Jadea Kelly announces July residency at Cameron House

By Will McGuirk

2022 OMA award winner Jadea Kelly will return to her beginnings for a residency at the Cameron House in Toronto July 11, 18, & 25, 2023. Kelly has been living in Los Angeles so this gives her closer to home fans a chance to catch up.

"The Cameron House was home to me for all of 2010. Every Tuesday from 6-8 pm. It provided an opportunity to build my Toronto audience, hone my sound and find my voice. I have nothing but fond memories in this space. The Cameron House represents my 20s and a family of Canadian artists dedicated to their craft. I look forward to returning this July 2023 during the same Tuesday 6-8PM time slot, to showcase my new unreleased album produced by Jim Bryson this past year.” says Kelly.

Each evening will have a surprise guest sit in with Kelly. And of course as someone who has co-written and/or toured with such lights as Justin Rutledge, Whitehorse, Judy Collins, Catherine MacLellan, Royal Wood, Kelly Prescott, Sweet Alibi, Peter Katz, The Digging Roots, Leela Gilday and Joey Landreth, as well as singing with Protest The Hero, its anyone’s guess as to who may show up.

Jadea's fourth studio album, Roses, was released in March 2022 and garnered Kelly the OMA Single of the Year award for ‘Happy’.

Gigs This Week: Skye Wallace at the Biltmore Theatre, an interview

By Will McGuirk

Whitby rock ‘n roller Skye Wallace rolls into Oshawa’s Biltmore Theatre Friday Nov. 25 2022 on the eve of the close of her cross-Canada tour. Wallace is on the road promoting her latest long player, ‘Terribly Good’ available via Six Shooter Records. Its an apt title for the record, in the Old Blighty sense of the phrase. The album follows her self-titled which won the 2020 OMAs for Album of the Year. Wallace is, as they say a star on the rise; Grant Lawrence over on the CBC says "Everything this woman does is with raw passion and musical power.".

We have to agree, ‘Terribly Good’ kicks off with a kick full of that passion and power so we reached out over email and Skye responded, terribly kind of her.

Slowcity.ca: Straight off the bat such a strong song, Who or what were you fighting tooth and nail, and where does that determination to continue come from?

Skye Wallace: “The song is definitely a reminder of how far you've come and everything you had to fight for to be standing where you are today. That can mean the doubters, the people that wanted to take you down a peg along the way, and even your own mind - sometimes the biggest obstacles to overcome are within. What the song has become for me is a reminder to look at your current life through the eyes of your younger self - it's easy to get too close to it and lose sight of the long path you've walked, but there's a power in recognizing what you want and how you've fought to achieve it.”

SC: There is a sense of celebration, of joy to the album, is it a celebration of self, of survival or. . . ?

SW: “Kind of all of those things. There's definitely an introspection to this record that made me dig deep and look at all the little messy pieces of being alive. I think you have to celebrate your Self in order to keep going and growing, or to just keep surviving. And you definitely have to celebrate the little things, which can be fun and exciting, but can even be just getting out of bed in the morning when you're going through a tough time. I think it's a celebration of all of those pieces of life that shine brilliantly when you look at them altogether.”

SC: Tell me about the recording of the album, done during the restrictions, what was that like?

SK: “Technology has come a long way and allowed for so much work to be done remotely - it felt great to keep the momentum going on the record during that time. But another thing that I felt I was afforded during the album's fruition was time, space to be introspective, to try new things, to really dig deep and think about it all. So often when things are busy, I can't even think straight. I can't access my real emotions. Too busy to look inward. That kind of existence was stripped away and left a very raw and vulnerable space to move through the creation of this project and I'm pretty grateful to have had that time and space. I think, too, that being mindful of that oversaturation and burnout is something that we all need to focus on now that we're becoming active and busy again. It's something I'm trying to stay on top of as things ramp up.”

SC: How has it been back out on stage, some people built up habits during lockdown that might be hard to break, and some took a second look at their lives and said nah!

