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Vancouver Sun
28-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Vancouver Sun
Edmonton Folk Music Festival lineup: Allison Russell, Rainbow Kitten Surprise, Taj Mahal join The Roots and Mt. Joy
With swirling hip-hop legends The Roots and fuzzy-feelings L.A. rockers Mt. Joy already out of the bag as Saturday and Sunday's headliners — bam! — the rest of the Edmonton Folk Music Festival's lineup has been revealed! The 46 th annual love-in running Aug. 7-10 on Gallagher Park hill is bursting with international deep-cut delights to shining local talent, aglow with soul, folk, rock, country, Afrobeats, blues and more. Nearly 60 more acts just dropped, including North Carolina alt-rock Rainbow Kitten Surprise topping Thursday night after Juno-winning Oji-Cree singer-songwriter Aysanabee and the lovable be-hatted powerhouse Serena Ryder open the fest up — tunes starting Thursday at 6:35 p.m. Get top headlines and gossip from the world of celebrity and entertainment. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sun Spots will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. Friday night's main stage 9:05 p.m. on is Gen X singer-songwriter Stephen Wilson Jr. — self-identified as 'Death Cab for Country' — and the return of the multi-style, roots Grammy-winning Allison Russell, last here in 2022. Amid the whirl of Saturday sessions, east L.A.'s Las Cafeterias will pepper up the main stage at 2 p.m. with Chicano rhythm and zapateado dancing. Then, Saturday night, the cultural call-and-response slides in with 83-year-old bluesman Taj Mahal at 6:45; indie pop DJ and model Goldie Boutilier also out of L.A. up next; back from last year, public defender and powerhouse soul/R&B belter Danielle Ponder; bringing us of course to 2025's big-name booking: Philadelphia's The Roots. World-travelling Democratic Republic of Congo ensemble Jupiter & Okwess start things off centre stage at 2 Sunday afternoon, then shifting gears, it's the Seattle folk-rock of Richy Mitch & the Coal Miners at 6:50. This is followed by an American-Australian roots jam with John Butler, then Mt. Joy and the Sunday-night lantern parade, then cue Four Strong Winds. The Roots were something else at Calgary Folk Fest last year, and I'd say you don't want to miss the electrified blues guitar and drumming of Cedric Burnside — but longtime festival producer Terry Wickham is happy to offer his deep cuts and must-sees. 'Watch out for Jesse Welles,' says Wickham. 'He's got a big online presence, very political. He talks about what America's like right now, all of that. 'Riley Walker and Bill McKay, two great guitarists — so I think that's going to be a sleeper hit.' Wickham adds the psychedelic soul of Monophonics to the list, noting Willi Carlisle's also a lot of fun. 'Ian Ngo is a great songwriter in the country vein, so he's going to be really strong. Māmā Mihirangi & the Māreikura are going to be exciting — a lot of looping and that kind of stuff,' Wickham notes. 'And Calvin Vollrath, we're not going cheap, so we're bringing him in with a five-piece.' As far as general operations go, no big announcements this year — more food trucks, some extra shade, that sort of thing — though we did get a bit doomy talking about worst-case scenarios if fire season forced a cancellation due to air-quality safety. 'A couple of rainfalls this week were good,' says Wickham. 'The farmers need rain, the gardens need rain — it just makes the place look better. But I don't think that's going to have any impact on August. 'We're in for a dry spell coming up, so we'll see if things start to spark up. 'I mean, wildfire smoke is an existential threat to all the festivals outdoors.' That consideration aside, costs have also been reliably rising, especially headliner fees. 'It's doubled or quadrupled, post pandemic,' notes the producer of the non-profit festival. 'Dynamic pricing, excess demand, etc. And it won't stop until people stop buying tickets at crazy prices.' This makes it especially noteworthy that ticket and pass prices this year are holding steady, no increases. 'We could go up and people would grumble,' says Wickham, but I'm so tired of inflation everywhere, that at least one place, for one year, we can hold the line.' He notes the folk fest will always continue to do what it can, and that 'money is not everything to all the artists. 'They do look for special places to play,' says Wickham, noting Ben Harper once said it was his favourite. 'And I did hear two band members from The National talking and saying, 'Which is your favourite, here or Red Rocks?' So that kind of thing is nice to hear.' Bringing it home, the local acts include AV & the Inner City, St. Albert's Current Swell, Nîpisîy, Secondhand Dreamcar and let's note Shaela Miller's country music by way of Lethbridge. School of Song will also highlight local talent Asiah Holm, Halfway Home, Sam Steffen and Tayler Grace, and the Nikamowin indigenous programming will spotlight even more locals by the fest's central tipi. 'There's a lot of great talent out there,' says Wickham. 'I said yes to a lot of people who have been knocking on the door for a few years. 