Slowcity.ca Open Mic: Mike Boguski, Jean-Michel Blais, Zoon, Zada, She and Him, Rachel Bobbitt, Dawes, Whitehorse, and Sorry,

Will McGuirk July 12, 2022

By Will McGuirk

“There is something alluring to me about checking the power of ego and tribalism, and as an artist, that is what I’m most inspired to do.” - Mike Boguski

“At the antipodes of the exploded, orchestral and luminous album that aubades represents exists its antagonism: sérénades” - Jean-Michel Blais

“I wanted to write about what it's like to be an immigrant…and for me – coming from Ethiopia – that meant excessive TSA checks, accustoming to new cultures, and travelling,” - ZADA

“Watch and See is a song about attempting to connect through moments of dissociation. Trying to use bits of phrases, visual landmarks & physical sensations to bring myself back to the present moment.” - Rachel Bobbitt

At the Drake Hotel. Toronto Aug 9 2022

at the Hayloft, Picton, ON, August 5 2022

Slowcity.ca Open Mic: Dawes, Martha and the Muffins, Rachel Bobbitt, Night Moves, Sylvia Kay, Burn the Louvre, and Tove Stryke

Will McGuirk May 10, 2022

By Will McGuirk

“The first half of this song could be about tyrants. But it could also be about anyone who thinks that a little more control is gonna make everything ok. The second half is a response to that developing reality of the first half. The world might be a scary place sometimes but, to some degree, I want to believe I can decide how I respond to it.” - Taylor Goldsmith, Dawes

“It’s all about this body that I have, suffering from the migraines I’ve inherited from my mom, but it’s also about how some people see women as being made for having children, something I don’t even necessarily want at this point.” - Rachel Bobbitt

“In August of 2021, the songwriting process really began and it hit me that this was my last year of high school, my last year in this hometown, and the last time I’d see a lot of these people ever again. The whole first half of the song is exactly that: reminiscing and the nostalgia behind it all. The second half is all about the process to maturity — that there was something so much greater beyond, a whole world I hadn’t discovered yet.” - Sylvia Kay

Burn The Louvre · Driving In The Rain

Slowcity.ca Open Mic with Terry Uyarak with Riit, Ryan O'Shaughnessy, Dawes, Rich Aucoin, Tyler Ramsey, Kadeema, Butcher Brown, Low Float, and Color Fields

Will McGuirk September 19, 2020

By Will McGuirk

Nunavut artist Terry Uyarak has released the latest single from his upcoming album, ‘Nunarjua Isulinginniani (Before the World Ends)” due Friday Oct 20, 2020. The new track “Anuri” features Polaris Prize nominee Riit and is accompanied by a video directed by Chris Mills, no stranger to us at slowcity.ca. The song was written by the late Simon Uyarasuk and is dedicated to him.

“The land is our source and our being. The land has always been our trouble and our freedom. The land has been my ancestor’s stories and have become my story.” - Terry Uyarak

Dawes take on mental health and survival in their new song “Didn’t Fix Me”. Their new album ‘Good Luck with Whatever’ drops Friday Oct 2 2020 on Rounder Records.

“I'm sure we all know plenty of miserable people who seem to have it all and plenty of blissful people that seem to have close to nothing. This song is about the efforts one makes to find some easy fix, unable to recognize that it will never work that way, that we are in the end our own responsibility." - Taylor Goldsmith, Dawes

Buy the vinyl here ->

Rich Aucoin shouts out iconic music videos from such illuminaries as Prince, Nirvana, MC Hammer, Queen and more, in the fun and subtle new video for “Walls.” Aucoin’s album ‘United States’ out now, is a concise, creative and considerate response to a very complex situation in the country south of us, a response with heart and beats.

“. . . this song is appealing to not make the divisions amongst our groups be so hard cut off for membership and to keep lines of communication and compassion open to enable more and more to join the team.” - Rich Aucoin

Buy the vinyl here ->

Hidden Pony · Kadeema - Ordinary World

Acid jazz/hip hop crossover artist Butcher Brown’s debut for Concord Jazz, ‘#Kingbutch’ is now available.

Buy the vinyl here ->

Low Float · Golden

Slowcity.ca Open Mic with Terra Lightfoot, Avi Kaplan, Avett Brothers, Dawes, Joséphine, Young Gun Silver Fox, Nimrawd, Devan, Anjelica

Will McGuirk August 8, 2020

By Will McGuirk

Its the rock, and its the roll. Its the morning roll, the every morning roll of the rock uphill, the rock which rolled back down overnight. Its the inevitability of defeat and the absurd hope in imagining an alternative outcome. Every morning, the rock, every morning the roll and every morning the hope, always the hope, always the hope. Thats the art of it, of life, of it all. To persevere, to continue.

“'Paper Thin Walls' is about having your heart run over by someone who never really comes through.” - Terra Lightfoot

“. . . sharing it now is about what sharing art is always about: another chance that we may partake in connecting with our brothers and sisters of this world, and hopefully joining you in noticing a speck of light gleaming in what appears to be a relatively long and dark night.” - the Avett Brothers

“‘St. Augustine at Night’ is a song about one’s relationship to their hometown, but also is a song about the varying degrees in which we all watch our lives pass us by.” - Taylor Goldsmith, Dawes

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

Will McGuirk July 22, 2020

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.

Scenic Route to Alaska · Closer