by Carey Rutherford Steven Taetz is wandering through the streets of Toronto while we talk, going from one place to another as songwriters are inclined to do anyway: moving from one inspirational situation to another to meet the needs of their musical craft. In Steven’s case, having done time...

by Carey Rutherford When Harpdog Brown answers his phone in Vancouver, a month before he arrives on tour here at Calgary’s Ironwood Stage and Grill, he declares, “You’re a minute early!” And then laughs when I offer to call back 60 seconds later. So begins the storied conversation with this...

by Carey Rutherford & Paul Verhaegh Roberto López was one of the surprises of Calgary’s 2018 Folk Music Festival. Born and raised in Colombia, living in Montreal, his website describes his music style as modern Latin music with hip arrangements. Under Colombian grooves he...

by Carey Rutherford Some accidents are not only happy, they are positively confounding. Witness MUSICAlive! popping down to a Stampede breakfast to Hear a Calgary country favourite of ours, Tim Buckley, play on the mall, and meeting the similarly talented Mariel Buckley (his sister), also...

by Carey Rutherford It occurs to MUSICAlive! afterwards that we never asked Geraldine Hollet, lead singer for The Once, the significance of the band’s name. Sure, “once” is an adverb meaning “on one occasion”, or “for one time only”; but as a noun it becomes capitalized as their bandname and...

by Carey Rutherford & Paul Verhaegh Mick Flannery’s Facebook page says that he bridges the gap between folk and blues rock. Well, he doesn’t fit in a box, that’s for sure. Still working as a stone mason, he’s touring all over the world as an artist: Canada this summer;...

by Carey Rutherford The Honens International Piano Competition rolls into town as August ends, presenting world-class piano newbies to battle it out in the rodeo that Ms. Honens initiated in 1992. But it’s not all newcomers, and it’s not all pianos! In their efforts to expand the diversity...

by Carey Rutherford “I am the Artistic Co-director of the Sound Symposium. I’m also the host: I will be hosting most, if not all, of the evening concerts, and some of the earlier concerts; I may be introducing some of the workshops; I will be performing with 2 bands that I play with. And I...

by Carey Rutherford Attending an “80’s and 90’s” dance party on Saturday was an interesting experience: while the music was definitely from the correct era, the DJ had clearly NOT been in dance clubs at that time, as the late 20th Century music had been mixed with an early 21st Century...

by Carey Rutherford and Paul Verhaegh Performance seen 09 September 2017, Studio Bell (National Music Centre), 850-4 Street SE, Calgary, Alberta Sarah Nematallah is a violinist in the Cecilia String Quartet, and she and her ensemble are also the founders of Xenia Concerts Inc., for which she...