There’s no reason to panic about getting anyone a Christmas gift this year: Halifax (already) has something for every music fan in 2019. All tickets are handily on sale this Friday, December 14, in time for you to get a nice card to go with them. Perhaps your in-laws don’t enjoy live music, but they […]
ria mae
Posted inBest of Halifax
Best Live Show In The Past Year
Gold Winner Ria Mae with Symphony NS Silver Winner The Mellotones 20th Anniversary at The Marquee Bronze Winner Feist at the Cohen For all of the awe and wonder hearing pop songs interpreted by an orchestra can serve up—and Symphony Nova Scotia has been offering those experiences for years—there was something particularly spectacular about concertmaster […]
Posted inArts + Music
ECMA nominees announced
The 2018 East Coast Music Award nominations were announced this morning at Paul O’Regan Hall, featuring performances by Daniel Walker aka Owen Meany’s Batting Stance and country teen phenom Makayla Lynn, who had to reschedule a math exam to make it. (Also announced: The Trailer Park Boys’ new bar, in the old Seahorse space, will be […]
Posted inArts + Music
Ria Mae talks My Love
Halifax’s favourite pop star Ria Mae is fresh off a gold record (and two Best of Halifax golds!) for her major-label debut, but now is no time for slowing down. Her new EP My Love drops today, featuring six songs (plus a remix of “Bend”) co-written with a slate of CanCon stars like herself. On […]
Posted inArts + Music
Twelve wild ways to spend St. Patrick’s weekend
As always, click each event title for full details, and happy weekend-ing! 12 The King’s Chorus Chichester Psalms Sunday A rare chance to hear Leonard Bernstein’s 1965 classic live. 11 Saint Paddy’s Dance Friday A totally twee way to be Irish for a day? Celebrate at an old-fashioned community dance. 10 St. Patrick’s Day Mega-Puketacular […]
Posted inArts + Music
GroundSwell Music Festival hits the ground running
GroundSwell Music Festival Mar 16-18 Various times and locations (see listings below) The stars have aligned for this year’s GroundSwell Music Festival. Celtic-tinged rock landing on St. Patrick’s weekend? It’s too perfect. With three nights of big ticket shows and lots of genres on offer (from Ria Mae’s power-pop to roots music from Rawlins Cross), […]
Posted inArts + Music
The pop life of Ria Mae, from shy radio listener to hit singer
“Do you like this song?” Ria Mae turns up the radio in her car. She repeats the pattern at least a half-dozen times through the next couple hours: Breaking off from what she’s saying, asking that question, turning it up, stating a fact about the song, then respectfully returning it to just-audible. “I’ve always been […]
Posted inArts + Music
Halifax artists among the 2016 Juno nominees
First awarded in 1970, the Juno Awards are the Canadian Grammys, a marker of musical achievement based on sales, radio play and popularity in national and international markets. Usually, the Junos represent the best in Canadian music. And this year, more than in the last decade, some of the largest artists in the whole damn world […]
Posted inBest of Halifax
Best Female Solo Artist
Gold Winner Mo Kenney Silver Winner Kim Harris Bronze Winner Ria Mae The last few years have been good to Mo Kenney. Her latest album, In Dreams, is taking her all over Europe and she’s into it. “I like touring in the fall,” she says, “it saves me money on my heat bill.” When she […]
Posted inBest of Halifax
Best Pop Artist / Band
Gold Winner Ria Mae Silver Winner Mo Kenney Bronze Winner Rich Aucoin “It’s a great feeling to watch the first single from my upcoming album keep climbing on Billboard and Much,” says Ria Mae, the natural born pop-star whose song “Clothes Off” has gotten lots of play on the airwaves, as well. “As time passes, […]
Posted inBest of Halifax
Best Pop Artist / Band
Gold Winner Take Part Silver Winner Jenn Grant Bronze Winner Ria Mae Take Part thanks you sincerely. But don’t get a big head, Take Part also thanks Tom Hanks. “We would like to thank Tom Hanks for having such a handsome smile–have you seen The Da Vinci Code? That movie had like four twists, just […]
Posted inArts + Music
Talk of the town
Please, let’s just kill the stereotype. Dash all thoughts from your mind of a lobster in a sou’ester playing a fiddle tune about a haunted bowl of chowder. East coast music—a world of styles beyond the tourist-friendly jigs and reels—has more than paid its dues, so let’s move onwards and upwards. In honour of East […]