When Kate Weekes plays in Whitehorse on May 2, the audience will hear something new and maybe surprising, even if they’re already fans. Having lived in the territory from 2003 to 2014, the singer-songwriter still spends several months here each year. Many Yukoners are familiar with her work. However, her new CD, Taken By Surprise, serves …
New Kate Weekes CD reflects singer-songwriter’s growth as a musician Read More »
The time has come to at least take a shot at disregarding the speaker market entirely and focus on headphone-specific technology.
Al Oster plays in Hougens in 1961 – PHOTOS: courtesy of Rolf Hougen This article uses information and content shared by Rolf Hougen from the HougenGroup.com website to commemorate Al Oster.Our Yukon heritage is a mix of different traditions and different eras, including First Nations history, gold rush stories, the construction of the Alaska Highway …
It’s been 30 years, or thereabouts, since I first ran into the iconic Canadian folksinger-songwriter-poet who goes by the simple – but exotic-sounding – name of Ferron. There was no reason she should remember me. I was just a volunteer driver for the Edmonton Folk Festival, shuttling performers to and from the airport. But I …
Songs are almost like children, having a little life of their own. Thorin Loeks on his second album, Shine Through The Dark.
Guthrie would take melodies that were common – in the folk tradition of learn and do – and put his definitive twist on them.
The folk/roots duo Twin Peaks, comprised of Naomi Shore and Lindsay Pratt, opened Dawson’s Home Routes season on Sept. 26. The show in Dawson City was their second-last stop on a tour that had seen them perform in Dease Lake, Atlin, Teslin, Crag Lake, Whitehorse, Haines Junction, Faro and Mayo, with one more concert planned …
The music scene in Whitehorse is really something. Full of fresh, creative musical sounds that come straight from the heart and soul of artists who discovered their own voices inside the warmth of their homes in the dead of winter. The diving board for many of these discoveries is Peggy Hanifan and her Wednesday open …
It’s a gathering where you may sip the tingly bitterness of a pale ale, sample salty snacks from the “bacon booth” and lock eyes magically with your future spouse. No wonder tickets to the Haines Beer Fest have sold out faster than ever this year. The event takes place May 27 and 28, in Haines, …
The Folk Society of Whitehorse has been hosting the famous Yukon-Alaska Coffee House for more than 25 years. This event features two coffee house evenings, back-to-back, in Skagway and Whitehorse. The Yukon evening of talent, which takes place on Saturday, will also serve as the finale to a series of Whitehorse coffee houses that happen …
If you’ve got a yen to hear some some good old-fashioned country fiddle playing, you won’t want to miss April Verch. Verch, along with bandmates Cody Walters (banjo and electric bass) and Alex Rubin (guitar and mandolin) will be stomping, singing, fiddling and strumming their way into Whitehorse Friday, March 4th. A self-described “Ottawa-Valley Girl,” …
Louise Burns, a Canadian singer-songwriter and former member of the girl band Lillix, just completed a month’s residency in Dawson City as the songwriter in residence. The Vancouver musician says it was her boyfriend who found the opportunity online. “I’m always complaining I have no time to write music, so when he saw the …
Whitehorse-resident Selina Heyligers-Hare, or as she’s billed in the upcoming Blue Feather Music Festival, Selina H., is only 18 years old. She just graduated from high school. However, she has 13 years of experience making music and can hold her own on a big stage. When Heyligers-Hare was five years old she started playing the …
A few years back, Craig Cardiff noticed he was only going through the motions at his shows. The folk musician from Waterloo, Ontario says he was on autopilot. He thought to himself, ‘This isn’t how it should be going.’ He says no one should be on autopilot, and a musician performing live, especially, should be …
There’s a post on Leela Gilday’s Facebook page from a woman who had just bought a guitar for her daughter. The young girl’s immediate response was, “I’m going to sing just like Leela soon, Mom.” That’s the kind of reaction the Yellowknife singer-songwriter cherishes. Gilday recognizes how she and other First Nations performers, such as …
Twenty-five years ago, the Folk Society of Whitehorse (FSW) began as an event for people of all ages to enjoy. Today, it is on a roll — hosting monthly events. Paul Davis is the president of FSW, but he admits that he can’t do it on his own. “ We have about 20 volunteers, which …
There’s at least one struggling musician who doesn’t need Bob Dylan to tell him failure is no success at all. Llewyn Davis is in Greenwich Village in February 1961, with a guitar, a repertoire of traditional folk songs, and a fiercely-held ‘life of an artist’ set of ideals.He also recorded an album that hasn’t sold …
“The blues and country music were the same. A lot of what I play comes from that time when they were one.” Isaak
“The Last Potluck. Catchy isn’t it?” The man behind the cluttered desk utters this phrase while framing an invisible marquee with his hands. “I wish I could afford a marquee,” says Morty Mungden, manager for roots/folk/emotronic Yukon supergroup Dandelion Wreath. “Those things are classy. Right now I got my car parked in the abandoned parking …
Yukon Supergroup, Dandelion Wreath, Says Goodbye Read More »
There’s a new folksinger passing through the Yukon … and he’s prepared. He may never have been North before, but Cort Delano’s “got my tin pan and gunny sack.” This Albertan roots musician, like many who make their first journey north, has a friend he grew up with, Darren Van Langen, a friend who has …
A winter coat. A small shovel in case of snow. The yellow Aveo is crammed with the essentials for more than a month on the road. A map of Western Canada lies open on the dash. It’s a hot Mother’s Day afternoon when Kim Beggs and Natalie Edelson roll into the North Okanagan town of …
When you ask Eliza Gilkyson about her early musical influences, the first name she mentions is Joan Baez. So when Baez included two of Gilkyson’s songs on her 2008 album, Day After Tomorrow, it was a special occasion. “That was just stunning,” Gilkyson says from her home in Austin, Texas. As a singer-songwriter who recorded …
It’s a band in transition – in more ways than one. When Gordie Tentrees sent an e-mail promoting a northern tour by some friends he had met at music festival last summer, the group was called Jesse Dee and Jacquie B. Three days later, it still was – complete with a website in that name. …
