RBC Bluesfest announces long anticipated 25th Anniversary Lineup!
Alright Ottawa, time to let out a unified breathe of relief. After a few extra weeks, a couple of false leads and a whole lot of speculation, your RBC Bluesfest line-up has finally dropped.
Altameda: New Treads, Old Ground, Fresh Roads
To purloin a few lines from The Boss, when it comes to ye olde romance “it ought to be easy / ought to be simple enough / man meets woman and they fall in love.” It’s a tale as old as time, true as it can be.
From New Jersey to The Great White North, Burning Down the Road with The Last of the Duke Street Kings
“…when you realize how they tricked you this time / And it’s all lies but I’m strung out on the wire, in these / Streets of fire!” A stunned 16-year-old rose on wobbly legs, still awestruck by a performance that grabbed him, shook him loose and kept a steady strangle hold on his rock and […]
Talkin’ Jazz with Steve Berndt
If you’ve been out to an O-town festival or caught some live music at one of the clubs, chances are you’ve seen Steve Berndt perform. The man gets around. From swinging performances with soul sensations The Commotions, bopping beats and jumpin’ blues with The Jivewires, to smaller trio tributes to Tom Waits, Berndt and his […]
Amanda Rheaume’s Getting Comfortable with The Skin She’s In
What singer-songwriter Amanda Rheaume was trying to convey in her 5th release is all there in the title. The Skin I’m In finds the musician in that kind of comfort zone we all aspire to cradle ourselves within, that warm place where you’re just peachy being you.
The Team Behind Bluesfest Announces New Festival in Conjunction with Winterlude
RBC Bluesfest organizers announced yesterday that they will launch the inaugural ‘Come See & Hear the World’ festival during this year’s Winterlude event. The festival will take place on February 15 and 16 and will focus on celebrating Canadian diversity through music. Featured artists include William Prince, Gabrielle Shonk, Tanya Tagaq, Antibalas, Sudan Archives, Harry Manx […]
Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy’s Celtic Family Christmas Gets Toes Tappin’ at the NAC!
The recent renos of the National Arts Centre’s Southam Hall may not have included a pantry, dining table and oven but they weren’t needed for Natalie MacMaster, Donnell Leahy and their all singin’, all fiddlin’, all dancin’ offspring to turn the place into the biggest kitchen party this side of Cape Breton!
Hark, Ontario’s Angels Sing! A Holiday Tradition Returns to the NAC with a Good Lovelies Christmas
For Sue Passmore, the holiday season just isn’t complete without one particular top of the list item. It’s not a nutmeg topped glass of eggnog nor is it placing a shimmering star on the peak of a pine. It isn’t even a visit from that right jolly old elf that shakes when he laughs like […]
Pop Evil, Royal Tusk and Quiet Crimes Shock the Monkey
Photos by Laura Collins It was nearing the witching hour and this reviewer needed an extra jolt or six of caffeine to push through to the other side of the hard rock cacophony that was currently bringing the thunder down upon The Brass Monkey stage. Did I spy me a 24-hour Timmy’s next door? That […]
Megan Bonnell’s Separate Rooms
A singer/songwriter? A folk musician? Some new age indie artist? When approaching her third album, aptly titled Separate Rooms, Megan Bonnell realized she was all those things, comfortable to be in various places simultaneously.