The sweet-voiced, 24-year-old Musgraves has caused a lot of Stetson-clutching down in Nashville for singing about same-sex relationships, pot and poking fun at the mobile home lifestyle. (She also co-wrote the Juliette Barnes jam “Undermine,” from Nashville.) Toss out the novelty banjo songs and Same Trailer Different Park reveals a contemporary southern woman who goes […]
Tara Thorne
Posted inArts + Music
The Joy Formidable
This British trio plays what can only be called “meat and potatoes rock,” a straight-up guitar band with an absolute firecracker of a singer in Ritzy Bryan. Her bleached-blonde bangs and wild eyes make The Joy Formidable a leading live show, but its fierce, frenetic energy translates just fine on its second full-length. The mood […]
Posted inArts + Music
Cousins’ duo tone
“I sort of feel like we’re walking up a hill, and then soon we’re going to be able to peek over the top of it,” says Aaron Mangle, half of Cousins. “And not be there, but we’ll at least be able to see what’s up there. That’s my goal right now—soon we’ll get a glimpse. […]
Posted inNews + Opinion
The people who made us
Hannah Thomson photographer 1995-99 I shot my first cover for The Coast in 1995. And then worked steadily for the next four years. But before I started, I was fresh out of school and I had no idea what I was going to do with my life career-wise. I was feeling lost and waiting tables. […]
Posted inArts + Music
100K for Smith’s family
“I don’t really know where to start,” said a weary Matt Mays, eyes black with liner, near the end of his set Sunday night in the Schooner Room. Moments later he gently drifted into “Chase the Light,” from Coyote, which became a singalong, complete with a dozen lighters rising above the sold-out crowd: “Into the […]
Posted inBest of Halifax
Seeking women
In 2007, I e-solicted a quote from Jill Barber, telling her she’d won Best Solo Artist in the Best of Music poll. She said the usual things about feeling supported, then added she was glad we no longer had outdated gender-specific categories. I replied that unfortunately we did still have separate slots, but left out […]
Posted inBest of Halifax
Best Folk Artist / Band
It’s been a busy year for Willie Stratton, the nice boy from Bedford who spends his nights screaming and strumming through his frenetic, throwback folk songs. He released an EP, The River, captivated a ballroom at Music Week, stomped through the stage at The Company House during HPX and averaged two shows a week. “I’m […]
Posted inArts + Music
Synth city
Nostalgia and love go hand in hand, so it’s with extra feelings that we’re rejoicing this week in the just-announced reunion of The Postal Service. Give Up, the 2003 collaboration between Death Cab for Cutie’s Ben Gibbard and Dntel’s Jimmy Tamborello, was a surprise platinum record for Sub Pop (its best-selling after Bleach, ffs), an […]
Posted inArts + Music
Keeping honest
“I’m really superstitious,” says Jennah Barry. “If some little weird thing is going on in the day or someone walks downstairs or if I’m around someone, or I’m around the wrong person, I’ll stop. Solo, alone. Because that’s important to me—if I can’t play the songs solo I won’t be comfortable playing them at all.” […]
Posted inArts + Music
Genre bender
When he was a teenager, Nick Everett dropped out of high school in London, Ontario, headed to the highway and stuck his thumb out. He wanted a job on a boat, and Halifax was a natural stop on that quest. “I got out here and didn’t find a job easily,” he says. “I also didn’t try very […]
Posted inArts + Music
Critics’ picks: music
Adria Young Coast writer since 2012 Adria Young, unofficial president of the imaginary Shotgun Jimmie Fan Club, is counting the days until Jimmie’s next album and *Come Cry with Me* by Daniel Romano. Sloan, Twice Removed Deluxe Edition (sloanmusic.com) By the second album of its career, Sloan achieved indie-rock pop perfection. A reissued vinyl box […]
