By Will McGuirk
Just Jillian with The James Clark Institute at the Dakota Tavern Saturday Oct 1 2022. Tickets here.
Sofiacide at Lee's Palace
By Will McGuirk
Sofiacide at Lee’s Palace Saturday Oct 1 2022. Tickets here.
Gigs This Week: The Killjoys at the Horseshoe Tavern
By Will McGuirk
The Killjoys at the Legendary Horseshoe Tavern Saturday Oct 1 2022. Tickets here.
Joel Plaskett, photo by Mikki
Gigs This Week: Joel Plaskett at Massey Hall
By Will McGuirk
Joel Plaskett at Massey Hall Saturday Oct 1 2022. Tickets here.
By Divine Right, photo Catherine Stockhausen
Slowcity.ca Open Mic: Haviah Mighty, Ria Mae, Julian Taylor, Ernesto Cervini, David Myles, By Divine Right, the Blue Stones, LS Dunes, and Q
By Will McGuirk
“Overall, this song is a reminder that nothing…is surface deep." - Haviah Mighty
“You’re done conforming, you’re done caring, you’re over the hanging weight of shame, disappointment, or unchecked goals. You’ve let go, and it’s the most freeing feeling you’ve ever experienced. You just don’t give a shit, and it’s fucking great.” - Tarek Jafar, The Blue Stones
Ria Mae with Virginia to Vegas at the Biltmore Theatre Thursday Nov. 24 2022
Mahogany Frog win 2022 Western Canadian Music Award
By Will McGuirk
Congrats to our old pals in Winnipeg’s Mahogany Frog on their 2022 Western Canadian Music Award, handed out this evening in Calgary. The ‘Frog won Visual Media Composer of the Year for ‘Faust’, an original score set to the eponymous 1926 German silent film from director F. W. Murnau.
Mahogany Frog are Graham Epp (guitar/keyboards/electronics/trumpet), Jesse Warkentin (guitar/keyboards/electronics), Scott Ellenberger (bass/keyboards/electronics/trumpet) and Andy Rudolph (drums/keyboards/electronics). The Frog played a few times in Oshawa back in the days, most notably at the Velvet Elvis where the four piece squeezed a half dozen synthesizers, and a gong into the space between the bar and the couch, which isn’t much space at all. Amazing show, amazing band, nice folks.
The album ‘Faust’ was released this past March and the PR has this to say, “Mahogany Frog brings together their collective experience in composition, experimentation, electronics, intense rock & roll, and searing fuzz guitar. Together they weave a dark and diverse score around Faust’s brooding tale of corruption, devastation and redemption.”
The Western Canadian Music Alliance is a pan western organization created by the Alliance Member Music Industry Associations (MIAs) of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, The Northwest Territories, the Yukon Territory, and in partnership with Nunavut, to promote and celebrate western Canadian music.
Ellen Froese, photo by Landon Johnson
Slowcity.ca Open Mic: Zoon, Ellen Froese, Field Guide, Declan O'Donovan, Wet Leg, Hollow Graves, and PUP
This open mic is a safe space where you can express yourself musically, no judgement, only encouragement.
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Gigs This Week: Cultivate Festival at Haute Goat Farm
By Will McGuirk
When I started slowcity.ca over a dozen years ago the vision was to highlight the makers and the makers of happenings; the support local movement, the farm to table movement, the slow purposeful life, the creative entrepreneur, the future makers. And if I had to design something that would wrap all of that up it would have been something like Cultivate.
Of course I didn’t, however the folks at Cultivate have and its everything one could imagine about a slow life, and then add goats! And then really slow down by sharing the goodness over three days.
Cultivate Festival takes place Friday, Sept 23, Saturday Sept 24 and Sunday Sept 25 at Haute Goat Farm just north of Port Hop, On.
The line-up features indie roots artists, Joel Plaskett Emergency, Kathleen Edwards, the Sadies, Shad, Kate Boothman, Julian Taylor, Brooks & Bowskill, and more.
