Sound Seekers by Fateema Sayani is published weekly at OttawaMagazine.com. Read Fateema Sayani’s culture column in Ottawa Magazine and follow her on Twitter @fateemasayani
It’s the dead of winter and some of us are buggering off to warmer locales, some of us are whinging and moaning about the cold, and some of us are celebrating the best of the season — such as those nice granola folks in Wakefield, Quebec who organize the annual In the Dead of Winter of Festival, which is a spin-off of a similar event that takes place in Halifax, Nova Scotia. This year’s festival, which starts tonight, features performances by Mo Kenney, Justin Rutledge, and others with balmy vocal tones. Full details here.
A couple of years ago, Elizabeth Shepherd released a jazzy album called Parkdale, which was full of observations about her Toronto neighbourhood of the same name. Shepherd’s got a cool vocal style which finds a line somewhere between hip-hop and doo-wop. On her current release, called Rewind, she takes a turn toward the mellow by performing standards like “Love for Sale,” but with more of an edgy delivery than the originals. She’s part of the NAC Presents Series at the Fourth Stage. See her there Friday, 7:30 p.m.
Also part of the NAC Presents Series:
Whitehorse: March 23
Danny Michel: March 27, 28
Hey Ocean: May 11
Other concerts highlights:
Bluebird North: March 1 at the Westboro Masonic Hall
Ottawa songwriter Amanda Rheaume hosts this writers-in-the-round session with Roxanne Potvin, James Keelaghan, John Carroll, and Lyndell Montgomery.
Suuns: April 13 at Ritual
The Montreal band’s new album was produced by The Besnard Lakes’ Jace Lasek.
Fevers and The Goodluck Assembly: April 20 at the Black Sheep Inn
The Ottawa synth-pop band Fevers kicked off our all-Ottawa mix tape with their hit called “Passion is Dead (Long Live Fashion)” while the Goodluck Assembly has just finished recording with producer Gus Van Go (The Stills, Priestess).
Stephen Fearing: May 5 at the Gladstone Theatre
The old theatre on Gladstone Avenue, near Preston Street, used to be a sometime-concert venue for the Acoustic Wave series of folk shows in the 1990s. This will be a throwback for Ottawa music fans of a certain vintage, who used to pile into the black box theatre for shows by acts like Fearing. His new album, Between Hurricanes, is streaming on No Depression’s website.
Bluesfest buzz has begun early with Ottawa Start and the Ottawa Citizen starting the speculation fest regarding who might attend the annual music bash, which takes place July 4-14, 2013. The full lineup will be announced by Bluesfest brass in April.
In other festival news: The Skydiggers will play the Westfest main stage on June 8. It’s a tour in celebration of the band’s 25th anniversary.
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