TOPIC: FIRST LISTEN
St. John's musician 'Pete' thinks we should all calm down and listen to a good lullaby
Pete, a.k.a. Peter MacDonald, decided to make an album of music for small children to help music fans of all ages calm down.
St. John's duo the Duds release 'Dudvent' calendar of musical holiday delights
Melanie O’Brien and Philip Goodridge — otherwise known as the Duds — are releasing a collection of holiday songs in a special way.
Guitarist Matthew Glover comes back home and Bach to the classics
Guitarist Matthew Glover left home to study and work in Boston, and gained a new appreciation for both local traditional and classical music.
First Listen
The musicians of Big Space are happy to be back in the same space
The hard lockdowns and isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic were not great times for members of the St. John’s free jazz trio Big Space.
First Listen
Singing, writing, dancing and acting: Jayne Batstone is 'all over the arts'
Jayne Batstone is an award-winning songwriter, a dancer, and a university theatre major who hopes for a long and successful creative career.
St. John's band Swimming brings math rock to the masses
The members of Swimming say they aren’t the only math rock band in St. John’s, but they are probably the only math rock band to play an open air gig on the trails around Signal Hill.
First Listen
How a change of scenery created the Dandelion Few — and inspired their new album
The Dandelion Few’s new album, Sure We’ll Go Home By Water, mirrors the transatlantic life of its members, Tiffanie George of St. John’s and Sean Bradley of Dundalk, Ireland.
First Listen
Ana Luisa Ramos's new album includes blue skies and Brazilian vibes
Ana Luisa Ramos started her solo album, Amanhaceu, in Brazil, and finished it in her new home of Newfoundland and Labrador.
First Listen
The Low Ceilings keep rocking out through highs and lows
The Low Ceilings, named after their rehearsal space, squeeze in some rock and roll around the highs and lows of work and family life.
Lorna Lovell heaves a curveball with her debut album
Lorna Lovell raised a family and changed careers several times. Now, in her late 40s, she's reinventing herself once more.
First Listen
Music as therapy: Adam Staple on making 1st solo album, SuperAntiHero
Musician Adam staple, who recently turned 50, said his first solo project is a vehicle to help deal with depression and anxiety.
From sheet to song, fearless fiddler Maria Cherwick leaps into the spotlight all by herself
Last year, Maria Cherwick published a songbook of 16 original tunes for the fiddle. A few months later, she stepped into the spotlight solo, and released an album to go along with it.
Labrador is Black Fly Heaven for 'folk-prog' musician Andrew Gagne
Andrew Gagne may be a Dartmouth, N.S.-based musician, but he says he is a Labrador artist, through and through.
First Listen
When musicians are pandemic-stuck in western Labrador, you get Ptarmageddon
Ptarmageddon, the Labrador City alt pop/rock band, started as a bunch of friends riffing on imaginary band names.
For one-man show Hullo, the pandemic was a chance to 'let the music speak'
Many musicians made major changes to the way they work during the COVID-19 pandemic, but for Hullo, lockdown was a chance to lean into business as usual.
Locked down in a Toronto apartment, an expat Newfoundland couple made an album
Susan Morrissey Wyse and Brent Borland worked at their busy day jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic, but making music together helped them stave off boredom.
Why Duane Andrews is releasing his latest jazz album in a very 2021 way
Duane Andrews’s music is rooted in the style of 1930s gypsy jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt, but his newest collection, Singles, is reaching his audience in a very 2021 way.
Rosemary Lawton's latest album is an 'arrival point' for her new sound
Rosemary Lawton has been known for her fiddle over the course of her career. But on her latest album, Canvas, it's her vocals that take centre stage.
First Listen
Beauwater draws from Buddy Guy and a burning fish plant for their new album
For Beauwater guitarist and vocalist Jonathon Reid, each new album the band creates feels like a progression from their beginning in 2008.
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In order to make her new album, Clare Follett had to let go a little
Between her work as an in-demand side musician, music producer and full-time university student, Clare Follett found time to create her second solo album, Reclamation.
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How a Jim Reeves album inspired Ken Tizzard to put together a 'strange collection' of Christmas songs
Musician Ken Tizzard says he started listening to one of his father's favourite Christmas records, and became inspired to make his own album of seasonal tunes.
First Listen
Squish is the way this band of storytellers sees the world
The Dictionary of Newfoundland English defines the word "squish" as meaning “askew, out of alignment, or diagonally awry,” but Dave Paddon says "squish' simply refers to the way that the members of From Stage to Stage see the world.
First Listen
After Repartee, Meg Warren is finding A Thousand Ways to be in the music industry
After Meg Warren left the band Repartee, she started rediscovering herself by writing the songs that make up her new EP.
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Rev. Dave and the Sin Eaters want you to dance out your sins
Rev. Dave and the Sin Eaters say their way of dealing with some of the bad news of the past few years is to write it all into an album of toe-tapping country and blues music.
First Listen
For David Pomeroy, singing opera is like being a rock star
Operatic tenor David Pomeroy says there’s no feeling quite like performing in an opera; on stage in full costume with other singers and a live orchestra.