by Carey Rutherford Okay, okay, okay . . . While I was interviewing Cécile Doo-Kingué after what was apparently a very satisfying opening blues set at the Winnipeg Folk Festival, one of the headliners of that set walked past and wished her well, and they spoke of perhaps connecting in...

by Carey Rutherford May was Asian Heritage Month in Canada, did you know that? Well, you missed it! Unless you actually took in one of the events they organized around the city through the Asian Heritage Foundation, who describe themselves on their website as: “a non-profit, non-governmental...

by Carey Rutherford “I’m Shotgun Jimmie, and I play all the instruments at once . . . I play drums with my feet, and I’ll play guitar and bass at the same time . . . which is not the way I’m going to be presenting myself in Calgary.” After this statement of simple fact, Shotgun and I discuss...

by Carey Rutherford Erin Thrall, strangely, is a vocalist with a non-singing organization. This is not so unusual, though, as she explains that “My role is the Director of Education & Outreach for the Instrumental Society of Calgary. When I first moved here (about 15 years ago) people...

by Carey Rutherford Your faithful Writer can’t help but ask, right off the start, if orchestras, or other musicians the Turtle Island Quartet encounter, harbour a strong dislike for the freedom which the TIQ exhibit in their choices of music in the quartet’s repertoire. “Because,” I say with...

by Carey Rutherford 604 Records label mates Kieran Mercer and The Katherines are both coming to Calgary on their first tours during the JUNOFest: no pressure!! They are both remarkably listenable in completely different ways, and they’re experienced/inexperienced from opposite directions: The...

by Carey Rutherford Sorry, sorry sorry!! Missed Gabrielle Papillon’s first few shows in her current tour from the West Coast inward, but nobody’s perfect, are they? So she’s been in Victoria; she’s been in Vancouver, and soon, after a detour to Edmonton, she’ll be here (September 16th) in...

by Carey Rutherford Quick!! Non-Stampede Music’s Comin’! Gianna Lauren is on the phone from Vancouver, just before her first show of the tour that takes her across Canada to her home on the east coast. It goes like this: July 2nd Vancouver, The Railway Club; 5th Victoria, GOAT Festival; 7th...

by Carey Rutherford Kaleem & Aleem Khan are: Shaani Cage. And, I tell ya, you want to know who they are, if you have a single adventurous musical bone in your body. Developments in alternative soul. Music, that is. “Last year at Sled, that was just our 2nd set ever as Shaani Cage, and...

By Carey Rutherford Yeah, there was a fair bit of profanity in the Saddledome when The Pretty Reckless opened up for Nickelback on their recent visit to Calgary. I was originally going to investigate the incredibly polar love/hate relationship music fans have with Nickelback, as there appears...