MUSIC: Colleen Brown digs deep in Dirt

Edmonton musician Colleen Brown is not one to let her thoughts fester. Her penchant for expressing sincere emotions pays off in a big way on her acclaimed third album “Dirt,” and it doesn’t stop at songwriting. The soulful folk-pop singer’s growing national profile has been helped along by CBC Radio 2, which would likely not […]

WEEKEND MUSIC PREVIEW: One long, long weekend of greatness

Long weekends tend to spread the good gigs out – so we bring you a special five day weekend music update. Your lawn does’t need any more mowing, it’s too early to worry about Christmas lights, so get out and support live music in Edmonton! Best bets: Alex Vissa (Thursday); Peter Katz and the Barr […]

WEEKEND MUSIC PREVIEW: Deaner and the Monkey Junk

It’s a bit quieter on the live music scene this weekend, with Rexall playing host to only the Oilers on Saturday night, but there’s still some extraordinary melodies to listen to on both Friday and Saturday nights, including a Greek metal band (Firewind), a CD release party (Market Forces), and Deaner of FUBAR (Night Seeker). […]

WHO NAMED THE BAND: Tzadeka gets ‘righteous’

There’s a collective of music makers in this town who sound like they’d be right at home at the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party. They’re from the now-defunct Eshod Ibn Wyza, a multi-racial, multi-genre hip hop group that had curious connections to the punk rock scene. Vocalist Maigan Vandergiessen used to perform under the name Solar […]

CONCERTS: Smash Mouth on Oct. 1, Wilderness of Manitoba on Aug. 31

Without the casino circuit, one-hit wonders would be an endangered species – and some people seem to feel this is a bad thing. But consider Smash Mouth, coming to the River Cree Casino on Saturday, Oct. 1. Here was a fun little band that had a fun little song called Walkin’ in the Sun in […]

Maria in the Shower release CD at the Artery

It almost feels wrong to write about Maria in the Shower  for an online-only publication. The “folk cabaret” band would probably prefer to see this article in typewriter font on aged yellow paper. “We wish there could be a time without electricity,” says drummer Todd Biffard, noting singer/trumpet and accordion player Jack Garton always brings […]

WHO NAMED THE BAND? Idyl Tea returns

There was only one downside to a band name like Idyl Tea – no one could spell it right. Idol T, Idle Tee, Idyll Twee, the permutations and combinations of nomenclatural mangling were numerous, if not endless, as was a low-level confusion among Canadian rock fans at the time thinking they were going to see […]

Brent Irving does some soul searching at the ARTery

There is a risk of ovexpectation inherent to greatness, but whether you think the new Art Gallery of Alberta is great or aren’t the fan of post-modern L.A. architecture, there’s no denying that so far, the new AGA has impressed. Edmonton is a great arts town even when the building isn’t the centre piece; there’s […]

FISHEYE: 140 different characters, minimum

The Edmonton Arts Council threw a “Tweet the Arts” Twitter party at ARTery the other night. Never mind results, the desires themselves were amazingly broad. Our regular photo of the day (potd) feature from Fish Griwkowsky is a visual diary and memoir of his life in and out of the city.

RHYME & REASON: Edmonton Poetry Festival opens tonight

If you’re a poet, then just stow it, unless you know it, then let it flow-it – at the festival for poets. Not bad, eh? Maybe we should crash one of the “slams” at the Edmonton Poetry Festival, opening tonight at the ARTery and running through May 1 at various venues around town. Just banish […]

TRUE TALES OF THE ROAD: Michael Rault conquers France

Quick! – the question is fired at Michael Rault – name one big French rock band! (Montreal doesn’t count.) Long pause … and nope, he can’t do it. No one can. Why? It is because the French cannot rock, no? Oh, come on, everybody knows. The French and their gentle, gender-sensitive language are better at […]

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