Slowcity.ca Open Mic: Zoon, Amanda Sum, Super Duty Tough Work, Dan Mangan, Dan Pallotta, Noah Derksen, TFD, NGHTMRE, and Jamie,

By Will McGuirk

“As a young person I’d find ways to escape my reality, sometimes I’d lay in a field and watch the clouds shape shift in the sky, just like wasakeechuk, an old mythical creature that lived with the first indigenous people of Turtle Island.” - Zoon

“Being a Gen Zer feels shameful and comedic. It’s important to laugh at that, I think. This music video will investigate the complex feelings that come with dancing through life as a member of the Gen Z club.” - Amanda Sum

“Art happens to be our discipline so we always attempt to use it to further our cause, and create the world that we would like to see, in this case, a world where "justice" is actually served.” - Brendan Grey, Super Duty Tough Work

“This song is about being emancipated by the beautiful humility of littleness." - Dan Mangan

---

---

---

---

---

---

TFD · Him

---

---

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

Michael Boguski · positivity

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: Tragically Hip, Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats, Gold and Youth, Brandon Wolfe Scott, Mike Plume, T. Buckley, James Sullivan, and Nation of Language

By Will McGuirk

“Blush is about saying 'sure, the world we've created is full of bullshit, but that's not some inevitably, it doesn't actually have to be this way, and we have an antidote, and it's each other.” - Matthew Lyall, Gold & Youth

“I wanted to write a song to myself as a reminder, almost like a mantra, to stay in the present and accountable.” - Brandon Wolfe Scott

“. . . I feel like the song is universal with its message that it’s the little things and moments that matter, the time we’re able to spend with one another.” - T. Buckley

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

Slowcity.ca Open Mic with The Dears, Kate Boothman, Partner, POSTDATA, Dirty Projectors, Matt Berninger, Wolf Saga, and Yes Nice,

By Will McGuirk

“When we come to it
We, this people, on this wayward, floating body
Created on this earth, of this earth
Have the power to fashion for this earth
A climate where every man and every woman
Can live freely without sanctimonious piety
Without crippling fear”
~ Maya Angelou

---

“We wanted to avoid some clichés like chestnuts and sleighs or whatever. Instead it’s a very simple love song about how sometimes that time of year can highlight who you really want to be with and how that brings a huge smile to one's face as well as the warmest feeling. This is what we hope happens when people hear this song.” ~ The Dears

---

“It's about that confidence and arrogance that comes with being a spicy youth, and then all of a sudden you're an adult and you realize you knew nothing. You look back and can't help but examine everything you've learned and lost.” ~ Kate Boothman

---

Buy the vinyl here ->

---

---

Buy the vinyl here ->

---

“Every time I put on Future Islands my impression of the human condition improves. Their remix of One More Second kills me.” ~Matt Berninger.

---

WOLF SAGA · Fall Out

"Fall Out" is a song about leaving a toxic relationship, of any kind, and being able to keep your head up. Getting away from that and not getting caught up in the falling out”. ~ Wolf Saga

---

Slowcity.ca Open Mic with Julia Stone, Summersets, Matt Berninger, Ruston Kelly, The Hello Darlins, Sailmaker, Enterprise Earth, Devarrow, Lexxicon, Hollow River

Beautiful tropical night here in Shwarawk City, sending you good vibes from the porch on the Snobbery Patch with the Neowise comet on the rise on the horizon. It may be all helter skelter shelter in place, stay home, play home but we say stay with us home crew as we tune in turn on and drop the needle on tune and tune and tune . . .

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

Slowcity.ca Open Mic with Jyoti, Lou Canon, Jonsi, Mike Edel, Luka Kuplowsky, Busty and the Bass with Macy Gray, The Lagoons, Shred Kelly, Seether,

By Will McGuirk

Happy to spend time in the presence of Jyoti, the name given to Georgia Ann Muldrow by Alice Coltrane. The presence of the track in my feed reminds me of parallel worlds, cultures, lives which continue on, evolve, live, express and rarely cross my path. It is into these worlds we must challenge ourselves to step, I must challenge my self to step, to go beyond and understand the language of other cultures, other lives. And when its this good, this evocative, this clear, this expressive, this welcoming, this comprehensive well, who wouldn’t want to visit longer, and visit deeper. Its new tunes from an upcoming album Mama, You Can Bet!. Go forward with this and then go retrieve.

