Latest news with #Juno-winning
Calgary Herald
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Calgary Herald
Sully Burrows, Noeline Hofmann and Jake Vaadeland rock Canadian country music scene
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Sully Burrows, Noeline Hofmann and Jake Vaadeland are one step closer to becoming the next big name on Canada's country music scene after a nationwide vote in SiriusXM's Top of the Country contest. Article content The singing competition saw the trio beat out hundreds of hopefuls in a bid to land the $25,000 grand prize and the title of Top of the Country champion. The winner will be crowned at next month's Canadian Country Music Awards in Kelowna, B.C. The two runners-up will each take home $10,000. Article content Article content All three couldn't be more different musically — Burrows graduated high school in Parry Sound, Ont., last June before landing his first hit song Youth last October; Hofmann was a rancher in Alberta who caught the ear of country superstar Zach Bryan; and Juno-winning Vaadeland puts his own unique spin on country and bluegrass — but the trio are all united in wanting to have their voices heard. Article content Article content Since she was a little girl, Hofmann, 22, always dreamed of playing music for a living. 'But I grew up in a town of 1,500 people … I never saw an example of how pursuing a career in music could be possible,' she told Postmedia in an interview at Nashville's CMA Fest earlier this summer. 'Still, I always felt in my heart that was something I wanted to do.' Article content After recording her plaintive track Purple Gas, the Bow Island, Alta. native saw her career take off when Bryan asked if she would sing it with him on his 2024 album The Great American Bar Scene. Article content Article content The song's title is a reference to a type of fuel farmers and ranchers use in Alberta. Article content Article content 'I never could have imagined that it would end up on his album,' the Country Music Alberta Award winner says. 'It's hard to measure the impact Zach has had on my journey … he's such an advocate for artists and writers and I'm so grateful to him for giving me a chance to take the ball and run with it.' Article content She's spent most of the summer on the road, with a show booked alongside Bryan, Kings Of Leon and Turnpike Troubadours at San Francisco's Golden Gate Park set for Aug. 15 and opening dates on The Crooner & The Cowboy Tour with Leon Bridges and Charley Crockett. Article content Hofmann is also up for two CCMAs — Breakthrough Artist and Alternative Country Album of the Year.
Calgary Herald
07-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Calgary Herald
Remembering Oscar: NMC to celebrate 100th anniversary of Oscar Peterson's birth with exhibit, concerts
Article content When Andy Milne was a student studying jazz at York University, one of his teachers offered some seemingly obvious advice: 'Learn the song.' Article content It was in the mid-1980s, and Milne, who would go on to be a versatile and Juno-winning composer and jazz pianist, at first thought this guidance was a little flippant. But it was coming from the great Oscar Peterson, who would routinely toss out these sorts of pearls and spark some deep thinking in Milne about what he meant. Eventually, he realized Peterson was not being flippant or obvious. Article content Article content 'It was weeks later when it hit me what he meant,' says Milne, in an interview with Postmedia from his home in Ann Arbor, Mich. 'It was much richer than that. I just found it fascinating, and, as a teacher myself now, I think back to him saying it literally and matter-of-fact and giving you the assignment to go figure out what he meant. Learn the song could mean 'Oh, I don't know the song very well. I guess if I just learn the song a little better, I'll sound good.' That's not what he meant. In terms of a 360-degree relationship with a piece of music, it's much more of an investigation around it and thinking more richly about the relationship.' Article content Article content Aug. 15 marks the 100th anniversary of Peterson's birth in Montreal and is also the date when Milne will perform Andy Milne: In Tribute to Oscar Peterson 100 at the National Music Centre. It coincides with the centre's newly opened exhibit, Timeless: 100 Years of Oscar Peterson, which features a wide variety of artifacts, awards, testimonials and instruments from the pianist's illustrious career. Article content Article content Milne will play some of Peterson's compositions and talk about the legend's influence on him. As a Canadian jazz pianist and composer — not to mention someone with a personal connection to the man — it may seem that Peterson's influence is a given. But Milne says he hopes to 'highlight maybe the more unusual ways that central cultural and artistic figures' influence people and communities. Article content 'I'm going to pay homage to him by talking about him and talking about his influence and playing pieces that he composed that I played in my formative years,' he says. 'At this point, they mean something different to me now than they did when I was a young kid. My approach is different, and the sound I'm going to be going for is different because I'm not an artist where someone would say 'Yeah, you really sound like you're influenced by Oscar Peterson' — that low-hanging fruit that someone might associate with me, even though he is a huge influence. It's important to talk and share what influence means and how we can be distracted by more obvious ways of looking for that and validating that kind of weight in a cultural space.'
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
