“This road has been travelled by many and has many stories to tell. My song is just one of those stories.” - Nadjiwan
Read MoreOne Real Reveal, Joel Plaskett
Slowcity Open Mic: Mimi O'Bonsawin, Terry Uyarak, Pierre Kwenders, Stars, The Revivalists, Doug Paisley, Bella White, and Margo Price
By Will McGuirk
“It gave me more meaning to my current group of friends, all around me, to always welcoming me in their hearts as I do them. ‘Come, let me show what you are capable of, I like you, I love you, for who you are.’ I have always belonged to many foundations growing, and mainly of family and friends feeding me a beautiful life.” - Terry Uyarak
“The online wailing wall or maybe the Goliath of our generation. Social media therapy is what we need. Social media therapy is a necessity.” - Pierre Kwenders
“Flowers On My Bedside is a song for empowerment. I wrote it when I was in a sad place and it was a very healing experience, to take a hard situation and turn it into something that feels creatively inspiring.” - Bella White
Slowcity.ca Open Mic: Matt Holtby, Chastity, Mimi Webb, Pierre Kwenders, Margo Price, The Weather, Edwin Raphael, and Noisy
By Will McGuirk
“represents the relationship one has with time, the constant balancing as a slow dance that one tries to weave," - Edwin Raphael
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
Sampa The Great
Slowcity.ca Open Mic: Bonnie Raitt, Margo Price, Abigail Lapell, Ada Lea, Ken Yates, JAD, Henry Chadwick, and Sampa The Great
By Will McGuirk
"all dressed up" is a fever dream of isolation and claustrophobia, circumscribed by all these obsolete media machines -- but with a semi-hopeful note, too, about making the best of an absurd situation, or at least, 'this too shall pass'.” - Abigail Lapell
“The only thing to do is ride out your last few moments with the people you love.” - Ken Yates
"We’re not going to stay in one lane, we’re going to create multiple ones. . . My truest self encourages me to explore different lanes, and go beyond what I think I know of myself.” - Sampa The Great
Ada Lea @ the Axis Club, Toronto Tuesday May 10 2022
Ken Yates @ the Cameron House Toronto Wednesday, June 22, 2022
Matthew Cardinal, photo by Chelsea Boida
Slowcity.ca Open Mic with Matthew Cardinal, Sameer Cash, Margo Price, Donovan Woods, Airliners, Yukon Blonde, Tucker Lane, and Rooks
By Will McGuirk
“Boy you’re gonna carry that weight a long time” sang four working class lads from Liverpool in hats from fifty years ago and they knew and fought forward, its tough to be tough. Its hard to be a hard man. We can’t crack, when we crack we break. We haven’t learnt to bend. . . yet, and yet . . .
“I would like it if people listened and interpreted the music anyway they want to. I don't think these songs need a narrative, and I think certain moods come through some of the tracks, while other moods might only be heard by individual listeners.” - Matthew Cardinal
“‘Stay In Touch’ is about male friendship, and about how we as boys are not given the language to articulate pain or loss. . . Like when our friend lost his dad. Or when our form of a high school reunion was a funeral for one of our own. For those of us mourning the loss of innocence and the realization that the world was not made of us, for sensitive people who want the best for those around us. When we feel like we are not enough. When it gets too much, and when the money dries up, stay in touch with your mother, stay in touch with your high school band, stay in touch with me.” - Sameer Cash
Cash’s album ‘This City” will be released Friday, Sep. 11, 2020 on Postwar Records.
“To me the song is about, not only watching someone you love move on, but coming to terms with the realization that not only do you have to learn to let them go, but you have to be happy for them,” - Donovan Woods
Yukon Blonde have announced their fifth studio album, ‘Vindicator’ will be available on Nov. 13, 2020 on Dine Alone Records. Their new single “You Were Mine” is out now.
Sarah Jarosz
Slowcity.ca Open Mic with Margo Price, Sarah Jarosz, Aslan, Lamblion, Rushton Kelly, Zaac Pick, and Scarlet Pleasure
By Will McGuirk
Really enjoying this latest album from Sarah Jarosz, ”World on the Ground”; there’s a touch of Harry Chapin, a touch of Gordon Lightfoot and a touch of Neko Case and at a time when touch is rare thats a whole lot of goodness right there. The good is the details as the kids say.
“I’ve seen the streets set ablaze, the sky set on fire. I’ve been manic, heartbroken for the world, heartbroken for the country, heartbroken from being heartbroken again and again.” -Margo Price
“Making this record definitely taught me that I don’t want to be selfish: I want to channel something larger than myself and give myself to the process as fully as possible, because these songs also become the story of whoever hears them. Whatever someone might get out of listening to this record and hearing me express myself in this way, it’s completely theirs.” - Rushton Kelly
Liza Anne
Slowcity.ca Open Mic with Owen Pallett, David Clayton-Thomas, Idles, Liza Anne, Jesse Maxwell, Royal Canoe, Margo Price, and Rich Aucoin
By Will McGuirk
Opening even as its getting closer, its a balance. There’s anxiety, bravado, averted eye determination, and a strange nostalgia for that slower time, even though it came packaged in privilege. We may be all equally vulnerable but we are not all equally impacted.
“This is a song for the unsung heroes,” the Blood, Sweat & Tears frontman shares. “I wanted to say thank you to the paramedics, firefighters, police officers, doctors, nurses, essential workers…
“I wanted to say thank you to all of the folks that put their lives on the line every day in dangerous and uncertain times.”
“I was reading through old poems and journal entries and circling the drain of my own sorrow stories, which felt like a bit of a wake up call. I have all these ideas of what taking care of myself looks like, but I tend to get in my own way. Bummer Days is me calling myself out. I am the only person who will take responsibility for my emotional and mental health.” - Liza Anne
“Music in general makes people feel good but especially at this time it is so important to make sure the people and the staff who are working so hard are given a moment to breathe and ground themselves through this.” -Jesse Maxwell
R Grunwald, photo by Jen Squires
Slowcity.ca Open Mic - Sun's up edition with R Grunwald, Brandon Wolfe Scott, Margo Price, Lynne Hanson, Finnz, Spinning Coin, Jonathan Wilson and LA Priest
By Will McGuirk
Hi. Well welcome back, welcome to 2020, the roaring twenties maybe the roaring fires maybe, the roaring masses maybe, lots to roar about - in satisfaction maybe in rage definitely. Its been awhile because I’ve been working on the Oshawa Music Awards. Lots of news coming but until then ease into this.
“The narrative is not me preaching, but more about stepping outside my own echo chamber of ignorance. Looking to the future generation I think it's important to inspire change and hope in the face of sadness and ecological grief." - Brandon Wolfe Scott
"I've been sober for eight years now, and I've made that long walk home from the bar or wherever I was coming home from many, many times in my life. So it's a really personal song for me. When I was writing it, I could really see the movie in my head." - Lynne Hanson
“It’s trying to connect with other people on a human level, doing something that we love, and trying to embrace the unknown.” - Spinning Coin