'About 60 per cent of the artists have never played here before. We haven't been too nostalgic. So I feel good.' Pre-GST and fees, adult personal weekend passes (25-64) are $234, single tickets Thursday or Friday are $109, and Saturday or Sunday $115. Seniors 65-79 are $179 for a Personal Pass, $56 for single days, and 80+ get in for free. U-25 (18-24) is $189 for a Personal Pass. And for youth 12-17, $117 for a Personal Pass, $42 for a single day, with children 11 and under free. All passes and single days go on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday, June 7, online only at . Now, please enjoy the full list of 2025 EFMF acts! AHI Allison Russell AV & the Inner City Aysanabee BALTHVS Blackburn Brothers Blue Moon Marquee Burnstick Calvin Vollrath Cedric Burnside Charlie Cunningham Current Swell Danielle Ponder De Temps Antan Dervish Dry Bones Elizabeth Moen Goldie Boutilier Haley Heynderickx Ian Noe Jeffrey Martin Jennifer Castle Jesse Roper Jesse Welles John Butler Julianna Riolino Jupiter & Okwess Ken Pomeroy Kíla Kim Churchill Las Cafeteras Madi Diaz Māmā Mihirangi & the Māreikura Mama's Broke Marcus Trummer Martyn Joseph Mary Gauthier Melissa Carper Monophonics Mt. Joy Nîpisîy Rainbow Kitten Surprise Richy Mitch & The Coal Miners Ryley Walker & Bill MacKay School of Song: Asiah Holm , Halfway Home , Sam Steffen , Tayler Grace Secondhand Dreamcar Serena Ryder Shaela Miller Steph Strings Stephen Wilson Jr. Taj Mahal Talisk The Roots The Sensational Barnes Brothers The Slocan Ramblers Wesli Willi Carlisle Yasmin Williams fgriwkowsky@ @ Bookmark our website and support our journalism: Don't miss the news you need to know — add and to your bookmarks and sign up for our newsletters here. You can also support our journalism by becoming a digital subscriber. Subscribers gain unlimited access to The Edmonton Journal, Edmonton Sun, National Post and 13 other Canadian news sites. Support us by subscribing today: The Edmonton Journal | The Edmonton Sun.
Winnipeg Free Press
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Winnipeg Free Press
Jazz concerts to honour Oscar Peterson on what would have been his 100th birthday
TORONTO – Canadian jazz legends Dave Young and Oliver Jones are among the musicians set to honour Oscar Peterson at a concert next month in Toronto. 'Oscar Peterson at 100' takes place at Massey Hall on June 14 and is billed as 'a Canadian celebration' of the late jazz pianist featuring old friends and musicians who were inspired by his work. It's among many upcoming events that will mark what would've been Peterson's 100th birthday this summer. Nearly two dozen performers have been announced for the show, which is being co-produced by his daughter Céline Peterson. They also include pianist Robi Botos, Juno-winning singer Laila Biali and composer Sean Nimmons, the grandson of jazz clarinetist Phil Nimmons. The show will mix performances of Peterson's original compositions with a selection of jazz standards. Winnipeg Jets Game Days On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop. Peterson was born Aug. 15, 1925 and died of kidney failure in 2007 at the age of 82. A series of cross-country shows are being organized by Peterson's daughter this year in co-ordination with a group of musicians named the Oscar Peterson Centennial Quartet. Celebrations include events at the Montreal Jazz Festival, Stratford Festival and Banff Centre. The pianist's widow Kelly Peterson will also speak about her life with the musician at an event in Waterloo, Ont. on July 18. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 14, 2025.
Vancouver Sun
28-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Vancouver Sun
Snotty Nose Rez Kids look to rebuild recording studio, businesses after devastating east Vancouver fire
Article content Juno-winning Indigenous rap duo Snotty Nose Rez Kids are hoping to rebuild after a fire gutted their east Vancouver recording studio on April 23. Article content The group lost its studio space, as well as the shop and production facility for both the Savage Kids and RBRTH clothing brands, in the Vancouver fire that claimed a number of buildings on the 2200-block of E. Hastings Street. Article content Article content In a post shared to Instagram, the Snotty Nose Rez Kids members stated it was 'with a heavy heart we had to watch while a fire took out our recording studio, our shop housing RBRTH clothing and our shop for Savage Kids, not to mention irreplaceable items like paintings, artwork, custom mask carving and other items we cherish.' Article content The Haisla rappers recorded much of their recent Juno-winning album Red Future at the facility and had said there were plans to produce many other up-and-coming Indigenous talents in the room. Article content Darren 'Young D' Metz and Quinton 'Yung Trybez' Nyce noted they are not used to asking for help, but the GoFundMe campaign started by Brodie Metcalfe, a Toronto-based arts manager who works with the band, quickly took off. Article content Article content Article content Another crowdfunding campaign has also been launched for the North Country Club following the fire. Article content Billed as Vancouver's newest and 'only genuine Honky-Tonk,' the venue was a performance space run by the North Country Collective roots music group. The venue had only been open a few days when it was destroyed by the same fire. Article content Article content Article content Article content
CBC
25-03-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
'It's a joint acceptance,' Sarah Harmer says of receiving the 2025 Junos Humanitarian Award
