As far as first albums go, Rusty James has decided not to pull any punches. Wishing Well is a solid debut from the Nova Scotia-based singer-songwriter, a collection of warm and engaging tracks that help to cement James’s voice as an artist. Continue reading Rusty James Aims to Please on Debut Album ‘Wishing Well’
Dennis Ellsworth Pivots Away From Streaming Services Ahead of Triple-Album Release
Dennis Ellsworth, award-winning and prolific singer-songwriter of Prince Edward Island, is on the edge of a massive triple-album release over the next six months. His Bound by Love “project”, as it might be more accurately referred to, consists of 32 new songs spread across 3 albums and 3 EPs. Rather than the free-for-all bonanza of online streaming that has become the norm of a modern release, Ellsworth is bucking the trend in favour of something he might actually stand to make a living from. Continue reading Dennis Ellsworth Pivots Away From Streaming Services Ahead of Triple-Album Release
Our Top Stories of 2020
When we said that 2019 was leaving us well prepared for whatever 2020 might bring, we might have been just a touch over-confident. We were looking at a year when festivals were making slight adjustments in the wake of Shambala shifting its dates. Instead, we saw a year without live music and… well, everything else.
In a year of big news from around the world, here are our top stories from 2020.
Joel Plaskett and Sloan’s Chris Murphy Bring to Life Matthew Grimson’s ‘Prize for Writing’
“Here lay psychological metal, verbose pop, queasy balladry, and odd trips, all in all, the general detriment of a life well spent, for all who have known me or tried to understand.”
Those are the words the late Matthew Grimson used to describe his own music. You may not recognize his name and, sadly, Grimson passed in 2018 at the age of 50 without many people being aware of the large body of phenomenal work he had written. As a musician and songwriter, however, Grimson could scarcely have better references than Joel Plaskett and Chris Murphy (Sloan). The two monoliths of East Coast music have recently collected some of his unpublished work to create Matthew Grimson: Prize for Writing — an LP showcasing 15 of his songs that were recorded in 1994. Continue reading Joel Plaskett and Sloan’s Chris Murphy Bring to Life Matthew Grimson’s ‘Prize for Writing’
Peer Review: The Best Music of 2020
For an industry under siege, Atlantic Canada’s musicians seem to have turned out a more than respectable effort this year. You’ve already heard from our reviewers on who we felt knock it out of the park over the course of 2020. Now, as per tradition, we’ve asked some of our favourite musicians who their favourites were. Here’s what the pros had to say.
Continue reading Peer Review: The Best Music of 2020