Winnipeg music & culture since 1989
by Sheldon Birnie
Deep in the heart of the Canadian prairies, thousands of miles from the Mississippi River Delta or the Appalachian mountains, Ryan Boldt answers phone call from Stylus on a windy spring day. On a short break between tours, the principal singer and songwriter behind the Deep Dark Woods is enjoying the Stanley Cup Playoffs before heading deep into the States for another string of gigs. Continue reading “A voice is calling from… The Deep Dark Woods”
by Kaitlyn Emslie Farrell
Guitarist and vocalist Stefan Braun of four piece noise group Pop Crimes sat down with Stylus to lay down the deets of their band and shenanigans. Also starring Aaron Johnston, Ken Prue and Kevin Strang Pop Crimes are getting ready to hit the stage on July 3rd for a 7” release. Continue reading “Pop Crimes :: Loud as hell”
Photo by Andy Sears
by Victoria King
While most will tell you not to judge a book by its cover, the cover of Sharon Van Etten’s latest release is the picture that tells a thousand words. But all banal maxims aside, Are We There is anything but boring, repetitive, or cliché – in fact, she describes this record as her most personal and current release yet (and it shows). Continue reading “Sharon Van Etten :: Gets heavy on “Are We There?””
by Phil Enns
For Jazz Winnipeg’s Nu Sounds series last year, local jazz guitarist Keith Price organized a Double Quartet to re-envision Ennio Morricone’s landmark soundtrack for The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly in the style of Miles Davis’ late 60s-early 70s “electric period” (the full soundtrack, accompanied by scenes from the film, can be heard on Youtube). This year, Price’s Double Quartet is set to perform at the Winnipeg Art Gallery’s Live on the Rooftop series on July 3. Stylus sat down with Keith to discuss his past work, what currently inspires him, as well as his unique approach to jazz and composition. Continue reading “Keith Price :: Double Quartet to perform Live on the Rooftop”
by Broose Tulloch
Five years ago Graham Hnatiuk was a well-respected Winnipeg blogger attending university when he had the epiphany to drop out and rock on. But first he would have to overcome a crippling (and at the time, untreated) depression. Continue reading “Hearing Trees :: A marriage of poetry & rock”
by Seamus Hamilton-Pattison
If it ever made sense for a Canadian city to tip its trucker hats to outlaw country music, it’d make sense in Winnipeg. The mixture of “good ol’ boy” congeniality and whiskey-and-beer soaked brazenness that defined the greatest works of Cash, Nelson, Jennings and many more distinctly parallels our gritty little underdog of a city.
Heartworn Highways is a concert series the Park Theatre kicked off in the dead of this past November and is billed as an “Outlaw Country Workshop.” Conceived by the Park Theatre’s own Kevin Mozden, Micah Erenberg and the Buffalo Band, the series has been an exploration into the rawest side of the country genre, with our local artists sharing the bill and mixing their own brash, outlaw-inspired originals with numerous covers of old country classics, all backed up by the Buffalo Band themselves and hosted capably by Erenberg. According to Kevin Mozden, the “diverse and talented pool of country musicians” in Winnipeg were perfect to bring back “the nostalgia of outlaw country.” Continue reading “Heartworn Highways :: Outlaw Country Workshop continues at Park Theatre”
words & pics by Matt Williams
The buzz. Oh god, the buzz. It might never go away. The idea of seeing more than seven shows a night sounds amazing until you realize, “Wait. I didn’t bring ear plugs. How could I not bring ear plugs?” I’ve never really worn ear plugs, being a stubborn idiot and all. So, no matter where I ended up, I was caught with the buzz. The same buzz that has followed me since I was a youngster in a loud band. The familiar buzz that comes along with, you know – seeing great live music. Like when you walk out of a venue wonky with sea legs it was so good. And you just had to stand right beside the speakers. Continue reading “NXNE :: Week of music wraps up, exhaustion ensues”
by Gil Carroll
With the release of his new, overwhelmingly fresh and catchy LP, Salad Days, Mac DeMarco has been dragged into the indie music spotlight with force. He’s been told to stay there, take countless interviews with every music blog in North America and Europe, sing some songs to sold out crowds all over the world, tell jokes and do funny dances. With so much coverage and a frenzy of hip kids surrounding Mac at this point, what else is left to be said? Continue reading “Mac DeMarco :: No straight talk here…”
by Sheldon Birnie
There’s no secret that Saskatoon’s Deep Dark Woods are a favourite of ours out here on the Highway. As such, we’re very fired up as the Winnipeg Folk Fest starts to creep up on us. I spoke with Ryan Boldt of the DDWs a month or so ago, and if you’ve seen the June/July 2014 issue of Stylus on stands, you may have read our feature. But not everything made it to print, and some of the best stuff was left on the cutting room floor. As I continue to listen to the Deep Dark Woods excellent Jubilee on repeat while I check my camping gear for all its essentials, here’s a bit of our conversation… Continue reading “Hillbilly Highway – Ryan Boldt on the dangers of the Highway, and Winnipeg Folk Fest 2014”
by Sheldon Birnie
Timber Timbre crept onto the Canadian music scene like a thief in the night, capturing the imaginations of audiences and critics. Their 2011 opus, Creep on Creepin On, was nominated for the Polaris Prize, and spawned a series of five mind bending cinematic short films (or, “music vides,” if you prefer). The band, formerly a solo project of Taylor Kirk’s now filled out to a larger, collaborative performance based group, recently released Hot Dreams, an LP which is sure to find its way onto Top Ten lists (and likely the Polaris Prize long list, at least) for 2014. As the band launched themselves into “the touring vortex,” Stylus caught up with Taylor Kirk in a hotel room in gloomy Iowa City for a chat before their Winnipeg Jazz Fest performance. Continue reading “Timber Timbre :: Scary music, but far from scary only”