Social Sharing When Sarah Harmer found out she'd be receiving the Humanitarian Award at the 2025 Junos, she said she felt both "very flattered and honoured" — and a bit conflicted. "It's something I think of [for] Desmond Tutu or something," she said from her home outside Kingston. "It's hard to think of yourself as worthy of that, maybe?" How to watch the 2025 Juno Awards But over the past nearly three decades, the Juno-winning singer-songwriter, who started her career leading '90s alt-rock band Weeping Tile, has become as well known for her activism as her incisive, heart-on-sleeve songwriting. Harmer grew up around Mount Nemo, which is also the name of the region's conservation area on the Niagara Escarpment in Burlington, Ont. "Mount Nemo, it's part of a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve," Harmer explained. "It's got incredible biodiversity, and it's the top of the headwater. So it's this source water area for so many people downstream." In 2004, Nelson Aggregate applied to expand its Burlington quarry by 200 acres, which could compromise Harmer's childhood stomping grounds. In response, she co-founded the non-profit Protecting Escarpment Rural Land (PERL) to centralize local response and protest, and wrote Escarpment Blues, with its vivid opening verse: If they blow a hole in my backyard, Everyone is gonna run away, And the creeks won't flow to the great lake below, Will the water in the wells still be okay? WATCH: Sarah Harmer plays Escarpment Blues live: The song shares a name with a concert film that Harmer released in 2006, which documented her I Love the Escarpment tour to promote PERL and her fight against Nelson Aggregate. It would take six more years for the company's proposal to be denied, and another seven years — taking everyone to 2019 — for the company to put together a different proposal with the same intent: expansion. Harmer has only put out two albums since 2005's I Am a Mountain, which featured the song Escarpment Blues: 2010's Oh Little Fire and 2020's Are You Gone. While a lot of that in-between time was spent simply living her life, as she said in a 2020 interview with CBC Music, for Harmer that can often mean simultaneously fighting for something. Between the two years-long fights for the Niagara Escarpment, Harmer has campaigned alongside David Suzuki against the federal government's plan to buy fighter jets; partnered with Suzuki, Stephen Lewis, the late Gordon Lightfoot and more to call for urgent change in how plant and animal species at risk are protected in Ontario; and participated in Students on Ice, a program that leads educational trips to the Arctic and Antarctic for international university and high-school students. ("I benefited so much from that," said Harmer, that she never considered it work.) WATCH: The official video for Sarah Harmer's protest anthem, New Low: Mount Nemo 'is a cathedral' Right now, though, everything leads back to a quarry that mines for gravel. "I guess you can kind of get into anything, you know, when you start to [get involved] — like, gravel, wow," Harmer said, laughing. To fight Nelson Aggregate's second proposal, Harmer is now working with Reform Gravel Mining Coalition, an umbrella group that works with PERL and is demanding a moratorium on all new approvals for gravel mining in Ontario. I feel like it can't be in our generation that this ancient ecosystem gets obliterated any more. "The work has looked like a lot of Zoom meetings, a lot of finding experts in areas of hydrogeology, blasting, air quality, natural heritage, people who are biologists and do wetland evaluations," she said. "We have been spending years raising money so that we can pay for a legal team, like a lawyer and expert evidence." Harmer will take a short break from that work to take a train to the Junos in Vancouver to receive her Humanitarian Award — "I've flown a lot in my life and so I feel like my quota … I'm pretty topped up on that" — which will be presented by Suzuki, a "huge honour" for Harmer. But she'd also like to share the award: "It's a joint acceptance … I want to just recognize a lot of people that do the same kind of thing [as I do]. And dedicate so much of their time to it. Because it makes a huge difference. It really does." While that happens, the three-month hearing that began March 4 to determine whether Nelson Aggregate's application will be approved or not will continue. But Harmer is ready for the fight. "When you're hiking through, say the Mount Nemo Conservation Area, through the forests, it is a cathedral, you know, there is a spiritual reverence there that is hard to miss because it is so ancient," Harmer said. "There are trees clinging to the rock face that are 900,000 years old. It has such richness and history and just defies anything human made. It's just in its own realm. So I feel like it can't be in our generation that this ancient ecosystem gets obliterated any more."
CBC
24-03-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
Hill Kourkoutis on creating Toronto's Sonic ID for the 2026 FIFA World Cup
It might seem like a long way away, but celebrations for the 2026 FIFA World Cup have already begun. This month, FIFA released a Sonic ID (or a city anthem) for each of its 16 host cities. For Toronto, the Juno-winning songwriter and producer Hill Kourkoutis was selected to create the track The Sound of Toronto. She drops by the Q studio to talk to Tom Power about being chosen, what it means to make an anthem for a city, and how she went about creating a distinctly Toronto sound.
