An Evening With Alan Cross

 On Saturday night, I had the pleasure of attending Alan Cross’s Salons at Bar Robo. Before discussing the event, I’ll tell you a little about Alan Cross. Alan Cross is a big name in radio, music and podcasting. Below is a small list of his vast work across the media

Best of Ottawa 2020: Cafés & Coffee Shops

 After over 20-years writing about life in Ottawa, we think we have a pretty good idea of the best of what this city has to offer. In this weekly series, we share our picks with you — our top hotels, live music venues, local brews, bands and more. Check, share and discuss

The Seasonal Struggles of The Sun Harmonic

 Photo credit: Sun Harmonic Sometimes making something you love requires pain, and for Kaleb Hikele of The Sun Harmonic, this meant working through personal injuries. With their mix of classical and folk roots, Hikele creates music with a romantic and often magical feeling to it. We caught up with Hikele

Gals That Brunch Ottawa Tightens Community with Female Focused Events

 Every year on March 8th, gender equality is celebrated across the globe for International Women’s Day. Considering we weren’t even allowed to vote only a century ago, women have made enormous strides, and it’s the connection, support, and empowerment provided to each other that’s key in having our voices heard

Aerialists are a Musical Melting Pot

 Photo credit: Pat Valade Despite coming from a range of backgrounds, Aerialists all ended up at Berklee College of Music in Boston. After realizing their collective love of traditional music and pop, they've become a unique band who've evolved consistently record to record. We caught up with fiddler Elise Boeur

Miesha and the Spanks leading the way for next generation girls in rock

 Photo credit: Richard Macfarlane Calgary-based Miesha & The Spanks recently released their new LP, Girl Girls Girls.  Guitarist Miesha Louie and drummer Sean Hamilton are a guitar-and-drum duo who perform ferocious driving punk-tinged rock and roll. Their new 10-track LP was produced by Paul Rawson and Danny Farrant (of The

BEST OF OTTAWA: Live Music Venues

 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,

OK Robo

 Photos by Andre Gagne Jake, it's Chinatown, Thursday night before the Easter long weekend, and a steady crowd is streaming into Bar Robo where DJ Sweet Cheeks currently spins a track that perfectly emulates the atmosphere. “I'm just hanging out with my friends,” repeats a voice between beats and scratches

Ottawa Music Scene Leveraging JUNOs to Showcase Local Talent

 Photos by Andre Gagne The 2017 JUNO Host Committee held a special event on Friday morning at the Innovation Centre at Bayview Yards, called “Ottawa as a Music City”. If you're scratching your head wondering whether there should be a question mark at the end of that, you may not

Talking jazz with Mike Essoudry

 Just two years ago the Ottawa Citizen’s Peter Hum suggested that local drummer Mike Essoudry was “downsizing musically”. At the time, a musician who’d surrounded himself with big sounding big bands of up to ten members had decided to pair things down to something smaller. Even at that, there was

But First, Coffee

 Photos by Ali Matthews & Andaz Hotel. Top coffee connoisseurs gathered at Feast + Revel in the recently opened Andaz Hotel for a Barista Invitational showcasing some of the top talent in Ottawa. Baristas from La Bottega, Origin Trade, Planet Coffee, Bar Robo and Feast + Revel faced off to win