Chris McCluskey

Since forming two years ago, hardcore punk group Raygunomics have become used to performing for a loyal all-ages following. Now that all four members are of legal age, they are facing the challenges associated with making the transition from dry to drinking establishments. “We’ve played shows for literally two and five people, and that never […]

Honesty is an attempt at which people often fall short. While searching to find the perfect terms and expressions, authenticity erodes and meaning is sacrificed in translation. With his third album, Spirit Dance, roots musician Dave Carmichael has composed 11 songs with the approach that what we want to say is always right on the […]

Since his days with Dartmouth alt-country quintet The Guthries, Matt Mays has been among the most widely familiar and embraced musicians in Halifax. Due to geographic reasons, however, making the next step in his career and avoiding artistic purgatory meant the 26-year-old was faced with considerable time away from family and his oldest fan base. […]

Singer/guitarist Keri Steele has difficulty staying comfortable in a band for very long. She started the new age folk group Imaginary Heaven when she was still in her teens, making three albums before moving to Toronto and forming melodic loop-based female quartet Hush Hush. A pair of records later, Steele has once again switched gears, […]

The members of Victoria-based Immaculate machine are earning a reputation for their remarkable live presence, but few dates are as memorable as those they travel over 6,000 kilometres to reach. Since forming in late 2002, the band’s handful of gigs in our city have included two venue closings—one of which happened unexpectedly in the middle […]

If you ask Matt Wells how much integrity there is in the music industry, he will tell you there is an equal number of those with it as without it. But faced with a choice, the Bucket Truck frontman chooses substance—and, consequently, deep debt—over style. With their latest release, Favour the Bull, the Newfoundland-bred, Halifax-based […]

Tom Wilson and Bob Lanois will forever be distinguished as founding fathers of their hometown’s rich and influential musical history. Citing the differences in their reputations, however, one could accurately describe the Hamilton, Ontario, natives’ recent collaboration as surprising. Wilson is known as the notorious party animal behind several critically acclaimed roots-rock projects including Junkhouse […]