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Artist Spotlight: Kimmortal
Kimmortal is a queer filipinx second generation settler based on the unceded territories of the Coast Salish peoples: the Tsleil-Waututh, Squamish, and Musqueam nations. Recognized as “a voice to be heard” by Exclaim magazine, Kimmortal has been making waves with their multifaceted approach to music. Incorporating song, visual art, rap, and frequently collaborating with poets and dancers, Kimmortal strives to make an impact with their live performances. Their new album “X marks the Swirl” was a two year long process of creation that was ranked 1 of 40 in the Polaris 2019 longlist. Kimmortal’s music and art have been featured on CBC’s show “Exhibitionists”, the Queer Women of Colour festival…
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FLOURISH Festival
FLOURISH Fest (Fredericton, NB) is an annual music and art festival presenting music, art, theatre, installations, pop-up events, workshops and more across the city.
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A longish list of cis and trans women, trans men, and non binary artists and bands
When we talk about the idea of gender representation at festivals, bookers often say they “just can’t find” bands or artists, that “there aren’t enough women/trans/non-binary artists,” that they’ve “tried but it’s reeeeeeally hard.” These comments make those bookers look out-of-touch and bad at their job, but we figure that having a database of artists or bands made up of trans and cis women, trans men, and non-binary artists might be helpful, especially to bookers who are looking to improve their lineups and aren’t looking for excuses. So it took us a while, but finally it’s here! Secret Frequency Database of Cis and Trans Women, Trans Men, and Non-Binary artists…
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Artist Spotlight: PIQSIQ
With a style perpetually galvanized by darkness and haunting northern beauty, sisters, Tiffany Kuliktana Ayalik and Kayley Inuksuk Mackay, come together to create Inuit style throat singing duo, PIQSIQ. Performing ancient traditional songs and eerie new compositions, they leave their listeners enthralled with the infinity of possible answers to the question “what is the meaning of life.” With roots in Nunavut’s Kitikmeot and Kivalliq Regions, the sisters grew up in Yellowknife, NWT, where endless sunlight shines for two short summer months and deep, wintery darkness consumes the rest of the year. These environmental extremes had a huge impact on Tiffany and Kayley’s overall aesthetic and the pair have always engrossed…
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Winter Folk Camp
Winter Folk Camp (Haliburton, ON) is 6 amazing performers/instructors, 3 days of music workshops, 3 nights of song circles and jam sessions, 2 concerts, 1 site with great food, and outdoor activities
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Artist Spotlight: Laila Biali
Multi award-winning Canadian singer-songwriter and pianist Laila Biali has toured with Chris Botti, Paula Cole, Suzanne Vega and Sting. She has headlined festivals and venues spanning five continents including Carnegie Hall. Her accolades include a 2019 JUNO Award for “Vocal Jazz Album of the Year”, “SOCAN Composer of the Year” and “Keyboardist of the Year” at Canada’s National Jazz Awards, a JUNO nomination for her studio recording Tracing Light, and a spot on DownBeat Magazine’s “Best Albums of the Year” list for her follow-up Live in Concert. In 2015, Laila released her first album of entirely original music, House of Many Rooms – an indie-pop project featuring a star-studded lineup…
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Block Heater
Block Heater February 20-22, 2020WebsiteFacebookInstagram Calgary Folk Music Festival presents the fifth annual Block Heater (Calgary, AB) February 20-22, in the heart of Calgary’s Inglewood and East Village. Over thirty artists — from the homegrown to the far-flung — perform in concerts and collaborative sessions at five uniquely Calgary venues: the Central Library, Festival Hall, Gorilla Whale, Ironwood, King Eddy, and Studio Bell. Cure your winter cabin fever and wander from stage to stage featuring everything from the truest folk to the newest hip hop! Visit their website for tickets and lineup info!
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Artist Spotlight: Elisapie
Director, composer, singer-songwriter and activist, Elisapie Isaac comes from the Arctic. “The North is not at the other end of the world. It’s at the heart of mine.” Through myriad projects, Elisapie has established herself as a true Inuit icon. She was first discovered in 2003 as the director of her documentary If the Weather Permits, a film which thrust viewers into her own origin story. The following year, she released her first album with the duo Taima, winning a Juno Award for Indigenous Music Album of the Year. She has since released two solo albums, There Will be Stars (2009) and Travelling Love (2013). The most recent one was…
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Wavelength Winter Festival
Wavelength Winter Festival has received an ‘A’ on the Canadian Festival Report Card for the past three years. Visit their website for tickets and lineup info for 2020!
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2019 Canadian Festival Report Card
The 2019 Canadian Festival Report Card is here! Canadian Festival Report Card: 2019 Highlights 54 festivals were graded at an ‘A,’ down from 57 in 2018 (booooo) 116 festivals were graded Every province and territory in Canada is represented in this report card, for the third year in a row. However, many of the provinces/territories only have a few festivals listed, and we need to work in future to increase the numbers of festivals graded. As a group, these 116 festivals get an ‘A’ grade, booking 46% women-identifying or non-binary artists (up from 43% women-identifying or non-binary artists in 2018) This is a heartening result, as it means that overall,…