SW: “That is very fair! It's not an easy life and it's certainly not for everyone. For me, taking a step back and asking myself whether I wanted to continue and being met with an inner resounding "yes" made it all very clear. Touring is a wild west world out there right now, but this tour has really filled my cup with full rooms and full hearts. Connecting with people over all these new songs and rocking out in person has felt immensely special.”

SC: It could be just me, but there are parts of the album, 'Keeper,' in particular that have a very sweet Lowest of the Low vibe, is it there? What have you learned from being around those guys?

SW: “We have been very lucky to have shared the stage with lots of awesome acts like The Lowest of the Low, Matt Mays, Crown Lands, and Sam Roberts, and all have been so incredibly welcoming and supportive - I don't take that lightly, it's a privilege to be friends with all these folks and to get to continue to learn so much from them. The Low have always been a big influence for me and that tour formed a very bonded friendship between all of us that felt rare and intimate. My band and I still hang out with them all and work with them in many capacities. I think it's been an amazing growing opportunity to learn from the Low, who have had such a prolific and well-respected career - they've been so influential in the Canadian rock scene and I love how political they've been with their platform. I think you're right in your observation about their influence around Keeper and the dynamic of the album, because I think that's another thing that LOTL does so well is that dynamic in their music. They can rock out while accessing real conversations and topics, and they can also strip it down and sing the most beautiful tender song and have it completely make sense in their set. I think that's something I strive toward and really look up to them in their ability to create these spaces and emotional dynamics in their musical landscape.”

Gigs This Week: OMA5 Troubadour Series at the Biltmore Theatre

By Will McGuirk

The Troubadour Series comes to an end with Week 6: The OMAs Nominees Night
Featuring 2022 Oshawa Music Award Nominees in the "Best Emerging Artist" category: Anthony Brown, Cameron Tania and Delon Om as well as past OMA Winner Nathan Carr with the Nathan Carr Band.

Gigs This Week: Zaftig at the Biltmore Theatre

By Will McGuirk

2020 OMA Emerging artist Zaftig at the Biltmore Theatre Friday July 15 2022. Tickets here.

Stouffville steps out for Wintersong festival 2022

By Will McGuirk

Is this the first? A music festival? Just over the border of Durham Region, in the, I do have to say, lovely town of Stouffville Wintersong takes place Mar 25 and 26. The festival features Charles Spearin of Broken Social Scene and Stephen Stanley, formerly of Lowest of the Low, as well as Bif Naked, and The Darcys, in almost a dozen venues throughout the downtown.

There are several Durham Region artists performing, among them 2020 OMA winners Hollow Sage and the Three Mile Islanders, and Tania Joy, plus Cassie Noble, Chalk Lake, EDITH, Hunter Sheridan, and Matt Gunn. Mattie Leon as well as Jitensha, both acts are friends of Slowcity.ca are also performing.

The festival is organised by the good folks at Epidemic Music Group, whom you may recall were behind the Guinness Book of Records Longest Concert by Multiple Artists attempt.

For more information and tickets go here ->

Hunter Sheridan plays the Biltmore Theatre in Oshawa, Friday Oct. 22 2021

By Will McGuirk

Well if you want to see the next gen of musicians making things happen then check out this very fine line-up at the Biltmore Oct 22 2021. Hunter Sheridan, Hollowsage and the Three Mile Islanders, and Wooly are all scheduled to perform

Hunter Sheridan has been plugging away all over the D-Rock (he is currently based in Guelph) and its been a treat to see him emerge over the past years. This is his party and well deserved it is indeed.

I’m new to Hollowsage (Sagen Pearse of Uxbridge) but I did get to meet him at the OMA awards where he won a couple, and I am looking forward to more shows by this kat and his band.

Wooly have been a fave of mine since the outset, I have worked with them twice; once on the Bell Fibe TV show ‘Live at the Upstairs Basement’, and on a video shoot session previously at Blue Heron Books. Great folks, doing some inneresting things.

This is the one folks. These musicians have been making it all during lockdown, amid all the zoom and gloom, now they get to be back out, live and in-person, to perform whats been in their heads and bedrooms for almost two years.

Buy those tickets here ->