Slowcity.ca Open Mic: Hayden, The Bros. Landreth, Gabrielle Shonk, Ruby Singh and the Future Ancestors, blesse, Local Natives, Hot Chip, and PUP

Will McGuirk October 13, 2022

By Will McGuirk

"I was inspired to write this song after covering a Leonard Cohen song called ‘Avalanche’ for the promotion of the film Death Of A Ladies Man. I switched the finger-picking guitar to a rolling piano part and liked the feel so much, I just kept playing until this chord progression appeared. The words came later after an autumn visit to Newfoundland. To me, the East Coast imagery matched the circular playing perfectly.” - Hayden

“‘Just Before The Morning’ came from a burst of creativity after we finally reconnected in the studio. The song explores the cyclical nature of life and the many ways in which we begin again.” - Local Natives

“PUP live is PUP at our best and also at our worst. Raw, scrappy, and holding on for dear life.” - Stefan Babcock

Hayden's annual Dream Serenade benefit concert takes place on November 12 at Massey Hall. Tickets here.

Slowcity.ca Open Mic: Jerry Leger, Georgia Harmer, Abigail Lapell, Deanna Petcoff, Sam Jr., Ghostkeeper, Niall Mutter, Allegories, and JIMBO

Will McGuirk February 17, 2022

By Will McGuirk

“There's no smoke and mirrors in what I do and that can be rewarding for both the creator and the listener. Are we not all just trying to survive in some way?" - Jerry Leger

“I wrote it during a long period of emotional manipulation that made me question my own reality. I had enough sad songs and I just wanted to rock out.” - Georgia Harmer

“Make it sound like you're driving a stolen car at night after you've robbed a bank and you pull over to a bar at the side of the road for a drink to contemplate your next move. While you've been sipping your drink you've been also locking eyes with someone across the room. On your way out the door you stop by their table and after a few words you both make a run for it!’” - Sam Jr.

“It’s about yearning to return to that powerful spot: that piece of land where I have played in wonderment with the Creator as it engaged as Mother Earth and Grandmother Sun; that place in time when spirituality was simple, concise and magical…and I felt safe, inspired, and grateful." - Ghostkeeper

“I found myself having one foot caught in the past and the other in the future. I wrote this song from a place of acceptance, being ok with the duality of the two, and finding peace somewhere in between." - Niall Mutter

Slowcity.ca Open Mic with Haviah Mighty, David Strickland, Le Couleur, Grace Gillespie, the OBGMs, Alex Izenberg, Mike Block, Bros Landreth, Owen Barney, Chris Grey,

Will McGuirk July 8, 2020

By Will McGuirk

The vocabulary around electronic media is drawn from water - waves, streams, surfing, navigating, and the fuel for electronic media growth has been music. Music is as ubiquitous and necessary as water. Music is utility.

“Thirteen speaks factually and candidly, to the painful journey of Black people in North America. And it speaks to how that journey has morphed into continued racial prejudice, using the media and using the law. To get rid of white supremacy is to identify it at its root. I hope when people watch Thirteen, they feel moved to do their part in reversing white supremacy. I hope we can begin to see one another as equal – a dream I've always hoped could one day be a reality. And I hope people realize that it's going to take WORK! Who is willing to work, to make change?” - Haviah Mighty

“Much of my time is spent trying to reassure myself through rationalizing and acceptance, heard in the song’s verses, coupled with outbursts of inward frustration that I express in the choruses. I think it’s a pattern we have all been through throughout lockdown. We are trying with all our hearts to make the most of this gift of time and be ‘grateful for the day’ but then realizing that we are sipping coffee and trying to create (or just get on with work) while ambulances are filing past.” - Grace Gillespie

Mike Block · Expression of Concern (feat. KINAN ADNAWI)

“As dancers, we express ourselves through movement. We tried to capture what it was like for us in that moment and empathize with those who were going through the same thing. It’s easy to forget we don’t fight this by ourselves, and this video is our way of reaching out to say we are there with you.” - Liam Caines, Royal Winnipeg Ballet

Slowcity.ca Open Mic - So It Begins - Black Belt Eagle Scout, Close Talker, Sasami, The Bros. Landreth and Dan Moxon,

Will McGuirk September 3, 2019

By Will McGuirk

Back to life, back to reality, melancholic memories of summer, and expectations for Fall, - but storms south of us here remind us of the work we have all to do. We have had time to gather, to discuss, to air, and to reassess, we have had close talkings, talking closer, we have work to do, a lot of work and it starts now. Talk closer, the change it brings

Slowcity Open Mic - Coast edition with Iskwe, Tourist Company, Ryan Rickenbach, The Bros. Landreth, Tre Mission, Loving and Anna Rose

Will McGuirk July 29, 2019

By Will McGuirk
Heat, yes, hot, hot, hot, coast on the heat waves, the world is turning, hope it don’t turn away, turn, turn, turn, find someone who’s turning and you will come around, lean into it, take it, love it, embrace it . . . because you don’t have to shovel sunshine, baby, you don’t have to shovel sunshine. Here are some of the tracks which made their ways across the slowcity.ca desk, enjoy them and the sun.