By Will McGuirk
“Sometimes a collection of songs just comes out feeling one way and they all work together,” - Dennis Ellsworth
Cola, photo by Colin Medley
Slowcity.ca Open Mic: Shirley Collins, Tanya Tucker, OMBIIGIZI, Sunnsetter, Louise Burns, Orchard Sky, Devontée, and Cola
By Will McGuirk
"I love it when friendship is palpable in a recording, when a piece of music laughs with you in a fast-food burger booth and takes you out to catch up on a walk by the river," - Peter Dreimanis (July Talk).
I think it’s my first attempt at a proper love song, in my own faux-misanthropic way…" - Louis Burns
Slowcity.ca Open Mic with Dawes, Shirley Collins, Busty and the Bass, Mike Block, Jenny Banai, Le Couleur, Lou Canon, Aiza, Scenic Route to Alaska, and Krosst
By Will McGuirk
Reach out but don’t touch yet, stretch out to feel but don’t feel anything yet. . . do you feel comfortable in your skin, out in your skin among other skins. . . didn’t you feel more comfortable inside when you interacted with the world online. . . where, when skin didn’t matter. . . ready for that space again, ready to retreat further inside and leave the outside out there. What has changed? You have changed.
Evangeline Gentle, photo by Kristal Jones
Slowcity.ca Open Mic with The Avett Brothers, Evangeline Gentle, Niki Black, Shirley Collins, Soccer Mommy, Aislinn Logan, and The Actual Goners,
By Will McGuirk
Sticks and stones will break your bones but names can never hurt you but names, memes, avatars, icons, stereotypes do hurt. Cursory summaries, quick glances, are the building blocks of our entertainment economy. If you want to be known wear the same clothes. Every song has a hook, every act has a look. Avoid that rush to judgement, speed kills, slow down and learn up. We look too much and listen too little. Stop overlooking.
“I believe that our deepest connections are found through vulnerability which is why I feel compelled to sing this track completely unaccompanied.” - Evangeline Gentle
“Can I still connect with my America Spirits as the daughter of an Iranian immigrant mother? This song is an answer to that. Yes, I can and I will. But, this will come with a lot of uncovering and opposition against the unjust reality of what America has mean since its bloody conception and its chaotic, violent reality today.” -Niki Black
“It’s about those moments when you’ve felt like you’re truly on the same plane as those around you.” - Tristan Armstrong, The Actual Goners