---

“This song is about pushing higher, going further, moving deeper. And engaging with the world in a sensual way. There is a passage by James Baldwin that encapsulates this sentiment, ‘To be sensual, I think, is to respect and rejoice in the force of life, of life itself, and to be present in all that one does, from the effort of loving to the making of bread.’”  - Lou Canon

---

---

“I don’t really feel the doubt, I just wanna sing it loud” - Mike Edel

---

“Written in an empty apartment shortly after moving in with my partner. A sincere expression of love. A sacred love song attuned to the natural world - thunder, wind, moonlight and a dolphin.” - Luka Kuplowsky

---

---

The Lagoons · Midnight Afternoon

---

---

Slowcity.ca Open Mic with Owen Pallett, David Clayton-Thomas, Idles, Liza Anne, Jesse Maxwell, Royal Canoe, Margo Price, and Rich Aucoin

By Will McGuirk

Opening even as its getting closer, its a balance. There’s anxiety, bravado, averted eye determination, and a strange nostalgia for that slower time, even though it came packaged in privilege. We may be all equally vulnerable but we are not all equally impacted.

---

 “This is a song for the unsung heroes,” the Blood, Sweat & Tears frontman shares. “I wanted to say thank you to the paramedics, firefighters, police officers, doctors, nurses, essential workers… 

 “I wanted to say thank you to all of the folks that put their lives on the line every day in dangerous and uncertain times.” 

---

---

“I was reading through old poems and journal entries and circling the drain of my own sorrow stories, which felt like a bit of a wake up call. I have all these ideas of what taking care of myself looks like, but I tend to get in my own way. Bummer Days is me calling myself out. I am the only person who will take responsibility for my emotional and mental health.” - Liza Anne

---

“Music in general makes people feel good but especially at this time it is so important to make sure the people and the staff who are working so hard are given a moment to breathe and ground themselves through this.”  -Jesse Maxwell

---

---

---

Slowcity.ca open mic with Zoon, Braids, Indigo Girls, Sarah Jarosz, Noah Reid, half•alive, Davis & The Love Gear, Juke Ross, Grizzly Coast, and The Prairie States,

By Will McGuirk

Take this moment and nail it to the wall. Take every moment and nail it to the wall. Not because its your last but because it isn’t and years from now you will look for it and it will be there for you to tear off and recall and smile.

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

---

grizzlycoast · Catch & Release

---

The Prairie States · Low Life

Slowcity.ca Open Mic - Tiger! Tiger! with Soft Plastics, Jacqueline Tucci, Tops, Pantayo, STORRY, Sarah Jarosz, Dirty Projectors and Sorry

By Will McGuirk

Well who knew we would find common ground in watching tigers. Maybe that fading grinning Cheshire Cat of Alice was the clue after all. Maybe the Tiger King in all his George the Third madness may result in a revolution, as disruptive socially as the the one George set in motion.

---

“Sometimes we search for ourselves in various places, people, and things and end up ignoring what’s right in front of us.” - Jacqueline Tucci

---

---

---

“I hope this video rings true in the hearts of those who watch it, in a world where more is more and less is not good enough, new is better and what becomes old is an increasingly shorter window. I hope that people will laugh and cry and leave changed. Because what is art if it doesn’t make us feel and ask important questions?” - STORRY

---

---

Dirty Projectors, photo by Jason Frank Rothenberg

---

Slowcity.ca Open Mic - Call it a staycation soundtrack with Lou Canon, Margo Price, Luka Kuplowsky, Cayley Thomas, Thao & The Get Down Stay Down, and Emily Rockarts

By Will McGuirk

Here at slowcity.ca we encourage staycations, we encourage small-marts, we encourage minimizing, we encourage pausing, we say gather in groups of best friends, zig where others zag, curate your life and step out of the flow and whatever you do don’t go viral.

