Category: Features

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Hillbilly Highway – Lovely week of Folk goodness

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”

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Slates: Petro-state rock n’ roll hits the Lo

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”

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Good Old War :: A good ol’ time at the Main Stage

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”

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Todd Snider :: Agnostic stoner folkie takes to the Folk Fest stage


by Sheldon Birnie

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”

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The Beauties are a bunch of beauties

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”

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First Class Riot: Crushing Boners with Aunty Panty


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”

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FIRST CLASS RIOT: Q’n’A with Nü Sensae


Photo of Nü Sensae by Taylor Burgess in Calgary, Alberta.

By Taylor Burgess

Bubbling out of Vancouver’s fertile and molting noise/punk/hardcore/etc. scene, Nü Sensae are one of loudest onslaughts which reaffirm doom and gloom exists in these optimistic times. Core duo Daniel Pitout and Andrea Lukic were joined late last year by guitarist Brody McKnight, former Mutator, and they all joined forces to make their new record, Sundowning, which is looming to drop on Suicide Squeeze records for August 7. (“I know,” Brody McKnight says, “it’s a big deal.”) Here’s a track from that album, and then after the jump there’s an interview from the back alley of the Ship and Anchor after their last show of Sled Island Festival.

Nü Sensae – Swim
Continue reading “FIRST CLASS RIOT: Q’n’A with Nü Sensae”

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MEME Festival

by Victoria King

When the stage in Old Market Square was torn down and replaced by the Cube in 2010, the structure was met with mixed emotions. Its futuristic design, its odd and confusing functionality, and a remaining nostalgia for the former, more traditional stage seemed to be major concerns in some people’s minds. Continue reading “MEME Festival”