Great Lake Swimmers – The Waves, The Wake (acoustic)
In 2018, Canadian folk-rock band Great Lake Swimmers released their seventh studio album, The Waves, The Wake. The record constituted a significant pivot for the band because Tony Dekker decided to abandon his typical instrument of choice when it came ...
The Pairs – Noise
Apparently 2020 is the year of the rat, but in my opinion, it’ll turn out to be the year of the pair. The Pairs to be exact. If you haven’t already heard of the band, I expect you will be ...
The Rheostatics – Here Come the Wolves
The Rheostatics released their first album in 15 years last September on Six Shooter Records, and it’s a masterpiece of Canadian art that should be included in any serious Canadian music fan’s collection. By the third track, I was hooked on ...
John Borra – Blue Wine
Alt-country troubadour and stalwart of Toronto’s music scene John Borra (Rattlesnake Choir, Change of Heart, A Neon Rome) is set to release his first solo album in nearly 20 years on Jan. 31. Unfortunately, I’ve only ever seen John perform ...
Babineau-Chartrand: Un Beau P’tit Son
Alexis Chartrand and Nicolas Babineau have so much music in them that they pretty much had no choice but to produce a new CD hot on the heels of their 2017 tour de force, Gigues à 2 Faces. This year’s ...
Wide Mouth Mason – I Wanna Go With You: New ...
Deciduously speaking, when our cellular apprehensions fall into a preoccupation with the approach of winter, the inner sap of our collective spirit traditionally goes to ground, seeking the comfort of the roots, and we divest ourselves of our exterior colours ...
Leonard Cohen – Thanks for the Dance
Mike Regenstreif has written about folk music since the 1970s for Sing Out, the Montreal Gazette and other outlets. He reviews new albums on his blog at frfb.blogspot.com. We’re super thrilled that he shared with us his review of the ...
É.T.É. – Le Boire Des Minuits
I recently revisited this CD, one of the loveliest things I received in the last year. Le Boire Des Minuits (the midnight drink) is definitely worth repeated listening. É.T.É. is a trio of young people from Québec: Élisabeth Moquin (fiddle, ...
Dave Gunning – Up Against the Sky (vinyl)
While I’d heard of award-winning Canadian folk singer-songwriter Dave Gunning, I’d yet to see him live. Thankfully, a trip to the 2017 Kingsville Folk Music Festival in Kingsville, ON would make things right. My wife and I were fortunate enough ...
Emily Triggs – Middletown
“All I need is a little fire,” sings Alberta songwriter Emily Triggs in the opening line of her sophomore solo release, Middletown. And that’s exactly what she delivers in this multi-layered ten-song collection of musings about love, longing, and loss. ...