Dear Listener, I think you and Sarah MacDougall should have a talk. Soon! Sarah MacDougall has a lot on her mind, and confidentially, you should listen. Something is erupting. There is a hush to her voice that reassures you that she has control of her ideas — but there’s also a tremulous quality that makes [...]
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Dear Mother Maple: I love song circles. But I get serious nerves when it comes around to me to lead. Can’t I just be the side-guy and pass my turn? Bill Wyman Wannabe Dear Bill: There’s nothing wrong with being a sidewoman or sideman. Elvis had Scotty Moore and James Burton; Johnny Cash had Luther [...]
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They’ve only been around since 2008, but New Country Rehab has buzz worthy of a veteran band. And this outfit deserves notice! It’s no surprise, as the musicians that contribute to this unique ensemble are all known quantities. Fiddler, lyricist and vocalist John Showman is a multi-award winning veteran of The Creaking Tree String Quartet, [...]
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My first exposure to Leon Russell was hearing his 1970 self-titled debut, when he was but 28. Everything was just right – from the quality of his songwriting (beginning, as it did, with “A Song For You”) to his slurred Tulsa drawl and up-front, rollicking piano-playing. Country, blues and rock – it was all here, [...]
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Steve Bell is an anomaly. At a time when some festivals are downplaying the faith component of folk music, (amid suggestions that gospel workshops should become ecumenical), Bell is comfortably Christian. He’s a man of faith who lives what he believes, in his work and in his life, yet without being preachy or pedantic. Steve [...]
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Dear Mother Maple: I was at a music festival recently when a light rain began to fall. There was a young couple next to me, and we’d been chatting back and forth most of the day. When the rain started, they opened up a HUGE umbrella to keep themselves dry. Unfortunately, the umbrella began to [...]
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Maybe it was a lucky star. Or maybe it’s just talent meeting opportunity. Either way, PEI singer-songwriter Meaghan Blanchard has experienced more notoriety and exposure than many of her early twenty-something musical peers will experience in a career. It began with the gift of having good looks, ginger locks and a sweet personality in a [...]
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Dear Mother Maple: I was playing a wedding reception (favour for a friend) with a band of friends the other weekend. As we took a break, the MC for the wedding got up and plugged a laptop into the PA for dance music. Then he started moving our gear around. My question is this: how [...]
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A son of Thunder Bay, Rodney Brown has built a career singing roots, rock, reggae, and kids songs, exploring sounds and recording albums that reflect each phase in turn. But when he began to explore the history of his hometown, the onetime Fort William, Rodney Brown found the “one warm line” that moves through Canadian [...]
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