The much admired Cape Breton musician Carmen Townsend holds the cherry red, 1965 Guild Starfire guitar that was stolen, along with three others, from the trunk of her car in a break-in last night on Willow Street in Halifax. Townsend, who performs as a soloist and also with such bands  the Tom Fun Orchestra and Motorleage, has owned the Guild since she was 19. "It is my baby," she writes in a Kijiji ad seeking its return. "I am crushed." Everyone who experiences a break-in or a burglary feels violated, but the theft of a struggling musician's tools of the trade is a...

08 August, 2012

Join friends of Carol Kennedy, the beloved Cape Breton photographer who is grappling with cancer, for a musical and artistic celebration of hope on the Solstice. Some of Cape Breton's finest artisans and musicians will gather at Cape Breton University's Boardmore Playhouse for a benefit concert and silent auction. Tickets are $25 at the Bean There Cafe in Baddeck, Capitol Drugs in Sydney Mines, and the Cape Breton Curiosity Shop, Sydney. The auction begins at 6 p.m. ...

19 June, 2012

If Mabou can produce a great family band, why not Port Hood? Jean, Mitch, Gordie and Brennan MacDonald call themselves Company Road, and they recorded their alt-country debut tune Cry at the Rankin's Red Shoe Pub. [Video link] Sweet sound! You can buy it on iTunes. H/T: Heather Mosher via Melanie MacDonald...

04 June, 2012

Mike Penney, a teacher at Abby Kelley Foster Charter Public School in Worcester, Massachusetts, invited his students to record their thoughts on the ups and downs of the school year, while secretly sneaking fellow teachers into the the video frame for some stealth disco. Then he set the footage to Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Dance With Somebody."   H/T SP vis Gawker...

16 May, 2012

Want to learn how to play Fire and Rain? James Taylor has been posting free guitar lessons on his website. Even if you have no intention of learning the tune, Lesson Four is a beautifully produced video of a gorgeous instrumental rendition of Taylor's signature tune. [Video link] H/T: Tara Calishain...

14 May, 2012

Dan Bedell, Atlantic Canada Communications Director for the Canadian Red Cross, adds a useful postscript to my piece about the unusual pairing of bluesman Matt Anderson and folkie Dave Ginning at a Halifax Chamber of Commerce dinner on May 2. Matt’s a big guy with a big heart. He's from the Perth-Andover, NB, area, where he organized a benefit concert April 28 that included Bruce Guthro and Lennie Gallant among others. Perth-Andover’s population is only about 1900, and there were close to 1200 in attendance, while others watched via live web streaming. Ticket revenue and various door prize/50-50 sales, plus cash donations at the...

13 May, 2012

Blues belter Matt Anderson and subtle folkie Dave Gunning seem like an odd pairing, but they played together beautifully last night before an appreciative audience at the Halifax Chamber of Commerce annual Spring Dinner. They were consistently funny, too. "I felt a bit nervous at the prospect of playing for such a high-powered crowd," Anderson said. "So I asked who played last year." "Jane Goodall."...

03 May, 2012

Stranger: The composer, lead vocalist, and guitarist is Alicia Penney, one-time lead singer with the Tom Fun Orchestra. She's accompanied by local hero Steven Wilton on percussion, Ben Furey on banjo (yes!) and vocals, and Carolyn Lionais on vocals. Sydney punk rock veteran Harry Doyle produced the session did the sound mix at his Small Studios. [Correction:] Jenni Welsh and Stefan MacNeil produced the video. Kudos to Welsh, who's been doing pro bono videos for a lot of alternative (i.e. other-than-Celtic) musicians Cape Breton. Starting perhaps with the Be Good Tanyas, or perhaps much earlier with John McCutcheon, the banjo is enjoying new...

11 February, 2012

Sydney radio newsman Jay MacNeil is attracting hundreds of comments, "likes," and shares on his Facebook video denouncing CBRM council's 10-2 vote to ban teen dances from civic facilities. You're making it hard. You're just making it hard. There are people in this community who spend their entire day trying to find ways to inspire and engage the youth of their community, and around your council table there are a bunch people who find ways—on a shockingly recurring basis—to disengage youth. View the whole rant here. H/T: Jancie Fuller via Leah Noble...

08 December, 2011
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