There are many kid-friendly events and activities, culminating in a children’s parade on the Sunday. Also a book fair, and an arts hive, folk dancing, a pop-up choir, plus local food and beverage vendors, including Smashed Burgers, the Pop Stand, and Northumberland Hills Brewery.
And there will be much more, Slow doesn’t mean less, and Small doesn’t mean not going big!
Slowcity.ca Open Mic: Jason Collett, Margo Price, Boy Golden, Golden Feather, Emi Jeen, Amanda Sum, White Lung, and Speaker Wars,
By Will McGuirk
"In absorbing the tumult of the times, there's a lot of shit to write through, that Bruce Cockburn line comes to mind, ‘you've got to kick at the darkness until it bleeds daylight’, and the challenge is to get to the other side with something positive to contribute," - Jason Collett
“You get stuck in the same patterns of thinking, the same loops of addiction. But there comes a point where you just have to say, ‘I'm going to be here, I'm going to enjoy it, and I'm not going to put so much stock into checking the boxes for everyone else.’ “ Margo Price
“You can put a lot of energy and discipline into a project while leaving room for spontaneity, fun, and authentic creativity. In the end, why are we so serious about life?’’ - Emi Jeen
Multi-faceted artist Pierre Kwenders wins 2022 Polaris Music Prize
By Will McGuirk
Congolese-born, Montreal-based musician, songwriter, and DJ Pierre Kwenders is the winner of the 2022 Polaris Music Prize.
The prize was handed out at an in-person gala held at the Carlu in Toronto Tuesday Sept 20 2022, the first live event of the award show since the pandemic and was broadcast live on a variety of streaming platforms as well as CBC.ca (where I watched it).
Kwenders won for his album ‘José Louis and the Paradox of Love’ (available via Arts & Crafts) which combines Congolese rumba and electronic music with pop-R&B and jazz, adds in vocals sung and rapped in Lingala, French, English, Tshiluba, and Kikongo, AND features collaborations with Tendai Maraire (Shabazz Palaces), Branko (M.I.A., Buraka som Sistema), Win Butler (Arcade Fire), Michael Brun (J Balvin), and Uproot Andy (Poirier).
The Polaris Music Prize awards $50,000 to the artist who creates the Canadian Album of the Year, judged solely on artistic merit, without consideration for genre or record sales. The nine other nominated acts whose albums make the 2022 Short List will receive $3,000 each courtesy of Slaight Music. Additionally, Polaris Music Prize has partnered with Play MPE to award the winning artist with a global music promotion distribution package for one release (single or album) worth up to $3,025 CAD. Play MPE will also gift all nine remaining Short List artists with distribution packages worth up to $1,000 CAD each.
Kwenders joins a pretty rad list of past winners; Cadence Weapon (2021), Backxwash (2020), Haviah Mighty (2019), Jeremy Dutcher (2018), Lido Pimienta (2017), Kaytranada (2016), Buffy Sainte-Marie (2015), Tanya Tagaq (2014), Godspeed You! Black Emperor (2013), Feist (2012), Arcade Fire (2011), Karkwa (2010), Fucked Up (2009), Caribou (2008), Patrick Watson (2007) and Final Fantasy / Owen Pallett (2006).
Gigs This Week: Jack De Keyzer at the Biltmore
By Will McGuirk
One of Canada’s finest practitioners of the Blues, Jack De Keyzer, is at the Biltmore Theatre Thursday Sept 22 2022. This is the launch of a new festival in the downtown, titled Convergence. We will I imagine learn more on the night itself.
Gigs This Week: Kristine St-Pierre at the Dakota
By Will McGuirk
Bilingual folk singer-songwriter Kristine St-Pierre at the Dakota Tavern Thursday Sept 22 2022. Tickets here.
Gigs This Week: Elliott Brood at Lee's Palace
By Will McGuirk
Alt-country roof rattlers Elliott Brood at Lee’s Palace Saturday Sept 24 2022. Tickets here.