Slowcity Open Mic: Jeremy Dutcher, Aysanabee, Terry Uyarak, Jade Turner, Lake Street Dive, Lead Pony, Hillsboro, and Rae Spoon

“Shared tongue is a beautiful gift, with a complicated reason,” - Jeremy Dutcher

“It’s about the human disconnect that social media has facilitated, the pressures that come along with it, and the false representation that it often can portray.” - Jesse Hofstee, Lead Pony

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Slowcity.ca Open Mic: the Sadies, Villages, Dizzy, Begonia, Andy Shauf, Murray A. Lightburn, Braids, and The Arcs

By Will McGuirk

“Evolution in and of itself is a patient act. Our pursuit of the individual self, which comprises all realms of human emotion, is sweetened with the intention and act of patience from ourselves, from those that we love and those who love us.” - Raphaelle Standell-Preston, Braids

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Slowcity.ca Open Mic: Adrian Sutherland, The Trade-Offs, Evan Redsky, Terez, Julia Wolf, Jesse Roper, Handsome Jack, and Arctic Monkeys

By Will McGuirk

“"I teach at an elementary school in Beachburg, Ontario. My grades 6/7 and 7/8 classes are looking for ways to continue with ideas from the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. We heard the song Walk With Me by Adrian Sutherland and decided to reach out," wrote Steve Pritchard.”

“Throughout the 20th century many Inuit families recall the Royal Canadian Mounted Police deliberately killing sled dogs to force Inuit into government run settlements, ‘Put ‘Em Down’ is about this sad story and about the effort to put us as a people down and erase our culture. A truth many do not know a lot about because it has been kept so quiet” - Josh Qaumariaq, the Trade-Offs

“It's a reflection of not just myself, but of an entire community of young people who lack access to mental health resources, cultural resources, and positive role models - where young First Nations folks just want to escape their realities in exchange for Oblivion.” - Evan Redsky

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Slowcity.ca Open Mic: Haviah Mighty, Ria Mae, Julian Taylor, Ernesto Cervini, David Myles, By Divine Right, the Blue Stones, LS Dunes, and Q

By Will McGuirk

“Overall, this song is a reminder that nothing…is surface deep." - Haviah Mighty

“You’re done conforming, you’re done caring, you’re over the hanging weight of shame, disappointment, or unchecked goals. You’ve let go, and it’s the most freeing feeling you’ve ever experienced. You just don’t give a shit, and it’s fucking great.” - Tarek Jafar, The Blue Stones

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Ria Mae with Virginia to Vegas at the Biltmore Theatre Thursday Nov. 24 2022

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Slowcity.ca Open Mic: Charlie Houston, Shintaro Sakamoto, Léonie Gray, Ruby Singh And The Future Ancestors, Ouri, Sunglaciers, and Show Me The Body

By Will McGuirk

“When I’m sad, anxious, nervous, or confused my posture gets worse, and I clench my jaw. I hold so much of my emotion in my neck and jaw.” - Charlie Houston

“When I wrote "Easy", I was thinking about a situation in which I was during a couple of years, trying to please someone without any guidance from the other side, not knowing if I was doing the right thing.” - Léonie Gray

“The pressures we feel from the outside mutate into something we perceive to be coming from within, endlessly pursuing things we don't need, or even want, while trudging through existence. But it works the other way too - misinterpreting the outside world to fit our egoistic desires.” -Evan Resnik

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Slowcity.ca Open Mic: Status / Non-Status, Julian Taylor, Julia Jacklin, Tedeschi Trucks Band, Basset, Lukka, The Sweet Kill, and David Strickland

By Will McGuirk

“an observation on community. Of how flashy lights and opportunities flush vibrant people from their humble homes. It’s about the death of the small town and the call to join the city mass.” - Adam Sturgeon, Status / Non-Status

“Once music becomes your job, you can lose the purity of music fandom. I spent the last two years trying to reconnect with that. I didn’t play much, I just listened” - Julia Jacklin