---

Margo Price plays RBC Echo Beach on Saturday May 23

---

“When I sing Mary Margaret O’Hara’s “Anew Day”, I feel directly channeled to the joy and sorrow embedded in the music and lyrics. The first time I covered the song was the closing night of the Holy Oak Cafe - a space in Toronto that is so deeply important to my songwriting. The song is forever tied to memories of change and rebirth. Singing “Anew Day” is always utterly present and moving for me.” - Luka Kuplowsky

Luka Kuplowsky plays the Drake Underground Saturday April 4

---

---

“I believe that shame has made my work more general, when I’ve always wanted to be specific. This record is about me finally being specific. If you listen to my music, I want you to know who you are dealing with.” Thao Nguyen

---

Stay” is about the moments after a breakup, you wish that it could have worked out, maybe you still think it can, but it’s obvious that it won’t. It’s about being annoyed, perplexed, exasperated and gutted by a relationship that you knew wasn’t right from the beginning but you still hoped would work out in the end." - Emily Rockarts

Friday, May 22 - Gravenhurst, ON -  Sawdust City Brewing
Saturday, May 23 - North Bay, ON - House Concert  
Sunday, May 24 - Uxbridge, ON - The Second Wedge Brewing Co
Tuesday, May 26 - Barrie, ON - Donaleighs
Thursday, May 28 - Kingston, ON - The Mansion - TICKETS
Friday, May 29 - Wakefield, QC - The Blacksheep Inn - TICKETS
Saturday, May 30 - Montreal, QC - Casa Del Popolo - TICKETS
Sunday, May 31 - Belleville, ON - House Concert
Tuesday, June 3 -  Hamilton, ON - The Casbah
Thursday, June 4 - Guelph, ON - Silence - TICKETS
Friday, June 5 - Cambridge, ON - Four Fathers Brewing
Saturday, June 6 - Toronto, ON - Burdock - TICKETS

Slowcity.ca Open Mic with Jacques Greene, Luke Lalonde, Sandy Alex G, Lynne Hanson, Erin Costelo, LIA, Ada Lea, Little Scream, Badge Époque Ensemble, Lower Dens and Enterprise Earth

By Will McGuirk

I was watching an ad for No Frills, a video by Scott Cudmore and I started thinking about art, because that ad is art and how art is reinterpretation of life, art is a question of what is and who we are and who we are as art and there is a further story about how who we think we are can be reinterpreted as pixels for one or paint daubs for another. Who will you trust to reinterpret you? Who will you trust to re-constitute you? Would you even let go of your ego? But while I ponder here are tonight’s guests.

---

---

---

“This song is about the perils of falling for a poet, and just how rare it is to find true love.” - Lynee Hanson

---

“Directed by Amelia Curran and shot during the recording of my latest album, Sweet Marie, the video for "Hands on Fire" is a celebration of collaboration and the song itself embodies the struggles and joys of creating something.” - Erin Costelo

---

“This song is a celebration of me finding my way to womanhood and because of that, opening my arms to love.” - LIA

---

"During that period of 180 days, I often wondered what it would be like if I ever reached the other side; a seemingly unattainable goal. This song is an homage to that dream-like period." - Ada Lea

---

---

Badge Époque Ensemble, photo by Colin Medley

---

Slowcity.ca Open Mic With Grizzly Coast, Reuben and the Dark, Anna Rose, Devarrow, Pride and Glory plus Steve Mason

By Will McGuirk

Gear up for the Harvest, collect, gather, celebrate, embrace and then brace yourself for what is coming.

“to fall in love and blow away come what may my mind is made” - Reuben and the Dark

---

“While this is a very personal depiction of something I was moving through, it serves as a broad reminder that what’s on the surface doesn’t illustrate the whole picture of anybody. With the high-energy melody and bouncing riffs, I wanted to evoke the feeling of chaos when your anxious thoughts start to control you while you’re trying your best to keep up.” - Grizzly Coast

---

"Throughout a time of deep turmoil and sadness, I found myself in Nashville a lot, writing not just for myself but for other artists and for film and television. That city slowly began to really feel like home. Working there, making art there… really helped me heal a lot of the wounds that I had collected along the way in my life,” - Anna Rose

---

---

---