“I want the loved person to grow and unfold for his own sake, and in his own ways, and not for the purpose of serving me” - Erich Fromm
Read MoreRory Taillon, photo by Randy Nickerson
Valerie June, photo by Renata Raksha
Slowcity.ca Open Mic: Valerie June, Colyn Cameron, Chemical Club, A Family Curse, John Cale, Hot Chip, and Kodaline
By Will McGuirk
“It feels sort of like an internal banter about love in conjunction with some apocalyptic survey,” - Colyn Cameron
“Actively seeking self improvement and pursuing positive changes over neutrality and repetition. Leaving unhealthy habits behind and holding yourself accountable for your own actions and behaviors” - Chemical Club
“When I wrote ‘Night Crawling,’ it was a reflective moment of particular times. That kind of NYC that held art in its grip, strong enough to keep it safe and dangerous enough to keep it interesting” - John Cale
“Freakout/Release is about pent-up energy and the need for release, and escape. It’s also about making sense of music, and at times being plagued by the thing you focus on - music never leaves my head for a second, which is usually a good feeling, but it can feel claustrophobic at times too.” - Hot Chip
Slowcity.ca Open Mic: She & Him, Amythyst Kiah, Valerie June, Mauvey, Will Stewart, Chemical Club, Andrea Nixon, and Mimi O’Bonsawin
By Will McGuirk
“‘Hitchin' a Ride ‘is one of those songs that I loved to head-bang to when I was alone in my room, but I never really gave much thought to what Billie Joe Armstrong was actually singing about. I ended up revisiting it for this project, and when I read the lyrics while listening, I was really blown away to realize that it's a song about a person struggling with addiction.” - Amythyst Kiah
"If you’ve ever found yourself in a completely different place then a friend or partner, CURFEW is for you. Being on different timelines can be the best thing to happen to a relationship. It’s only the worst timing if you don’t do anything about it. “ - Mauvey
“One side striving for positive change and habits in your life, the other pulling you down into things that have short term reward but will leave you worse off. Learning how to care for yourself through actions and habits. Sorting through which impulses are beneficial and which are not." - Chemical Club
“‘Earthquake’ is the transformative tale of a woman scorned. Written by a team that spans the continents and collaborated through Covid, I believe this song has a powerful story to tell and packs a pretty hefty musical punch.” - Andrea Nixon
“I was raised by incredible women and continue to learn from them. They have had a hand in making me who I am and I am always inspired by them. Their strength drives me.” - Mimi O’Bonsawin
Slowcity.ca Open Mic: Butcher Brown & Michael Millions, Valerie June, Jenny Berkel, Colyn Cameron, Triptides, Matoma and ARIZONA, Datura4, and Bruno Capinan
By Will McGuirk
"I was thinking about cycles when I wrote this. Life, death and all points in between. About how things change and how things seem to just stay the same. The only thing I want to stay the same is my family, so that what I wrote about. I recorded it straight thru too, no cutting up the vocals because Butcher Brown cut they demos straight through, that was the only way to do it. This whole collaboration has been a gem and I’m excited to share this music." - Michael Millions
“The songs themselves are a study of proximity, bringing big fears into small spaces. They’re intimate examinations of a world that often overwhelms." - Jenny Berkel
“That all tech progress is fruitful, but maybe not always ready. And that maybe it's just my own occasional aversion to this kind of societal focus that is awry, but not necessarily having the right view. It’s inspired by that and All Algorithmic realities.” - Colyn Cameron
“This song, along with the hopes of raising autism awareness, carries a special notion in general that we should remember to cherish and protect the ones we love in our lives. Sometimes we can be all they have, or vice versa.” - “A R I Z O N A
Jerry Leger, photo by Laura Proctor
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
Slowcity.ca Open Mic with Haviah Mighty, Snotty Nose Rez Kids, Valerie June, Alex Cuba, Overcoats, Metric, Lukas Nelson, Tedeschi Trucks Band
By Will McGuirk