“the meaning of the title generally refers to all that we are and who we see is a reflection of the light.” - Lukka

"‘Level up’ is about celebrating life, family and natural medicine. Inspiration comes easy when working with this team, I’m blessed!” - Drezus, David Strickland

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Julia Jacklin performs Sept 21 Phoenix Concert Theatre in Toronto

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David Strickland · LVL Up (feat. Aspects & Prognosis)

Slowcity.ca Open Mic: OMBIIGIZI, Jenny Berkel, Ava Kay, Ouri, Allegories, The Davenports, Miles Francis, and Pike vs The Automaton

By Will McGuirk

“We each have our own story to tell, but putting our circle together in honour of our ancestors helps us weave a future.” - OMBIIGIZI

“For me, Go is about our struggle to let go of what we love, the familiar, to fulfill a dream we're driven towards, a passion that consumes us, or to let go of a love that causes us strife, heartbreaking as it is;" Reem Morsi, video director.

"This is essentially a 'what you don't know won't hurt you' story. Every relationship strikes its own balance of logic and emotion. Sometimes, being open with your partner about something like having a drink with an old friend, when there's no logical reason for your partner to feel threatened, should be harmless. But, no great mystery, sometimes logic doesn't count for shit in relationships.” - Scott Klass, The Davenports

” It’s totally about depression and leading a hard life.” - Matt Pike 

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Slowcity.ca Open Mic: Jerry Leger, The Weather Station, Donovan Woods, Valerie June, Mamas Gun, Pierre Kwenders, Denzel Curry, Franz Ferdinand, and I Am Snow Angel,

By Will McGuirk

"The opening line (‘break in the new world but let me keep my job’) is hopeful, it's actually quite a hopeful song. I like to think that real happiness involves being respectful, appreciative and considerate. The words have these deeper layers and questions but Angie Hilts singing with me really lifts it up to a nice place. It's just fun and fortunate to play rock 'n' roll with my friends and we've all needed some fun these days." - Jerry Leger

“The song was written long before the pandemic, but when we recorded it, on March 11, 2020, it began to feel eerily prescient. The day it was recorded truly was the end of an endless time, and as ever, I don’t know how the song knew. Somehow, the music captures that instability; it is ungrounded and diaphanous, it floats and drifts.” - The Weather Station

“I write about them again and again, just hoping people will still be interested. So the title is poking fun of myself, that I’m theoretically this big sad guy who keeps getting dumped and writing fucking songs about it,” - Donovan Woods

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Slowcity.ca Open Mic: Ombiigizi, Haviah Mighty, Keb' Mo', Birds of Bellwood, Canyon City, Avi Kaplan, Gov't Mule, Louie Short, Mike Block,

By Will McGuirk

"These ideas around perceived value got me thinking about the Stock Exchange. Seeing parallels between the way it flows - the constant rising and falling – all dictated by the general public’s perception of an entity’s value, and ultimately how that influences the moves that we make as individuals." - Haviah Mighty

“Whether it be anxiety or depression, anger or addiction, there are parts of ourselves that can lead us down a path that is detrimental to our being. This song is about acknowledging that part of oneself and overcoming it.” - Avi Kaplan

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Slowcity.ca Open Mic: Tragically Hip, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, Gold and Youth, Brandon Wolfe Scott, Mike Plume, T. Buckley, James Sullivan, and Nation of Language

By Will McGuirk

“Blush is about saying 'sure, the world we've created is full of bullshit, but that's not some inevitably, it doesn't actually have to be this way, and we have an antidote, and it's each other.” - Matthew Lyall, Gold & Youth

“I wanted to write a song to myself as a reminder, almost like a mantra, to stay in the present and accountable.” - Brandon Wolfe Scott

“. . . I feel like the song is universal with its message that it’s the little things and moments that matter, the time we’re able to spend with one another.” - T. Buckley

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