Funswick Slate Pacific makes waves Fredericton’s Slate Pacific found shelter in creating their latest musical harbour, the EP Safe Passage. It’s “the idea that everything ends up OK,” says guitarist/vocalist Logan Hawkes. “That there’s a perpetual connection, responsibility even, between the living and the dead—the dead and the dying. The title was meant to be […]
Shannon Webb-Campbell
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Olympic medal music
Athletes train their entire lives to compete in the Olympics. While local musicians may not have the same sort of extensive physical training, they certainly have to make sure they are in shape to make the 6,148-kilometre stretch between Halifax and Vancouver. Instead of hopping on a plane, Jenn Grant and company—Kinley Dowling, Sean MacGillivray, […]
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Festival Express IDOW Round Up
All good things must come to an end. The closing evening of In the Dead of Winter is always a touch bittersweet. After many late nights spent listening on minimal sleep, socializing, eating sporadic meals and perhaps drinking a little too much to drink for a Wednesday, everyone seems burnt out from festival exhaustion. With […]
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In the Dead of Winter’s Musical Feast
Tanya Davis, Don Brownrigg, Amelia Curran, Justin Rutledge, Dinah Thorpe, Catherin MacLellan, Jim Bryson, Gianna Lauren
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Melissa McClelland enchants IDOW festival
Melissa McClelland “I’ve never played in a church,” says Carmen Townsend, with her bright red shaggy bangs falling in her face. The Cape Bretoner is all charm. Her vocal play is reminiscent of Rebekah Higgs meets Jenn Grant, but her sound is entirely her own. Townsend takes listeners on a journey through the tumbling acrobats […]
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Good Lovelies and Rose Cousins warm hearts at IDOW
Natasha Peach In the Dead of Winter may be in its fifth year, but it hasn’t strayed far from the original vision once held in the legendary Khyber Club. As a Halifax-based festival, IDOW’s mission is to showcase up and coming local artists. Natasha Peach is merely one of the many songwriters featured this year. […]
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Four winter stars
Gianna Lauren Gianna Lauren is made for winter, or so she says. “Months’ worth of armchair time, reading and drinking tea,” she says. “The winter season forces you to relax and get creative with yourself.” On her album Fist Through a Heart, Lauren is a bit of a mystery. She’s part wallflower, part rocker, all […]
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In the Dead of Winter Celebrates Fifth Anniversary
Musical matrimony Luke and Melissa As I wandered down the balmy streets of Halifax this afternoon to I bumped into Tim Crabtree, mastermind behind Paper Beat Scissors, who was heading home for a bite to eat before his show later at the Bus Stop Theatre. We stopped and chatted, noting the unusually warm winter’s day […]
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At the heart of Tegan and Sara
Sometimes relationships inspire us to be saint-like, martyrs even. Tegan and Sara’s sixth release, Sainthood, explores the tension between who we are and how we long to be. They bring their piety to the Metro Centre on January 27. “In relationships we act with blind faith,” says Sara Quin, calling from Vancouver. “We can really […]
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Corbett’s in good company
“My tunes are my way of processing,” says Kev Corbett. “I write audio songs. I work out the world by talking in my head. Music is my first language.” As a natural storyteller, Corbett brings listeners on quite the journey with his narrative-driven songs. Despite having a soft release at the Lunenburg Folk Festival, he’s […]
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Andrea Somers’ Brave heart
Patience is a virtue, especially when it takes almost half a decade to finish what you’ve started. Andrea Somers kicks off the New Year with a bold statement: Brave, her debut solo album, is being released at The Seahorse Tavern on January 2. While the album artwork (photographed by Karen Baer) portrays the artist draped […]
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Holiday Fiction: Home is where the savoury is
As a little girl, I was convinced my Nan should marry Burl Ives. Never mind her on-again, off-again relationship with Poppy (if you ask her, they are divorced; if you ask him, they’re still married): I believed Burl was the man for her. Every Christmas Eve growing up we’d all pile into the car and […]