Posted on April 4, 2012
By Albert Smith
Music, The Latest
When life hands us lemons, we make lemonade. To put it another way: when seasons, economy and remoteness conspire to give area musicians a feeling that they don’t have enough work, they declare, “Let’s put on our own show! I’ve got some curtains, my father has a barn …” and hold to that old saying […]
Posted on April 3, 2012
By Mike Ross
Front Slider, Music
Having more than one personality can be challenge in real life, but it can be a real asset for a professional musician. Ask Ann Vriend, whose alter ego “April Valiant” and her band the Valiant Thieves perform Thursday at the Blue Chair Cafe: covers of ‘80s songs rendered in a jazzy vein, Madonna’s Material Girl […]
Posted on March 29, 2012
By Michael Senchuk
Music
Folk rock takes centre stage this weekend, with the extraordinary Rose Cousins performing Friday night, followed up by Philadelphia’s Good Old War on Saturday and a plethora of artists performing during the “Swig Of Alberta” traveling road show on Sunday night at the Wunderbar. Friday Alan Frew – This five-time Juno award winner, perhaps best […]
Posted on March 29, 2012
By Mike Ross
Front Slider, Music
You can read a lot into a good band name, especially when there’s a good story behind it. Take, for example, Christian Hansen – who simply would not have had the courage to name his band Christian Hansen and the Autistics if he hadn’t been teaching music to actual autistic people. Wrap your head around […]
Posted on March 28, 2012
By Mike Ross
Music
The lone piano player at his Steinway and the large symphony orchestra behind him in an acoustically perfect concert hall is a classic combination in more ways than one – and Ben Folds with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra is expected to live up to that legacy. Call it a rock ‘n’ roll concerto from the […]
Posted on March 19, 2012
By Kevin Maimann
Music
Jake Ian and the Haymakers have proof that life really does imitate art. The local country band was shooting a video for its latest single Lowlife From High River, a catchy tune about a guy who gets ripped off by a used car salesman, when the guys hit an ironic snag. “We were filming a […]
Posted on March 19, 2012
By Mike Ross
Music
Once in a while the great wasteland that is top-40 radio grows something interesting. Case in point: My Name Is Kay. Nova Scotia’s Kay Boutilier and her collaborators have scored a pretty major hit here, launched with YouTube – and what a funky blast of self-contained musical marketing it is, too. My Name is Kay […]
Posted on March 16, 2012
By Mike Ross
Front Slider, Music
This was really weird: All the Edmonton punk rockers from the early ’90s seemed to unplug their guitars and “go country” at the same time. By the end of the decade, you could barely find an alternative rock band playing in an alternative rock bar. They were all playing country. No, not the sort of […]
Posted on March 9, 2012
By Mike Ross
Front Slider, Music
When faced with a media celebrity in a band expecting to be taken seriously, some observers cross their arms and frown and say things like “OK, Mr. Bigshot, this better be good.” It comes from the feeling of the unfair advantage that all non-musical celebrities have: an already established name airlifted into a comparable level […]
Posted on March 8, 2012
By Mike Ross
Music, The Latest
Edmonton rock ‘n’ roll legend Barry Allen, who’s getting set to play his first gig in 22 years with Barry Allen and the Rebels at the Century Casino on Saturday night – maybe their last gig ever – has this to say: “It was easier back then.” Yeah, yeah, heard it before, grandpa and – […]
Posted on February 28, 2012
By Mike Ross
Front Slider, Music
There’s a new alt-country star emerging in Edmonton – from a most unlikely place. Leading to a gig with his band The Wreckage at the Almanac on Friday, April 21, Tom Olsen has been a noted journalist – he was the legislature bureau chief for two major Alberta dailies (Edmonton Journal, Calgary Herald) – before […]
Posted on August 29, 2011
By Mike Ross
Culture, Music, The Latest
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 […]
