Live Sessions

Sean Passmore is a self-described geek of Christmas music. He's been making compilation discs for his friends and family on the order of something like thirty per year since the 80s. Sometimes he starts them as early as August! Brutal, right? I mean, especially if you're not in to the whole Christmas music bit...

But wait. Sean has some fine taste in music and his enthusiasm for Christmas and its assortment of music isn't annoying in the way that saccharine-sweet 'Christmas cheer' typically is. And this year? He had a larger idea for a compilation. It's called : elft.

elft is this year's Christmas compilation that features some of Halifax, Nova Scotia's finest independent musicians. And! And, says Sean:

What would a Christmas compilation be without a very worthy cause to support? All proceeds from the sale of "elft" go towards The Mercy Centre. The Mercy Centre helps the children and communities of the many slums of Bangkok, Thailand. Together with their neighbors in the slums they create simple but progressive solutions that touch the lives of thousands of the poor everyday. Their efforts help build and operate schools, improve family health and welfare, protect street children's rights, combat the AIDS crisis, respond to daily emergencies, and offer shelter to orphans, to street children, and to children and adults with AIDS.

This short excerpt was from a 90 minute show entirely focused on Xmas music. 90 minutes!

Don Brownrigg is a perennial and very fine piano and guitar-playing sideman here in Halifax. One day, he took to the stage at one of the open mic nights at the Khyber Club on Barrington Street and sang his songs for all to hear and no longer just a sideman was he. On this day, Don joined me at CKDU and played some songs he's recording for his debut album.

Singer/Songwriter/Sideman, Silly, Slack and Slick Don Brownrigg writes songs about time, moods and other little things.

Growing up on the rural hills in the farming country of Newfoundland gave him an understanding for taking things one step at a time and an appreciation for life because of all thats around him, not because of fancy bells and/or whistles.

Performing for audiences before the age of 10, his musical ear ensures he will be a lifelong musician, of some sort or the other. His songwriting is catchy alt-folk-country-esque that at times hints on lesser complicated jazz melodies. His delivery is subtle yet strong as his smoky alto vocals are backed by his guitar or ticklish keys. Don has performed at benefits, songwriters circle, clubs and festivals. He likes to eat a lot, drink a little, be a sideman and a soloist.

My guests this week were broken deer - extended. Lindsay Dobbin along with Ashleigh Gaul and Christine Comeau.

We talked about the new album, Displaced Field Recordings, played a few selections and all three played a couple songs, live.

Displaced Field Recordings is a weld of geology and sound. A historical recovery. The earth building up and collapsing, weathered down, restrained and decayed. Spaces of loss were sifting around underneath. Little pieces quietly fading, shifting, wanting to sweep the sky. I needed to recover them. Bring what was left to the surface. Find the hidden hope beneath a layering of heavy sediment. I wanted to remember a gathering of our small going, displaced.

The Wilderbeats are two of Nova Scotia's finest musical animators who write and perform songs about nature. Their music and shows are entertaining and fun for kids and grown-ups alike.

This Saturday, August 26, The Wilderbeats are releasing their second album, Second Nature, here in Halifax. I travelled to Kejimkujik National Park and attended their live concert in the outdoor ampitheatre under one very starry August night sky and talked with them about their music the next day.

These two blossoming musicians obviously do care for the organisms that slink and coil in the understory of our human-centred culture, and have been the madcap oracles of nature's voice for a new generation.

- David Boehm, Rural Delivery

The Wilderbeats are educational entertainment for children of all ages. Their songs are catchy and fun, easy to sing along with, and invite enthusiastic participation. Ashley and Joyce blend their voices together beautifully, creating harmonies that are truly inspirational.

- Alan Warner, Adjunct Professor in Environmental Studies at Dalhousie University and Environmental Program Designer/Director of HRM's Adventure Earth Centre

Many thanks to Matt Labrador for the soundboard patch and to Ashley, Joyce, Donna and Jeff for their kind hospitality.

My guest today was Sarah Mangle - musician, illustrator, and resident tech for a Montréal based radio show on CKUT called, "Audio Smut" which airs on the first Wednesday of every month from 6-7pm ET as part of the Hersay programme.

We talked about the radio show and about her beginnings and development as a musician and she played a few of her own songs, live in the studio on her banjo-uke.

I started singing private answering machine concerts 2 years ago and now I sing in front of people. Outside. Inside. In the morning. In the night. Short simple songs. Lots of love.

This episode was pre-recorded in August 2006.

