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Open Waters music festival swims against the mainstream

Performances feature both local artists and those from abroad

Open Waters Festival 2017 January 6-10 Sir James Dunn Theatre, The Company House $10-$25 at Dal Box Office Festival passes $55-$60

By Rebecca Dingwell Jan 5, 2017

Music Upstream Music Association Sir James Dunn Theatre The Company House

Chinese Festival Halifax announces inaugural lineup

New event showcasing Chinese culture runs September 8-22.

Halifax's first-ever Chinese Festival will kick off Saturday September 9 with a big event at the Rebecca Cohn and end with a free waterfront extravaganza on the 22nd, it was announced on Wednesday.

By Tara Thorne Aug 24, 2018

Chinese Festival Halifax

SappyFest is a small, sweet world

The 11th annual weekend of "swamp magic," in Sackville, NB.

Rolling into SappyFest on Friday afternoon, my heart swelled.

By Ashley Corbett Aug 1, 2016

SappyFest Sackville New Brunswick Music Summer

Six degrees of Nile Rodgers

The legendary producer and Chic guitarist has had a hand in countless songs and albums; here are just a few reasons you should know his name.

1. CHIC  Nile Rodgers and and bassist Bernard Edwards co-founded the badass, funked up disco band in the mid-‘70s, giving music-lovers timeless dance hits like Grammy hall-of-famer “Le Freak” and the oft-sampled (see: “Rapper’s Delight”) “Good Times.” Chic remains a relevant fixture, releasing its latest in 2015, and has been heralded as one of the most sampled bands in the world.

By Allison Saunders Jul 14, 2016

Jazz Festt Jazz Fest Main Stage

It’s the summer of Reeny Smith

The local R&B sensation takes it to the next level.

Reeny Smith has a secret and she doesn't want to share.

By Morgan Mullin Jul 14, 2016

Reeny Smith Halifax Jazz Festival halifax HSG16 summer jazz The Company House

Colin Stetson and Sarah Neufeld

A momentous indie instrumental duo.

Colin Stetson, saxophonist and multi-reedist, and Sarah Neufeld, violinist, are bringing their dreamy instrumental duet album, The Sun Roars Into View, to St. Matthew's Church on Saturday.

By Ashley Corbett Jul 14, 2016

The up-and-coming Keonté Beals

Local, youthful R&B

Keonté Beals is a North Preston native with an angelic voice and a knack for R&B. This year, at age 19, Beals received the 2016 Rising Star Award from the African Nova Scotian Music Association.

By Ashley Corbett Jul 14, 2016

Thundercat’s bass progression

The Kendrick collaborator isn’t stuck in the rhythm section.

Stephen Bruner has had a love for the bass for as long as he can remember.

By Brennan McCracken Jul 14, 2016

Thundercat Halifax Jazz Festival halifax HSG16 summer jazz Jazz Fest Main Stage

Adam Baldwin’s rock revelation

“I don’t think that anything in 30 years has changed at all.”

On a recent Thursday night at a sold-out Seahorse Tavern, Dartmouth native Adam Baldwin began an earnest serenade to the throng of fans before him.

By Morgan Mullin Jul 7, 2016

Halifax Jazz Festival Metric Adam Baldwin Jazz Fest Main Stage Video

Partner is aiming high

With loud, queer rock from Sackville, NB.

Partner's core women are inspired by lesbian female icons (or dykons, as they call them), and artists who don't restrict themselves.

By Ashley Corbett Jul 7, 2016

Gridlock Festival Partner Video

American Football's long road to stardom

Accidental fame sparks an emo reunion.

The first time Steve Lamos found out his college band, American Football, was popular was about 15 years after its album was released.

By Ashley Corbett Jul 7, 2016

American Football Gridlock Festival

Wintersleep comes home

Halifax’s treasured indie-rock band returns for Gridlock Festival with a hot album.

Wintersleep is back, with a new album that's proving to be its most popular release yet.

By Ashley Corbett Jul 7, 2016

Gridlock Festival wintersleep

James Ehnes wants to play for you

The violin virtuoso’s 40th birthday present is a national tour.

James Ehnes' virtuosic talent feels like a force of nature.

By Brennan McCracken May 26, 2016

Sir James Dunn Theatre

Welcome to OBEY Convention

“We’re interested in pushing human consciousness.”

In 2007, OBEY Convention started “as a small happening aimed at celebrating weird and sometimes subversive music,” says founder and organizer Darcy Spidle. “From day one, it caught on.” In the last eight years, intimate meetings of contemporary art and music have grown to epic proportions.

By Adria Young May 26, 2016

Obey Convention Art In Fest arts and culture

Check out Alienation bringing punk to the library

Dartmouth's hardcore band is focused on frustration.

Libraries are usually quiet spaces for reading, but Dartmouth hardcore band Alienation will blow the books off the shelves for an all-ages show on Friday at the Memorial North Library with their loud, fast D-beat punk. “The location is funny,” says vocalist and author Dylan Jewers.

By Adria Young May 26, 2016

Alienation Obey Convention arts and culture Halifax North Memorial Public Library

Mykki Blanco, Coast cover grrl

The activist underground hip-hop star changes everything.

In contemporary art and culture, we are constantly striving to challenge and renegotiate accepted conventions and expectations. But Mykki Blanco, the Orange County rapper, poet, activist and actor—also queer, non-binary, HIV-positive and influenced by Riot Grrls—is the supreme being of artistic change in 2016.

By Adria Young May 26, 2016

Obey Convention Mykki Blanco arts and culture The Marquee Ballroom