Thinking about the past while building the future There’s a sense of optimism glaringly evident in “Your Friendly Neighbourhood Rapper” KTheChosen, also known as Thabo Chinake. He came to Calgary from Zimbabwe in 2015 as a 19-year-old to attend university, and despite his family being a half a globe and over 40 hours of travel away, stayed. His memories of arriving reveal something about who he is and why he doesn’t just appreciate Calgary, but im-proves it by actively promoting music from the African and Caribbean diaspora. “I am a very independent person, so when I arrived, I didn’t get a ta ..read more

Dean Clarke and Rob Faust PHOTO: ROB FAUST Dean Clarke and Rob Faust PHOTO: ROB FAUSTInfluential Calgary DJ’s love of music, love of life will be sorely missed  (Ed. Note: In August, Calgary lost one of its pioneering DJs, Dean Clarke. He was at the forefront of our turntable and wax and drops and breaks and beats movement. From its formative days in the early ’90s until his unfortunate passing, Clarke helped build what has become something of an impressive and widely respected community of club spinners across the globe. His regular nights at seminal local venues over the past 30 years p ..read more

Ironwood owner Patrick MacIntyre has helped build Calgary’s live music community. PHOTOS: JARED SYCH Keystone venue creates community cohesion serving up great music and food over 20 years after opening It’s fitting that the Ironwood Stage and Grill is named after one of the strongest and most resilient trees in North America. From creating conflict internally within the music scene before it first opened in April, 2003, to closing, changing hands, and re-opening to changing hands again in September of 2006 and then moving a few blocks west from its original location (the building that current ..read more

Beer and music have a long and storied relationship. Most of us have appreciated a tasty beer while watching a live show – one just simply goes well with the other. Though, have you ever experienced a deeper connection between the two in some way — where the music and the beer combine to elevate the collective enjoyment of both? How about the last time you sat and enjoyed a flight of seasonal brews in your favourite taproom? Did you happen to notice just how consistently fantastic the tunes were? This must come down to the fact that music in brewery taprooms is almost never an afterthought. In ..read more

Like a page out of a diary you’re not supposed to read In the 1970s and ’80s, Vancouver-born Art Bergmann bashed out music with bands like Young Canadians, Los Popularos, and Poisoned that showed us how to be young, angry and pulsatingly alive. In the late ’80s and ’90s, he released albums under his own name that helped us live vicariously via hit singles with melodical musical imagery edgier than an icosagon.  After a hiatus spent living with his soul mate, wife Sherri Decembrini, in a homey farmhouse outside of Airdrie surrounded by fields and sky, Bergmann started making music again, w ..read more

The YYC Music Awards go down once again on Sept. 24 at Grey Eagle Event Centre, and I always love this event as it showcases some of Calgary’s finest talent, and even lets someone such as myself discover new acts. This month we’re gonna talk about the five acts up for X92.9’s Alternative Recording of The Year. ORANJE As I mentioned earlier, there are even acts I discover with the YYC Music Awards and this band is one of them. They’re arguably one of the scene’s most unique offerings with their experimental, self-described emo/math-rock. The new single, Quanzor, hits an emotional punch withou ..read more

Chances are, if you’ve ventured past Calgary’s Electric Avenue lately, you’ve seen the neon beacon adorning Modern Love’s façade — two crossed daggers and a broken heart. And if you’ve walked through the doors of the former Broken City in recent weeks, you wouldn’t be wrong to think another David Bowie song might be more apt to describe the storied venue — Changes. For 18 years, Broken City, Calgary’s deeply beloved dive bar and music venue, cultivated a fiercely loyal community of artists, musicians, misfits and weirdos. But the space began to take on its name in a very literal sense — a self ..read more

Jazz singer Cindy McLeod is passionate about many things, but two or them are front and centre when she talks about The Calgary International Blues Fest, which runs from July 31 to August 6 this year at various venues. Since 2005, McLeod has been producer and artistic director of the fest, and the focus of her work is bringing people and great music together, so, music and inclusivity are cornerstones of the fest. 1. The festival embraces and promotes inclusivity McLeod not only provides free events to decrease barriers to people enjoying the blues, she also encourages volunteers from agencies ..read more

A sweet, rippling perfection shines in the music of Calgary born and raised Bella White.  From writing her first song in her journal at age seven to experiencing her first heartbreak from unrequited love in Grade 4 to her first public performance at 12 years of age, her music ensnares the eternal, universal recurrence of heartache and longing in a matter-of-fact manner that’s anything but mundane. At the beginning of White’s professional career she wore grooves into The Music Mile as a member of Red Hot Hayseeds, then earning a solo deal with illustrious roots flame-keeper, Nashville’s Ro ..read more

The first surprise in speaking with Carl “Buffalo” Nichols from his hotel at a tour stop in San Diego is the time of the interview — 9 a.m., a rare time to chat with musicians — what they call “the other 9 o’clock” because many are seldom awake to experience it. But the Houston-born, Milwaukee-raised Nichols has experience with early mornings. “I’ve never been a morning person but I’ve always worked the kind of jobs that require you to get up early, so I’m used to that,” Nichols says. He’s worked 12-hour shifts, starting at 5 a.m., making cages for small animals and was also a dishwasher at an ..read more