Anticipating no live music segment for today's show, I was happily surprised to see all four members of the band, Caledonia, show up at the station with instruments in hand and ready to play. After spending some significant time living in different far-flung corners across North America, this band is glad to be back in the same place, again. This weekend, they're releasing their second EP, Waiting to Burn.

Caledonia first performed together in April of 2003, packing The North Street Church with 200 sweating bodies. With help from Rose Cousins and Ruth and Gabe Minnikin of The Guthries' the walls were creaking to the finest drunken gospel the night had to offer. The performance was well received and inspired the band to spend most of the next year in the studio producing a lengthy debut album.

Caledonia, originally a solo project by Nova Scotia singer/songwriter, Steve Gates, has developed over the past two years into a cohesive folk rock band. Steady rhythms laid down by Zac Crouse on bass, and Steve Reble support the layers of Ian Bent's distorted organs and Steve Gates' surf/country style guitar. This combination lends an aggressive edge to the eclectic mix of folk, rock, reggae and dance music.

In Halifax, see them this weekend for their release show at the Marquee Club. After that, they'll embark on a tour that will lead them south to UMaine in Orono and then on to Boston, to play in the Nemo Festival. And then, a tour across Canada- all the way to BC and back.

Today's show featured music and talk with Tanya Davis. We talked about her new album, Make a List, and she played a lovely new song called, "The Gorgeous Morning".

Writing and performing spoken word style poetry since 2000, Tanya's performed up and down the west coast and at venues across PEI and throughout Halifax, including the Halifax International Writer's Festival and Word on the Street. She placed first in the PEI portion of the 2005 CBC Poetry Faceoff and went on to place 3rd in the country. Of her poetry people say, ''engaging, unique, accessible and yet interesting use of language''; of her delivery they say, ''rhythmic, with great cadence and good timing''; of her presence as a performer they say ''genuine and magnetic."

But poetry is not enough; music is not enough....fusion is enough. Tanya is currently working to bring her two loves together. She just finished her first recording, a collection of poems and songs.

To me, hers is a unique voice.

My guest this week was Dave Bidini of the Rheostatics, who stopped in Halifax en route to Newfoundland as part of his literary/musical tour, Around the World in 80 Gigs.

We talked about his current tour and he shared some stories from his time in China, Russia and Finland. We also talked a bit about the Rheostatics, hockey, baseball and the making of The Story of Harmelodia into a musical.

Rose Cousins was my guest on today's show. We talked about and played a few tracks from her new album, If You Were For Me, and she played a few new songs- live, in the studio - including my request for her fine cover of "I'm On Fire".

PEI native, Rose Cousins, draws from the folk tradition of storytelling with honest and compelling lyrics, matched in quality by her effortlessly pure vocals. She has the subtle assuredness of a songwriter with a keen sense of emotion and intelligence, poetry and eloquence. Her evocative storytelling, subtle guitar and captivating vocals leave audiences silent and affected every time.

The release of Rose's highly anticipated full length album If You Were for Me is scheduled for Sept 6, 2006 in Halifax, Nova Scotia after which she will tour the album through the Maritimes, Québec and Ontario.

September 6 - If You Were For Me cd-release show - Dunn Theatre, Dal Arts Centre, Halifax, Nova Scotia

Catching up with Al Tuck while he was in Halifax for the In the Dead of Winter Festival and talking about his latest release, My Blues Away.

A house fire destroyed all of his possessions, except an acoustic guitar, in 2003 and it took some time for him to assemble his latest studio effort, My Blues Away, released in 2005.

Hourglass Class just released their first self-titled album and are already working on new material for the next one. They're a band who formed haphazardly and clicked.

Fearing career-driven autumn like a literal deadline, they supported the hourglass as a symbol of their limited days together as pupils of music for life, and so chose to call themselves students of the Hourglass Class. What was hoped for and what was understood were transcended by the music they made together.

Today, this busy band (minus the string section) came in to talk and play a couple live songs.

My guest today was Jonathan Andrews. We talked about his latest album, Halifax Indie Rock, side-projects from the seriously acclaimed Middleclass Pushovers to the less than serious Jonathan Andrews Whistles 20 Beatles Hits and how cooking can be a bit like making music.

And while both Jonathan and I were both equipped with all the modern communications devices we could have possibly needed to schedule this interview, it was all arranged by word of mouth.

Introducing Scribbler! Alex, Nathan, Craig, Adrian and Franc play a few tunes live, gathered around ye olde in-studio mics.

This group, comprised of musicians originating from New Glasgow, NS and Boston, MA, makes music that's unlike anything I've ever heard before. Yeah!

