Slowcity.ca Open Mic: Northumberland, Cowboy Junkies, Patrick Krief, summersets, Golden Feather, the Projectors, Half Moon Run, and the Revivalists

Will McGuirk June 5, 2023

By Will McGuirk

“I remember in the studio we were really influenced by this more obscure Wilco song ‘Black Moon’ and it was our attempt at doing big CSNY style vocal harmonies throughout. Lyrically, in the sequence of the album, it falls right after the two characters breakup and fast forwards the timeline many years. A tricky, yet important song to set up their eventual reconciliation and the latter third of the album/story. One of my favourites we’ve made as summersets.” - Kalle Matheson, summersets

Video Block

Double-click here to add a video by URL or embed code. Learn more

Tami Neilson, photo by Mary Ellen Matthews
alt image - Killer Mike

Slowcity.ca Open Mic: Killer Mike, Pierre Kwenders, Tami Neilson, Grace Potter, summersets, The Matinee, Victoria Monét, and Big Little Lions

Will McGuirk May 11, 2023

By Will McGuirk

This is a celebration of a BAD ASS BLACK GIRL from the westside of Atlanta. She’s been affectionately called OG Mama Niecy by the many people she helped stay on their path.” - Killer Mike

“Reminding us that curiosity killed the cat, everything requires moderation, and that, in love, no one wants to walk on eggshells.” - Pierre Kwenders

“I wanted ‘Kingmaker’ to feel like a movie theme that plays as the opening credits unfold so that the songs take the listener through the highs and lows of a story unfolding, more like a movie soundtrack than adhering to one genre or style.” - Tami Neilson

“In Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck called Route 66 the ‘The Mother of all roads...the road of flight.’ As I zeroed out my odometer and started west on my road trip across the US, I hoped that driving the road of flight would give me a bird’s eye view of my life. But it didn’t take long to realize that I was not flying; I was running away.” - Grace Potter

Slowcity.ca Open Mic: summersets, Slow Leaves, Flasher, Bodywash, Luka Kuplowsky, Mark Bragg, NQ Arbuckle, and Alexis Normand

Will McGuirk April 12, 2023

By Will McGuirk

“I guess these songs serve as a reminder for myself, since I’m forgetful, that all moments are equal in that they pass through us once only in long stretches of boredom or by bursts of love and death. In the meantime, I only hope not to let any more go by unnoticed.” - Grant Davidson, Slow Leaves

‘Perfect Blue’ (the song) is an exploration of the many facets of my own cultural identity. Being both British and Japanese has often felt like a compromise. While it might be easy to romanticize this duality, the reality is that it’s impossible to wholly belong to either culture.” - Chris Steward, Bodywash

“the song is a recognition of the unanswerable. It is an attunement to the spiritual worlds that intersect and illuminate our daily lives.” - Luka Kuplowsky

Charlotte Cornfield, photo by Angela Lewis

Slowcity.ca Open Mic with Charlotte Cornfield, Cots, summersets, KeAloha, Halluci Nation, Bigmcenroe, Mauvey, Hayden Thorpe, and Babyshades

Will McGuirk August 7, 2021

By Will McGuirk

“I wanted to express the joy of seeing people, of those little interactions that happen throughout the day that I missed so much in the last year and a half. When I wrote this song I was spending so much time walking alone through my neighbourhood, and I wanted the video to take place on the same streetscape but be the antidote to that solitude. To me the city is so much about the people in it.” - Charlotte Cornfield

“Human bodies are like celestial ones; just as a planet’s course is carved out in relation to others, our course - where we go and what we do - is compelled by forces of attraction.” - Steph Yates, Cots

“So much of our existence is an inconceivable wonder yet we’re so distracted that we rarely register the immenseness of the moment. Right there, beside us all along, is the wonder of everything.” - Hayden Thorpe

Slowcity.ca Open Mic with Peter Katz, Ben Kunder, summersets, Venus Furs, Shred Kelly, Nation of Language, The Lagoons, Fleece, and Birdmask

Will McGuirk June 16, 2020

By Will McGuirk

When we can’t quite put our finger on it the artist can, the artist can articulate what we are feeling, the artist seems to be able to express just what it is we are hovering around. We are hovering now, unsure, cautious, courageous but nervous about this future we were not expecting.

“Of one thing we can be certain, as to visions of the future, it will be, as it has always been, the emancipatory, freedom-giving, loving and best fulfilling version of the future having been anticipated already and suggested by artists.” - President Michael D. Higgins via Hot Press

“ “Paper Thin” is about restarting and that strength that we find in ourselves during our hardest moments. Through catharsis and release, we are able to heal and a new sense of self emerges.” - Peter Katz

“It’s about exploration, nostalgia, searching for something greater and deeper than anything you’ve known.” - Ben Kunder

“I wrote "Paranoia" as an examination of mental health, looking at a bout of anxiety and depression.” - Paul Kasner, Venus Furs

Shred Kelly · Underground

“Our vocalist, Tim, began the process of creating “Underground” during a period of anxiety and insomnia while dealing with personal loss.” - Shred Kelly

“It’s about the transition of growing up and finding someone to create your own family with – leaving home, finding love, and the evolution of that happening all over again.” - The Lagoons

“It’s about saying goodbye to the world we lived in before Twitter, smartphones and Reddit. The times when we used to show up to each-others houses unannounced and it wasn’t weird. Now, however, in the context of COVID-19, the song sounds like it’s about saying goodbye to the world we lived in before the virus.” - Matt Rogers, Fleece

100% of the proceeds from this single from Jun 10 thru July 10 will go towards the Black Youth Helpline, Native Women’s Association of Canada and Black Coalition For AIDS Prevention.