Cultural Festivals

Timber Timbre’s music is the kind of moody indie-rock often called “gloomy,” “atmospheric,” “evil,” even, kind of stuff that blows across the streets of New Orleans, scores haunted houses and churches the world over. But the band’s fifth album, Hot Dreams (out April 1), was created in a pair of unlikely places–written in sunny California, […]

Kathleen Edwards is on a break. After more than a decade of worldwide touring, four full-lengths, 11 Juno nominations, one Polaris Prize gala hosting gig and a pair of Letterman appearances, she’s back in her hometown of Ottawa with a new house and a new dog and no new songs. “I’ve been in that constant […]

“I just wanted to amp it up,” says Dana Beeler. “I was tired of being nice.” Beeler is referring to a recent shift from her country and bluegrass beginnings to an edgier sound. Beeler’s roots are country-fried, having played bluegrass with her family and releasing the twangy debut full-length The Long Goodbye in 2012. But […]

“They think it’s the place in Germany,” says Elias Abi Daoud, leader of Ostrea Lake, of when people say his band’s name aloud. Really it’s the road he grew up on in the decidedly more rural Musquodoboit Harbour, between Porters Lake and Lake Charlotte. But his baritone ukulele-based, harmony-grazed pastoral folk songs do have their […]

Over the phone from Sackville, NB, Simone Schmidt says that she’s “feeling good, just relaxing in a room that isn’t” hers. The Toronto-based singer is referring to her disposition during some downtime on tour, but the offhand comment functions just as well as a more symbolic statement; an inferred reference to Virginia Woolf’s feminist text […]

Nothing warms the body and soul like music. Put a cork in your winter whining and join the rest of the lovely neighbourhood at IDOW, January 23-25, a three-day festival of soft, loud, uplifting, heartbreaking and soul-exploding sounds from our cover star Tanya Tagaq, as well as Kathleen Edwards, Dana Beeler, Timber Timbre, Fiver, Ostrea […]