Sink into winter Saturday afternoon with a look behind the scenes of one of 2018’s best local albums, Erin Costelo‘s Sweet Marie. Directed by Newfoundland songwriter/legend Amelia Curran, it covers the 10 days Costelo and her band spent in a very nice rural Nova Scotia house. “I imagine it’s what the Desperate Houseiwives of Atlanta […]
Amelia Curran
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Ten ways to have a wheely great weekend
10 My Week On Welfare screening Thursday Filmmaker (and former welfare recipient) Jackie Torrens chronicles the stories of several welfare recipients and their struggles in this powerful documentary. 9 PACO ride Sunday A leisurely five kilometre bike ride around downtown Dartmouth followed by a BYOT (bring your own toppings) pizza party at the Park Avenue […]
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Ryan Hemsworth & Hey Rosetta! lead ECMA noms
This morning in Sydney, Nova Scotia, the nominees for the 2016 East Coast Music Awards were announced to recognize the best in Atlantic music and the music industry this year: Newfoundland’s Hey Rosetta! leads with seven nominations, while Halifax honey Jenn Grant received six, as songwriter Mo Kenney and world-star producer Ryan Hemsworth each received four. Taking place from […]
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Have Mercy
There’s a sense of triumph in Amelia Curran’s epic release, They Promised You Mercy (Six Shooter Records). She revels in maturity and grace November 12 at the Rebecca Cohn with a full band, and fierce heart. “It’s one of the only records I’ve had to make once,” says Curran. “I’ve had to make previous albums […]
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Dawson City Makes You Pretty
chartattack.com The teeny Yukon hamlet of Dawson City seems like one of those places that is basically perfect in every way if you can handle a bit of chilliness and can somehow get your ass out there. The Dawson City Music Festival in particular has made a name for itself by hosting consistently strong and […]
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Year in review: power of 10
Rather than write a comprehensive breakdown of what happened in Halifax music, I decided to talk about the things that are still resonating with me after a year of frenzied and often incoherent music bloggery. See you jerks in 2011. Amelia Curran: I really love that Amelia Curran is now a Juno-winner and a Polaris […]
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Amelia Curran Plays for the Queen
pip pip etc As previously mentioned, Amelia Curran will be most definitely playing at a garden party for the Queen on Canada Day at Rideau Hall in Ottawa. She’ll then join K-OS, Malajube and Digawolf for the afternoon CBC Singer-Songwriter Circle at Major’s Hill Park, followed by an evening solo performance on the Canada Day […]
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Amelia Curran and Meaghan Smith make Polaris longlist
Amelia Curran These two fantastic singer-songwriters can start dreaming about how to spend a giant bag of cash. Amelia Curran‘s Hunter Hunter and Meaghan Smith‘s The Cricket’s Orchestra impressed critics enough to get them nominated to the long list for the Polaris Prize. And that ain’t no easy task: as a juror, I’m on the […]
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They Did It
wooooooot! We are ecstatic to report that last night Amelia Curran took home the Roots and Traditional Recording of the Year statuette for Hunter Hunter, while Joel Plaskett captured Adult Alternative Recording of the Year for Three at the Junos award ceremony in St. John’s. We think it’s particularly sweet that Curran was awarded her […]
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Peanut Butter Juno-Time
photo by the lovely Julé Malet-Veale The Juno nominations were announced this morning, and although the list features the usual suspects (Nickleblegh, Billy Talent, Michael Bublé and yes, despite the fact I quite like him, Joel Plaskett is ubiquitous enough at these award ceremonies that he, too counts as a usual suspect) there are some […]
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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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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 […]