“Down North.” In the traditional sense these directions will get you nowhere, but ask anyone from Cape Breton, and they’ll point you in the direction of the Highlands; a place of unparalleled, rugged beauty. Every inch of the highlands speaks a truth, so it only stands to reason that Jesse Cox, a native of Bay St Lawrence follows suit. These days Cox splits his time between Cape Breton, and Rexton, New Brunswick, but his heart never left the place he was born. Continue reading Jesse Cox Takes You for a Twirl on the ‘Threshing Floor’ With His Debut Release
All posts by Steve MacIntyre
Nova Scotia’s Flamenco en Rouge Offer up a Special Tribute to Miners With ‘Tierras Oscuras’
A Flamenco dancer and a coal miner walk into a bar. The bartender, realizing that there is no punchline here, offers them a drink; for tonight they’re celebrating a beautiful, if not unusual union.
Flamenco music and dance, an art form that originated in Southern Spain, can trace its path back for centuries. It is rarely presented, however, in this part of the world, but thanks to Halifax’s Flamenco en Rouge we’re able to get a taste with “Tierras oscuras,” their latest production. It’s spicy and explosive; moody and mysterious. Continue reading Nova Scotia’s Flamenco en Rouge Offer up a Special Tribute to Miners With ‘Tierras Oscuras’
Tony Ronalds Opens His Diary for Us on His Latest Single, ‘Gone’
We’ve just finished up with the supper dishes when Tony Ronalds stumbles out of bed to start breakfast. The Cape Breton native who makes his home in Sydney, Australia is on a totally different schedule than you and I. In some ways, he always has been. Continue reading Tony Ronalds Opens His Diary for Us on His Latest Single, ‘Gone’
Leo LaFleur’s ‘The Bonsai Tree’ Will Bring Out the Eight-Year-Old in You
Leo LaFleur has thrown us a curveball. We’re familiar with the Prix MNB Award-nominee’s other works; 2014’s Love and Fortune, and 2015’s What Haunts Your Road, but he’s gone and written us a children’s album, and now we’re not sure what to do. Continue reading Leo LaFleur’s ‘The Bonsai Tree’ Will Bring Out the Eight-Year-Old in You
Empathy is at the Core of Heather Armstrong’s Debut Album ‘Fearless Contribution’
Songwriters have such fascinatingly varied ways of working: some write for a project or album, some write daily or weekly, and some sit on songs for years. Heather Armstrong, however, works at a frantic pace, overcome by the need to get the songs out.
Writers sometimes call it lightning in a bottle. Armstrong’s debut album, Fearless Contribution sits squarely within this description. Written in the span of a few months, the record touches on themes that are timeless and does so with a positivity that’s contagious. Continue reading Empathy is at the Core of Heather Armstrong’s Debut Album ‘Fearless Contribution’