“Man, he’s amazing,” says New Jersey producer Mr. Green (AKA Aaron Green) about 19-year-old Californian rapper All Flows Reach Out, or A-F-R-O. Green is just one of the many rappers and rap fans calling the MC (AKA James Gutierrez) the next big thing in contemporary hip-hop. And this Friday, A-F-R-O will make his first-ever Canadian […]
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Frank Turner sings from the Olympics to a marathon tour
Frank Turner is making coffee. The British singer-songwriter, who performed in London’s 2012 Olympic opening ceremony, needs a caffeine fix before discussing his upcoming North American tour—kicking off Thursday in Halifax at The Marquee Ballroom. The sound of liquid pouring is audible over the phone from Germany, where he’s got a show to promote his […]
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Blue Rodeo and the CanRock of ages
For 30 years, Blue Rodeo has been cranking out the classic rock-country jams. Just last October, to go along with more than a dozen studio albums, the band released the 14-track Live at Massey Hall to honour its legacy. And the band is still going. “We were even rehearsing a new record before we left […]
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The local roots of Canadian jazz
Canada’s rich black heritage and music history are closely linked, and today’s jazz fans have benefited from that strong union of culture and art. Jazz may have been born in New Orleans around the end of the 19th century, but it didn’t take too long before it grew up and headed north, to other US […]
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The music world is waking up to Halifax’s Nap Eyes
Nigel Chapman is a shy man. Onstage, with his band Nap Eyes, he’s reserved. He looks down at his guitar and sings with his eyes closed. He’ll nervously adjust his glasses or push his blond hair aside. He’s gracious for the attention and he thanks the audience and his bandmates repeatedly. In between songs, when […]
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A look inside Skratch Bastid’s studio
Last week, Halifax-bred, Toronto-based DJ Skratch Bastid (AKA Paul Murphy) released a filmed remix of David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance” on the morning after the rock star’s death. In just a few days, the video had been viewed and shared over 11 million times on Bastid’s Facebook page. This Saturday, Skratch Bastid returns to The Marquee […]
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Dive into Open Waters
“There the jazz archipelago and the classical archipelago. They can be traversed, it’s not impassable, there’s no barriers between them, except maybe distance,” says Lukas Pearse, the artistic director of this year’s Open Waters Festival. From Thursday to Sunday, Upstream Music will collaborate with Symphony Nova Scotia, SuddenlyListen and more for 14 extraordinary music events. […]
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Adria’s Top Ten Vines of 2015
2015 was the year of the Vine, the social media/video sharing app on which users can upload seven to ten second clips of footage, most often of random blunders from their cellphones, and loop them into eternity. Vines are a particular Internet phenomenon; the content ranges from wipe-outs to sport clips to news bloopers, traffic […]
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Measha Brueggergosman celebrates Christmas in Halifax
It’s coming on the holidays, and while some are putting up reindeers, others are planning a quick last-minute trip to Norway and touring the Maritimes with a preschooler and infant in tow. Though she’s touring her Christmas album (named, simply enough, Christmas), opera and classical singer Measha Brueggergosman says, “I’m not a big Christmassy person, […]
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Triple treat
From Thursday to Saturday, Live Art Dance is bringing together several forms of art for very special performances. One set will be performed by the Montreal-based Canadian-Swedish dance duo Tentacle Tribe, choreographed to reflect contemporary dance and modern hip-hop. The opening set will be a unique collaboration between Halifax MC Ghettosocks, Toronto rapper NiLLa and […]
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Come celebrate Joe Murphy’s big blues anniversary
“People are saying it’s the longest-running blues matinee in the world,” says Joe Murphy. “I’m not making that claim, it’s kind of a joke, but it has been over 25 years and it is an achievement.” On Saturday afternoon, just like every Saturday afternoon for the last two-and-a-half decades, Joe Murphy & The Water […]