By Will McGuirk
“I’d rather be someone’s shot of whiskey than everyone’s cup of tea,” - Emily Mac
Wayfinding, photo by Levi Manchak
Whitehorse
Slowcity.ca Open Mic: Andrew Bird and Phoebe Bridgers, Digging Roots, Whitehorse, Jill Barber and Slow Leaves, Jason Collett, JEEN, Ayoni, and Sunglaciers
By Will McGuirk
“I came across this Emily Dickinson poem and found it to be the most vivid description of an inner world I’ve ever encountered,” - Andrew Bird
“This duet playfully pulls back the curtain on a romantic proposition, exposing the inherent pragmatism in joining forces with another person,” - Jill Barber
"I let go of some swagger and embraced intimacy and joy and wonder. I hear this in the record and it makes me very happy to have made it.” - Jason Collett
Slowcity.ca Open Mic: Jason Collett, Margo Price, Boy Golden, Golden Feather, Emi Jeen, Amanda Sum, White Lung, and Speaker Wars,
By Will McGuirk
"In absorbing the tumult of the times, there's a lot of shit to write through, that Bruce Cockburn line comes to mind, ‘you've got to kick at the darkness until it bleeds daylight’, and the challenge is to get to the other side with something positive to contribute," - Jason Collett
“You get stuck in the same patterns of thinking, the same loops of addiction. But there comes a point where you just have to say, ‘I'm going to be here, I'm going to enjoy it, and I'm not going to put so much stock into checking the boxes for everyone else.’ “ Margo Price
“You can put a lot of energy and discipline into a project while leaving room for spontaneity, fun, and authentic creativity. In the end, why are we so serious about life?’’ - Emi Jeen
Slowcity.ca Open Mic with Yves Jarvis, Jason Collett, Alyson McNamara, Treephones, Ariel Posen, Jehnny Beth
By Will McGuirk
Its the music, it moves us all, the common bond which binds our feet in dance, I advocate for orchestras to be at the forefront of the revolution.
"When in the future we recall Saint Patrick’s Day 2021, let us have returned with even more energy to music as we lift the glass slowly, and replenish it even slower. Music and creativity were our resource in the pandemic, and in the music of the heart is rehearsed that for which words are insufficient, feídearachtaí ag heitheamh dúinn – forms of renewal, possibilities rehearsed, journeys to wonder and new places."
- President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins
“When I play on my fiddle in Dooney, Folk dance like a wave of the sea” - W.B. Yeats
“When you better yourself, you better the world. Even if you only interact with one person in your life, the effect of trying to see things for what they are is vast. Change can feel like a fantasy, but I’m not fatalistic about it. I make music because I get results that way. It’s why I promote creativity, whatever that means for anyone.” - Yves Jarvis
“Crab Walking” is less a lament for times disappeared than it is a unifying call for the present. “Old haunts and landmarks that once were and are no longer. Conjuring good memories of good times” - Jason Collett
“Despite how badly you can be treated by someone, sometimes we refuse to see ourselves being with anyone else.” - Ariel Posen
“I almost didn’t put it on the record because it is so close to the bone it almost feels too self indulgent, but it was my intention to write a song that felt more vulnerable than anything I had ever written before.” - Jehnny Beth