Canadian Music Legend Lynn Miles Kicks off the Ottawa Grassroots Festival

 The Ottawa Grassroots Festival (OGF) focuses on fostering local community engagement through an annual festival featuring concerts and interactive workshops. Split between two Ottawa venues, Irenes Pub on Bank Street in the Glebe and the First Unitarian Congregation of Ottawa, thirty music acts will entertain audiences at this year’s edition,

Don’t miss Sultans of String’s Christmas Caravan!

 Celebrate the season with an adventurous musical trip around the world right here in Ottawa at the Shenkman Arts Centre. On Dec 19, 2019, 8 p.m., three time JUNO Award nominees Sultans of String led by Ottawa born and raised Chris McKhool, will deliver an exuberant performance featuring band originals, world-music inspired classics, and seasonal favourites to warm

Hearing Double with The LYNNeS

 Feature photo by Brittany Gawley A cold wind blows down Bank Street. Ottawa doesn’t have tumbleweeds but a Loblaws bag waltzes with the wind and vanishes around a corner. A streetlight flickers as two musicians slinging six strings step into the winter sleet. Both are singer-songwriters. Both came with an arsenal of

All Saints Still Singing in Sandy Hill

 Photos courtesy of allsaints / Feature image by Amedeo De Pretto It’s that time of year where everybody is entitled to at least one good scare but ghostly specters and a burst pipe were not going to frighten Leanne Moussa away. She was a woman on a mission, one that would

BEST OF OTTAWA: Musicians

 With 20-years writing about Ottawa life we think we have a pretty good idea of the best of what this city has to offer. In this new weekly summer series we’ll share it with you. From our top picks of hotels, live music venues, local brews, bands and more, check,

Learn Laugh and Listen at Recovery Day Ottawa Benefit

 Images courtesy of Recovery Day Ottawa People with addictions are weak. They bring it on themselves. They are just lazy.  They need to grow up. These are the types of stereotypical misconceptions people like Gord Garner strive to remove every day. As the Festival Producer for Ottawa’s annual Recovery Day, Garner

Ottawa Grassroots: the Little Festival That Grew

 Photos by Anne-Marie Brugger and Andre Gagne Kicking off Ottawa’s ubiquitous festival season is one that truly stands by its name: The Ottawa Grassroots Festival. Now in its sixth year, the festival began as a one-night event in a legion hall back in 2011 and has since bloomed into a

Folk Music Ontario Conference Celebrates 30 Years

 All photos by Andre Gagne. When Murray Foster of Great Big Sea and other bands took the stage at the Folk Music of Ontario Conference Awards Brunch on Sunday, he admitted it was his first time at the conference. He didn’t know what to expect and now that it is

Irene’s Pub, The Legacy of Live Music in Ottawa for Over 30 Years

 All photos by Andre Gagne. There’s a 100-year-old piano in the corner of Irene’s Pub, still in tune and awaiting melodies. Behind the bar, connected to the kitchen, is one of the original clear-com phones that used to reside back stage at the National Arts Centre, a relic of the

Westfest All-Star Fundraiser Packs Orange Gallery With Music, Art and Support

 All photos by Andre Gagne “Don’t make me cry now,” said Elaina Martin, founder and producer of Westfest, as she took the stage in the Orange Gallery to thunderous applause from those gathered Sunday evening at what was touted as an All-Star Fundraiser for the summer festival. A sold out

Jazz at the Crossroads

 All photos courtesy of Andre Gagne “Here we are at the Crossroads,” begins Petr Cancura, glancing back at the band. His hand is raised, poised and ready. The band awaits the first sign post on this evening’s journey. Picture yourself nursing your third drink in a lounge on a Canadian

Lynn Miles: 25 Years and Counting

 An introverted wallflower who performs in front of hundreds of fans, this dedicated, headstrong, hard worker who can make you cry with a single sweet lyric. Singer, songwriter Lynn Miles is a bit of a contradiction, but one hell of a musician. And 25 years after the release of her

Lynn Miles – Songs of Love and Truth

 I was fortunate enough to attend a Lynn Miles show at Irene's Pub on Bank Street a few weeks ago. Irene’s Pub is an amazing live music venue. Alex Golota, the owner, recently finished some major renovations to the bar's performance area, and let me tell you, the sound and