By Will McGuirk
“Our thinking is so polarized these days, there's no room for nuance or complexity. It’s sad really, because beauty and growth reside in these in-between areas.” - Nathan Lawr
Slowcity.ca Open Mic with Sarah Neufeld, LAL, Autogramm, Rich Aucoin, Islands, The Lagoons, Ormiston, Black River Delta, and TEKE::TEKE
By Will McGuirk
As we prepare to repeat, we can see the repetition, with the addition of time, as stasis. Yes you are here. . . again.
"'. . . it’s just me, centered in the whirlwind of my own creation. “The Top” represents change, and the struggle in making peace with oneself." - Sarah Neufeld
“I would not be where I am today without women like Rita, and my mother, who taught me that the power of strength to rise up and be strong is within us all. This recording and video are a tribute to them, and to any human who has felt the fight and is still fighting.” - Jenn Grant
“The lyrics of “Mantra” describe a certain relationship to satori, meditation, focus/flow, repetition, mind/no mind, of being in the zone. - director Shayne Ehman
Slowcity.ca Open Mic with Laila Biali, Sarah Neufeld, Nathaniel Rateliff, Daysormay, Charles Ellsworth, Mark Nyvlt, Black River Delta, Frànçois & The Atlas Mountains, Buscabulla, and Jack Kays,
By Will McGuirk
“Just before our love got lost you said,
I am as constant as a northern star
And I said, "Constantly in the darkness,
Where's that at?
If you want me I'll be in the bar."
Its the broadness of Joni Mitchell, her artistic scope, the length and breadth of her, truly authentic, really a badass, impossible to capture, an artist as an environment. If there was one to have spent some moments with, oh man!!, but we have the music, and we can spend more than moments with it, we can live inside of it, alongside of Joni.
“My first experience hearing Joni Mitchell's music was when I was still a music student at Humber College. Hejira and Mingus were the obvious starting point for a Jazz novice as equally interested in the musicians accompanying Joni as in Joni herself. But then along came Blue. That was the one, the album that triggered a lifelong fascination with Joni and her songwriting. She made my heart ache with every feeling, love and loss in the same breath. No song captures that more for me than A Case of You. I think it's the ultimate Valentine's song because it can reach you no matter where you're at – whether you're in love, longing for it, or mourning it.” - Laila Biali
“This song is about being obsessed with someone. Spinning round and round, your mind goes in circles and you never change your position. The fantasy remains a distant galaxy. Love is a mental projection. Somehow, this vivid tune resonates with our recent lockdown lifestyle. On loop.” - Frànçois Marry
Tami Nelson, photo by Si Moore
Slowcity.ca Open Mic with Tami Nelson, Mo Kenney, Melanie, Janet Simpson, Venus Furs, Christee Palace, Strippers Union, Alex Southey, Black River Delta, JP Sunga,
By Will McGuirk
Could be me, could be Tuesday, but it seems the ladies have got the blues, - we do this by inviting everyone who wants to to get up on stage, and sometimes its a flow and sometimes its all going in every direction, this evening its all these so fab female voices but there’s a sadness to the sassiness but heck the blues ain’t nothing to get down about.
I've been a big Daniel Romano fan since I first heard this song. It was so nice to hear a modern country song that was reminiscent of the old stuff. The songwriting is so good, I was excited to strip it down so the lyrics really shine. Recorded in front of one mic at the New Scotland Yard.” – Mo Kenney
“we were musing on the idea that the majority of beings live behind the scene lives with no perceived power or glory, often unaware of the power they actually hold, individually and collectively - especially as ‘we’. The ingenuity required to survive is more amazing than the trivial exploits of the ‘powerful’. The real power waits and it's beautiful when it shows itself. ‘We’re the dirt that starts the pearl’.” - Rob Baker