Zoom with Shawn Kellerman – Chocolate Cake
In 2019, when the world was a different place, I attended a Kingston Blues Society show at the RCHA Club in which Shawn Kellerman played with Jerome Godboo and his band. I had seen Jerome a few times and had ...
Shane Cook and the Woodchippers – Be Here for a ...
This is definitely not your grandpa’s fiddle record. Shane Cook, with three of his very talented friends, has put together a magnificent selection of tunes on this CD, all superbly composed, arranged and played. Listening to Shane’s playing on this ...
The McDades – The Empress
For those unfamiliar with the McDades, they are an immensely talented Celtic-rooted group out of Edmonton consisting of three siblings: Shannon Johnson (violin and vocals), Solon McDade (bass and vocals) and Jeremiah McDade (whistles, bansuri, saxophones, guitar and vocals). They ...
David Wiffen – Live at the Bunkhouse
According to their website, Mapache Records is a “Barcelona-based record label that reissues long-time lost albums that blow your mind.” I can’t vouch for the mind-blowing quality of their entire catalogue but one recent reissue of real interest to Canadian ...
John Wort Hannam – Long Haul
Alberta singer-songwriter John Wort Hannam has just released his eighth album called Long Haul. Over the years, accolades for John have included a Juno Award nomination, a Canadian Folk Music Award for Contemporary Album of the Year, and a Kerrville ...
Jane Mathew – Such Perfect Lives
Toronto singer-songwriter Jane Mathew released her debut album, Such Perfect Lives, today, and what a stunning beginning it is, leaving us looking forward to what comes next. Jane was born in Oman and moved to Thornhill, ON when she was ...
Finny McConnell (the Mahones) – The Dark Secrets of Love
After 30 glorious years of leading world-renowned Celtic punk rockers The Mahones—who have shared stages Shane MacGowan (The Pogues), Stiff Little Fingers, Billy Bragg, The Buzzcocks, Sinead O’Connor, and The Damned—Finny McConnell decided that it was time to make an ...
Pride Month: k.d. lang – Makeover
I got a package in the mail this week from an old colleague of mine, Michael Benton (nee Krahn). If you lived in Victoria in the early to mid-90s, you might remember Michael as the tall, lanky brunette who ...
The Tragically Hip – Saskadelphia; why roots fans make ...
The Tragically Hip have never fitted into a roots music genre. Their guitar-driven rock sound generally has always hugged the centre-line of the rock ‘n roll highway. The nightly cover of “Train Kept-a Rollin’” – frequently introduced as “a song ...
Pete’s Posse – Ya Know, Ya Never Know
It’s epic. Not only do we have a two disc set from the Posse here, but a newly minted Canadian too. Dyed in the wool Vermonter Tristan Henderson, married his Québecoise sweetheart and moved to Montreal last year (yes they ...