The Nowadays Festival has a proven track record of bringing great artists to venues throughout Dartmouth, and now in their third year, there’s no sign of the annual festival slowing down.
From Oct. 9 to 11, local and international talent alike will play shows at four fantastic venues: the Buffalo Club, Mic Mac AAC, Morley’s Cafe, and the Sanctuary Arts Centre. Names include Polaris Music Prize-winning folk band The Weather Station and singer-songwriter Charlotte Cornfield, American avant-garde guitarist Hayden Pedigo, Toronto’s Weird Nightmare and Philadelphia’s Sheer Mag. Local acts include idialedyournumber, Century Samuel, Dark for Dark, Jennah Barry, Sam Wilson, Teleri and many more.
For artistic director Andrew Neville, there’s plenty to celebrate about Dartmouth’s music scene, and Nowadays is about highlighting that. In the organizer’s efforts to keep it about the community, Nowadays is run as a non-profit organization.
“The idea really was, you know, no one looked at this—and still no one looks at this—as like a moneymaking venture,” says Neville in an interview with The Coast. “The goal is just having artists we like play in Dartmouth, and bringing the kinds of bands or artists to Dartmouth—and Halifax, by extension—that just really (don’t) come here anymore.”
While festivals on the hill are fun and exciting, holding the festival throughout local venues allows for, “small and intimate concerts, with exciting artists who otherwise don’t really have Halifax on their radar right now.”
As soon as last year’s festival had ended, Neville says organizers started concocting plans for another batch of artists to visit Halifax.
“For me, personally, number one on that list was Jeff Parker. I think even before last year’s festival ended, I was like, we got to get Jeff Parker next year,” says Neville. Parker has had a storied career as a jazz guitarist after playing with Chicago post-rock outfit Tortoise. Joining him at his Sanctuary Arts Centre show is David Grubbs, a guitarist, pianist and composer who was the founding member of such bands as Squirrel Bait, Basto and Gastr del Sol.
Neville also mentions electronic duo Bodysync, made up of producers Ryan Hemsworth and Charlie Yin (Giraffage).
“Ryan, of course, from Halifax. Local boy who sort of made it out, and this is his first time back in more than 10 years,” says Neville. “Everyone playing the festival, I’m like, personally really excited to see.”
What makes Nowadays so special is that it’s iconically Dartmouth. Neville says that even after amalgamation, he’s always thought of Halifax and Dartmouth as separate places. With two bridges that make travelling to Dartmouth less of a burden, people need to know that not everything has to happen in Halifax’s downtown for it to be exciting.
“There’s this amazing whole other part of the city that is realistically like a five-minute drive from downtown Halifax,” says Neville. “There are so many great things already happening there, but I just really hope people see our event and realize, oh, there’s all these artists from Dartmouth, there’s all these great venues that exist in Dartmouth, and just sort of highlight what’s already happening there.”
Tickets for all of the shows affiliated with the Nowadays festival can be accessed via their website.