“This song is my protest – a reminder that regardless of all the conversations, the chatter, the media, the justices and injustices – this feeling and fear we walk with, is as present as ever. After all these years, encountering the police as a marginalized person still triggers pure fear. These feelings within the production – the intensity and depth of the chords, the stress and tension of the pacing – it all mirrors the feelings of paranoia, fear, control, and our innate will to survive when encountering law enforcement. Having UK-based artist, Yizzy, bless this record brings it full circle. From a light skin male’s perspective from somewhere else on the globe, our experiences still mirror one another, a further testament to the eerie similarities of trauma among Black folks.” - Haviah Mighty
“The community was able to look on the bright side even though news media still fail to see and recognize us as human beings. No matter what label you throw at us, we know who we are and where we come from.” - Young D, Snotty Nose Rez Kids
“It took me a really long time to come back to the home in my heart. In a physical sense, that’s Texas and Hawaii. But in a spiritual sense as well—I think I finally decided not to run from who I am and who I am destined to be.” - Lukas Nelson
“When I began to imagine this album, I knew I didn’t want it to be small in any way. Neither did I want it to be known forever as the album that was born out of the pandemic. I was convinced that it definitely was the moment to aim at creating something very special, unique and vibrant, fuelled by the very deep emotions that this time has brought out of all of us.” - Alex Cuba
”This song is heartbreaking but we think it tries to show that there can be beauty in the wreckage." - Overcoats
Chad VanGaalen, photo by Sebastian Buzzalino
Slowcity.ca Open Mic with Chad VanGaalen, The Strumbellas, Valerie June, Tami Neilson, Amythyst Kiah, Cadence Weapon, Matt Berninger, Tony Joe White, Maggie Szabo, and Art d'Ecco
By Will McGuirk
Big guns, big lungs, big sounds, big ideas showed up for this Open Mic on this night here in ShwaRawk City. We always have room for the emerging voices and always happy to share those voices on this platform, thats the being an all of what we do really, but when the name kats come by, well, there’s just as much room for those folks too and we appreciate the support. Listen and learn kids, and if you haven’t begat a band go begat a band right now.
“Black Myself is the first song I’ve written that was confrontational. I’d always made it a point to sing songs that anybody could relate to, but this was something that had been welling up inside me for a long time. The reception of the song so far has given me hope that there are people out there who are ready to confront the shared trauma of racism, to look within ourselves and see how we might be perpetuating racist beliefs, and to do what is needed to create equality for all people.” - Amythyst Kiah
Megan Nash, photo by Aaron Sinclair
Slowcity.ca Open Mic with Megan Nash & the Best of Intentions, Valerie June, Begonia, Andrew Waite, Monowhales, Venus Furs, The Wanted, Derev, Blackwater Cobra, Raz, and Your Paris
By Will McGuirk
The art of persuasion is nothing about art. The art is not there to persuade but to present; not to persuade but to reveal; not to persuade but to be. The artist is there to make for us and for us to make what we will out of it; the artist is to propose with no purpose. So we present. . . and you make what you will of it.
Slowcity.ca Open Mic: Its beginning to look a lot like. . . with Valerie June, Tamia, Good Lovelies, Sasami, Bailen, and Andrew Bird
By Will McGuirk
Here in the Slowcity.ca there is an ice storm, the ground is covered in slippy white stuff, its crunchy and cold and its beginning to look like Winter is snapping at our heels. So here is some cheery Xmas sounds for y’all to go with the hot bevys and slippers.
The Good Lovlies will be donating a portion of each sale of their new ‘Evergreen’ album sold during their 2019 Christmas tour towards the planting of a "Good Lovelies Forest," near Burk's Falls, ON. “This is one small step that we can take to offset our carbon emissions as touring musicians,” says Caroline Brooks. The Good Lovelies forest will be planted in the spring of 2020
Rae Spoon, photo by Dave Todon
Slowcity.ca Open Mic - Look Up Edition with Lost Frequencies, Rae Spoon, Valerie June, Terouz, Dave Sampson, half•alive, SiR, Skyharbor and Bear's Den
By Will McGuirk
Its around about this time most years, when after a month of weekends at music festivals that the optimism creeps in for me. The cooler evenings induce contemplation. The good vibes from festivals continue to resonate and ideas percolate. August is the plateau, the new year is weeks away but still its weeks away. These are the days to accept as reward for those night drives in freezing rain, relax, wonder, and let your mind wander.