Winnipeg music & culture since 1989
By Scott Wolfe
The gents in Grand Master have been on the Winnipeg metal scene for quite some time. Their new full length, The Dream Alive, shows some impressive songwriting, taking the listener on a musical journey through the band’s influences and then some. Stylus sat down with vocalist/bassist Alec Schaefer and guitarist Shane Barron at the Yellow Dog to catch up and discuss the new album and summer plans. Continue reading “Grand Master :: Rocking with the Masters”
Feist kicks off the festival by rocking out pretty damn late into the night!
By Andrew Mazurak
Well well well.. another year and another blistering hot weekend+ at Birds Hill Park for the 39th annual Winnipeg Folk Fest. A lethal consumption of alcohol was consumed, glorious costumes became tattered strips of nothing, and Stylus was there to slam ’em back, crash, puke, dance, interview, force food into guts, force coffee into brain, buy many and many dollar watermelon slices, wander through the trees in the dark, hug the shrug guy and shrug at the hug guy with the rest of you. I for one had a great time documenting what bands I could and hereeeee weee gooo: Continue reading “Winnipeg Folk Fest 2012 Photos”
by Sheldon Birnie
Well, friends, it was certainly a lovely week for folk music fans in the Heart of the Continent this past week. My own week started off in a downpour that cancelled Good Old War‘s set at the Cube to launch the Winnipeg Folk Festival. Nonetheless, they showed everyone at Main Stage a good old time Thursday evening. I skipped out on the Wednesday night of the Festival to see the Fred Eaglesmith Traveling Steam Show at the Park Theatre. Fred’s band was tight as always, and the old guy delivered a solid set full of old hits and new beauties off his latest release 6 Volts. With an opening set and back-ups by the lovely Tif Ginn, the show certainly set the bar high for the Folk Fest weekend. Continue reading “Hillbilly Highway – Lovely week of Folk goodness”
By Darcy Penner
I was sitting in the Stylus office a few weeks back when Adrienne Yeung tossed Slates’ album Prairie Fires into the CD player. My excitement for the band quickly turned to annoyance when I found out how long I had not known about this fantastic quartet, and their post-punk, Americana influenced rock n’ roll. Leading up to their cross-Canada tour in support of Prairie Fires, Dallas Thompson took the time to send some emails my way and answer a few questions. They play Winnipeg on Saturday, July 7 at the Lo Pub.
Continue reading “Slates: Petro-state rock n’ roll hits the Lo”
by Sheldon Birnie
Good Old War are a three-piece indie folk band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Formed on the fly in 2008, the group quickly hit the road and has basically never left it. Stylus spoke with guitar player Daniel Schwartz shortly after their Old Market Square performance to launch this year’s Winnipeg Folk Festival was cancelled due to extreme weather. Continue reading “Good Old War :: A good ol’ time at the Main Stage”
by Sheldon Birnie
Well, Dominion Day has come and gone, friends. I hope you all had a great time this Canada Day weekend. But today is the Fourth of July, and it’s time to celebrate with our neighbours to the South. So raise a can and say a toast to the good ol’ USA! Continue reading “Hillbilly Highway – Fourth of July with Fred Eaglesmith”
Todd Snider is an American stoner-folk-songwriting troubadour in every sense of the terms. For the past 20 years, he’s written 12 albums and performed to thousands of fans across the world. In anticipation of his Winnipeg Folk Festival performance, Stylus caught up with Snider at home in East Nashville for a phone conversation about his craft, his love of Jerry Jeff Walker, the Folk Fest, and the Nashville Predators. Continue reading “Todd Snider :: Agnostic stoner folkie takes to the Folk Fest stage”
by Sheldon Birnie
The Beauties are a rock n roll band out of Toronto. Every Sunday night, they tear the Dakota Tavern down and build it back up as a monument to the Old Gods of roots based rock n roll. The Beauties have toured across the country, performing on their own as well as backing heavy weights like Serena Ryder and Kevin Drew of Broken Social Scene. In 2010, they released their eponymous label debut for Six Shooter Records. For the next two weekends, Manitoba is blessed to have the Beauties at the Dauphin Country Fest and the Winnipeg Folk Fest. Stylus caught up with Beauty Shawn Creamer as he navigated Toronto in a taxi cab earlier this week, preparing for their time on the prairies. Continue reading “The Beauties are a bunch of beauties”
by Sheldon Birnie
I was out in Clear Lake this past weekend, enjoying a beautiful Manitoba wedding. Continue reading “Hillbilly Highway – Ringing in the summer”
Photo of Aunty Panty by Taylor Burgess in Calgary, Alberta.
By Taylor Burgess
For their only show of Sled Island, thru-and-thru riotgrrrls Aunty Panty sauntered onto the stage and they started pulling their white dresses over their heads. They exposed themselves to the crowd in nude-coloured bras and merkins over their pantyhose. There was a space of metres between them and the crowd, which was maintained while Aunty Panty burst out their alarmingly stripped-down blend of post-punk and riotgrrrl. To get into the heads of one of the more political bands at the festival, I sat down with them in the parking lot of the Palamino. Continue reading “First Class Riot: Crushing Boners with Aunty Panty”