Today, my guest was musician, Matthew Grimson of Grimson Inc., The Alewives, and dmk. Matt also plays the guitar, but today he brought along his keyboard and played a few tunes live in the studio.

From an earcandy review :

Grimson is a Canadian born songwriter with a great feel for writing catchy seventies FM radio style songs. His skills have gained him a cult following that includes Chris Murphy from the band Sloan. The vocals have a loose feel that makes you think that it could all fall apart at any moment but it never does. It's a bit like Sting's Roxanne era. It's nice to hear music with slight imperfections. It gives the songs character and in a Pro-Tools world you don't get that very often.

We talked a bit about all the bands he calls home, the new Grimson Inc. album he's got in the works, If You Still Don't Get It and who that Cyndi girl is he sings about.

Talking with five of the eight members of The Grass after their great release show and before their giant cross-country tour in support of their new album, Oranges.

As a band, The Grass are a melting pot of musical styles; three chord country, jangley folk-rock, gritty 50s style power chording, mammoth arena rock and spirited do-wop group sing-a-longs all find their place in the music. Inspired by old records and ancient concert footage, the members of The Grass joined together in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia to play music that sounds like all their favorite bands performing simultaneously.

My guest today, by way of the phone last night, was luthier, George Rizsanyi. George is recognized worldwide for the design and construction of his hand-made, custom-built guitars. George is also the master luthier of the guitar currently touring across Canada that is at the heart of the Six String Nation movement. And this week, both the guitar and George will be at the Lunenburg Folk Harbour Festival with a performance on Thrusday August 10 at 7pm.

The Six String Nation -- a movement based on a guitar that connects people from all regions of Canada through music and by sharing our stories -- launched July 1 at the Canada Day Celebrations in Ottawa, and is appearing at festivals across the country, all summer.

Traditional, but not necessarily typical, Canadian icons, images and stories are built right into the Six String Nation guitar. The sixty-plus components of the guitar are at the heart of the project; each element is something meaningful and representative of a significant aspect of Canadian history or culture.

The Six String Nation is the brainchild of award-winning broadcaster Jowi Taylor, in collaboration with master luthier George Rizsanyi, who created the guitar at his workshop in Nova Scotia.

Aaron Mangle is a helpful diagram. I didn't know it when I first caught their individual sets one day last summer, but he's also the brother of Sarah Mangle. Nor did I know that Aaron also plays drums in A Band of Owls. Today, it was all about the solo projects with a helpful diagram.

Aaron played a couple songs with words that he wrote last summer and we also listened to and talked over some of the instrumental electroacoustic recordings he created over longer periods of time in a studio. These instrumentals sound distinctly different with more unique structures, yet somehow still sound related to the more traditional sounding songs with vocals. Or not? I think if it were it on vinyl, each could be the b-side to each. Or a-.

garbled tape

Jenn is now working on her first full length that she has been invited to record with the CBC. She has some very talented friends that play in her band and these are Sean MacGillivray (bass and some singing), Jason Burns (drums and percussion) and Dave Christenson (keys, flute, glock).

She toured Europe this year with the pop orchestral band The Heavy Blinkers, played the Toronto Film Festival and was asked to open for Feist on two occasions as well as Josh Ritter. She has also been fortunate enough to share the stage in intimate venues on several occasions with Julie Doiron as well as Ron Sexmith.

Jenn continues to tour and write songs. She has a big yellow dog named Stanley who hears all the songs before they make it to the stage.

New band members. New album. A tour through Europe coming up. When you hear Jenn Grant play and sing, none of this will be at all surprising. See Jenn Grant and The Night Painters this Saturday at Stage Nine, here in Halifax.

Pamela is a musician's musician, born and raised; she plays piano, bass, writes and sings. And she sounds sensational! Our time was a bit limited in today's session thanks to traffic, but she did not disappoint.

After years of playing behind charismatic front men, Pamela McInnis decided it was her turn to take the lead. A talented songwriter in her own right, she raised the money to record an album and left her regular gigs in two established local bands behind.

The shadowy bass player in well-known Halifax acts the Museum Pieces and the Middleclass Pushovers, McInnis simply couldn't resist a chance in the spotlight.

Johnston Farrow, The Coast

With British sounding surnames, musicians from Nova Scotia regularly run the risk of being mistakenly miscategorized as "traditional musicians" even when they're not. That's why Pamela has decided to call her solo work, Pamela Underwater. She's got a new album, new songs in the works and she's a woman who can play a great live tune on a moment's notice.