In the summer of 2000, Evan Brown waited in line at the Charlottetown Civic Centre with locals eager to shake then-prime minister Jean Chrétien’s hand. But Brown had other plans up his sleeve. Actually, he had a paper plate of whipped cream in his jacket, which he deftly delivered to the PM’s face. The act […]
Jaime Forsythe
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Blue Moons and Waiting Rooms
As the audience at The Bus Stop Theatre finds its seats, Marta (Claire Seringhaus) paces back and forth across the stage, twisting her hair and checking her cell phone. By the time Kristin Slaney’s Blue Moons and Waiting Rooms begins, a taut atmosphere of waiting has already been established. Characters wait for minds to be […]
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The Soul Rebels
Lumar Leblanc, one of the founding members of The Soul Rebels, is just as pleasant on the phone as you’d expect from his band’s upbeat performances. He’s relaxed and in no rush, despite the fact that he’s calling from a van in the middle of a packed tour, and entirely unfazed when our connection gets […]
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Alejandra Ribera
Onstage, Alejandra Ribera is fierce and focused, her giant voice overtaking whatever room she is in. So it’s surprising to hear that Ribera gets nervous, saying a prayer and removing her shoes before she performs, worried her shaking will cause her to fall over. “I don’t remember performances,” she says. “I sort of black out […]
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My Brightest Diamond
Shara Worden has no shortage of musical training. A multi instrumentalist as a child, Worden went on to study opera at the University of North Texas. However, it was when she branched out from her formal studies, learning to play guitar and penning lyrics, that her career began to blossom. “Doing classical music in my […]
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Steve Reich’s 2×5
Percussionist Mark Adam has had a career-long relationship with experimental American composer Steve Reich’s work. When Adam wanted to assemble a crew to start rehearsing Reich’s 2008 piece, 2×5, in his Wolfville barn studio, it wasn’t hard to find other musicians who were equally excited about the project. “It sounded too fun to pass up,” […]
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Kestrels make History
Two of the first albums Chad Peck owned were Hayden’s Everything I Long For and Ash’s 1977. Fourteen-year-old Peck’s mind might have been a little bit blown if he’d been able to predict how these early purchases would connect to his own band, Kestrels, in adulthood. First, Kestrels’ second full-length, A Ghost History, was just […]
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Tales of Old and Weird
Quality over quantity, a great sense of humour and a relaxed sense of joy in Old and Weird’s music leaves us breathlessly waiting for its upcoming tape. The four members of Old and Weird began as co-workers, classmates and friends who had between them a new drum kit, a sister’s borrowed bass, guitar skills and […]
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Safe as Milks & Rectangles
In order to complete their debut album, Charlottetown indie rockers Milks & Rectangles had to navigate a musical long-distance relationship. Guitarist and organist Justin Uyterlinde, who grew up on a farm, was training to become a large animal veterinarian. Bassist Brandon Williams was fulfilling his dream of joining the Coast Guard, studying in Cape Breton […]
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Dream boys
It’s not surprising that the eerie, instrumental title track kicking off PS I Love You’s Death Dreams comes from a real dream, dreamt by Paul Saulnier last year while on tour with Diamond Rings. A night off in New Orleans during Mardi Gras set the stage for a spooky slumber. “In my dream, there was […]
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Missin’ Cousins
Symptoms of Cousins withdrawal include: listening to The Palm at the End of the Mind on a loop while poring over the Wallace Stevens poem “Of Mere Being” that provides the album’s title, looking for possible clues and connections. Catching yourself singing the words to “Khyber” and “Secret Weapon” at the checkout or in your […]
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Nashville Pussy power
Atlanta, Georgia-based rockers Nashville Pussy are known for their songs about getting drunk, getting high and having sex, not to mention their raucous, boozy live shows, but that doesn’t mean touring is all crazy, all the time. “It’s pretty boring,” says guitarist and vocalist Blaine Cartwright, on the phone from Oshawa. “We’re all crammed into […]