PHOTO: dean mullen Folk Fest’s year-round space has a warm intimacy that swaddles you in sound Festival Hall, the 200-seat venue owned and operated by the Folk Festival Society of Calgary — the same people who bring you the annual summer Folk Music Festival — officially opened in January 2013 after some “soft opening” events the year before. And while the tall building at 1215 10th Avenue S.E may look a little utilitarian from the outside, it’s “pretty on the inside” as Hole once sang, with a stunning interior resplendent with reclaimed Douglas Fir beams in a room that delivers on its promise ..read more

Jann Arden and an orchestra bring Secrets of Whales to the Jack Singer  Three years of filming, 24 global locations, hundreds of whales including humpbacks, belugas, narwhals, orcas and sperm whales, and the world-renowned expertise of explorer and photographer Brian Skerry and Academy Award-winning filmmaker James Cameron have all gone into making the National Geographic series, Secrets of Whales. And on April 22, Earth Day, and the days adjacent, the film series concert adaptation will make its world premiere in Calgary. Clips of the four-part Disney+ series will be presented in condens ..read more

Alberta singer/songwriters John Wort Hannam and T. Buckley come together in a new duo Years ago, at a now-defunct songwriting contest jointly produced by the Calgary Folk Fest and The Ship & Anchor, master songwriter John Wort Hannam first heard Calgary’s T. Buckley (Tim), who would become his future writing companion in their duo The Woodshed.  Hannam won the inaugural competition with his song Church of the Long Grass, which later appeared on his 2004 album, Dynamite and ‘Dozers. Then he won again. And again. It seemed the only way to keep him and his memorable songs from soaking up ..read more

Musicians Joe Nolan and Dana Wylie lead audiences through the love story of two Canadian icons.  Leonard and Joni: The Untold Love Story, at the Jube Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen are two of Canada’s most iconic and beloved singer songwriters, each of whom mined their own biographies for their songs. So it seems unbelievable that there is an untold story, let alone an untold love story to be told about the two of them. Together. And yet. Combining the hits of both along with the untold story of their brief romance following their 1967 meeting at the Newport Folk Festival, Leon ..read more

Heartstrings & Honky Tonks comes to Studio Bell Across North America’s grain belt, an endless supply of songs drift from radios at roundups, fairs and during miles of open highway, marking the passage of time as those miles and events repeat perennially to an evolving soundtrack.  Platinum-selling songwriter Dan Davidson, whose 2017 song Found – the highest charting independent single on Canadian radio – earned its place on those summer soundtracks with images of whisky, the back 40, and an old pickup truck, aims to honour Alberta songwriters and the essence of old-timey radio that co ..read more

Photo credit: Noah Fallis Lund’s 10th studio album is a DIY winner With his latest album, Alberta treasure Corb Lund returns to familiar themes like card playing, war (think Horse Soldier!), and Western capers. Lund will release El Viejo on February 23 before his show at the Grey Eagle Casino on March 7.  This is Lund’s 10th studio album, and he decided to self-produce the work and record it at his Lethbridge home. “The longer I do this, the less enamoured I am with professional studios that are all shiny with black leather couches and all that,” says Lund. “I like funky, dirty down-home ..read more

Photo: Jared Such With live music seven days a week and tacos to write home about, Mikey’s keeps on jumpin’ Nearly two decades ago, sax player and singer Mike Clark, now proprietor of music hub and restaurant Mikey’s on 12th, looked around the continuously packed Saturday afternoon crowds at the now defunct Morgans on 17th and thought to himself, “I have an instant crowd. Now all I need is a venue of my own.” After all, no musician wants to keep lugging their gear in and out of a place every week if they can avoid it. Serendipitously, Jackdaw’s, a music venue that had hosted Kris Demeanor with ..read more

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