece a new future.

Diane Foy launches new podcast Sing! Dance! Act! Thrive!

By Will McGuirk

Podcasts, podcasts, lots out there and maybe slowcity.ca will have one sometime, soon or maybe later, probably later, we are slow!

We are adding links to Diane Foy’s new podcast SIng! Dance! Act! Thrive! and as we are big fans of Laurie Brown we are also adding a link to her Pondercast.

Foy’s podcast is an ongoing conversation with many artists and creative folks from all different genres, music, theatre, business. Add it to your Listen/Learn list and dig in.

You can find the links on all our story pages.

Along with Diane and Laurie you will see links to Gwen Tuinman’s Wellspring and Simon Head’s Apologue (I’ve been on that a couple of times). These are not ads, just links to folk we think are doing good work. We think you will too.

Juno-nominated cancer survivor connects health and music in 'The Seasons of Being'

Canadian Pianist Andy Milne has been nominated for the 2019 Juno for Best Group Jazz Album. The New York musician and composer will play The Rex in Toronto Apr 12. His album, “The Seasons of Being',” grew out of his own journey when diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2017. He had endured intense back-pain for the previous six years and he suspected a connection. This set him on an exploration of a holistic approach to well-being.

“I grapple with mortality when I write, sometimes, anyway” Milne says in a press release. “This record was created before I knew I had cancer, but during my quest to understand healing and the body and how music intertwined with that.”

Milne’s qunitet The Dapp Theory is featured on the album. Dapp Theory is woodwind specialist Aaron Kruziki, bassist Christopher Tordini, drummer Kenny Grohowski and wordsmith John Moon. Ralph Alessi, Ben Monder, La Tanya Hall, Michael Attias, and Christopher Hoffman guest.

The Junos take place in London, ON the week of Mar 11 - 17. The main award show will be aired on CBC Sunday Mar 17.

Blues master Matt Andersen to play Regent Theatre in the Spring, Amy Helms to open

The soulful sounds of blues master Matt Andersen will resound around Oshawa’s Regent Theatre May 3 (and possibly beyond). The stop is one on the New Brunswick singer/songwriter’s North American and European tour for his upcoming release, ‘Halfway Home By Morning’. The album recorded in Nashville with producer Steve Dawson will out on True North in Canada Mar 22 2019. Andersen will be joined by Amy Helm, who appears on the double single, “Something To Lose”/ “Better Than You Want” . Helms, the daughter of Levon, is opening all Ontario dates. The Mellotones will also be performing with Andersen.

Nick Teehan releases single 'Just Waiting', album launch at The Rex Mar 25 - 27

Slowcity.ca hometown pal Nick Teehan has released his new single, “Just Waiting” from his upcoming album ‘These Little Things’. Nick will host a three night launch party at The Rex in Toronto, March 25, 26, and 27 2019. The single wouldn’t be out of place on a Hozier album, if the Irish singer eschewed church for just hanging with Father John Misty.

Slowcity.ca Open Mic - Family Day edition: Broken Social Scene, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Saxsyndrum, Adam Baldwin, Parting Gift, Pop Evil, Lydia Ainsworth and iskwē

Nothing says Canadian music family like Broken Social Scene, the thunderous hug of a band of BFFS, awesome in their own right individually and yet together still awesome. The TO crew have a new EP out, ‘Let’s Try The After - Vol 1,’ and they step up to open the Fam Jam open mic. Stay and listen to the rest of the voices, its quite the collection of folks and feelings, just like a family but remember its not a real family reunion until some one cries.
Happy Fam Jam with Tedeschi Trucks Band, Saxsyndrum, Adam Baldwin, Parting Gift, Pop Evil, Lydia Ainsworth and iskwē

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

The arias and symphonies of Yes We Mystic find the surface on new single 'Please Bring Me to Safety'

Yes We Mystic - Yes we are excess, yes we are an all at once, yes we are abandon, yes we are exuberance, yes we are celebration, in the here and now and now this here and now and this here and now. . . The Winnipeg art-pop collective have a new album due, ‘Ten Seated Figures’, on April 19 via DevilDuck Records. The first single released form this their second album is “Please Being Me to Safety.” The track has the Cancon new romanticism of arias and symphonies but these spoons have been melted into the gaunt figurines of Giacometti - hey find the fun where you can, and should I falter in my task of imagining my own happiness please bring me to safety safely.

Yes We Mystic dedicates this song and its release to Darryl Weeks, their publicist who died suddenly and unexpectedly last weekend.

 “Darryl was such a kind man, a bright light, who was so passionate and hardworking. Connecting this past week with others who knew or have worked with him has only helped illuminate what a special guy he was,” says Adam Fuhr (vocalist/guitarist who produced this new record). “It meant so much to us that he loved this record, and we’re lucky to have known him in what turned out to be the last few months of his life. He will be sorely missed by us and the rest of his community, and our thoughts go out to his family.”

Slowcity.ca echoes those remarks and offers too condolences to the Darryl’s family and friends.

Darryl Weeks of Stagefright Publicity, photo by Vanessa Heins