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
Mike Feuerstack Drops a Name, Kicks Up the Rhythm
Michael Feuerstack has changed his stage name. He now performs music under his given and family names, having outgrown the Snailhouse handle, which he used over eight albums.
“I was afraid to be branded as a singer-songwriter in the media or by other musicians,” Feuerstack explains. “I wanted to work with collaborators and not be stuck with just guitar and voice and so I used that name, but artistically Snailhouse wasn’t speaking for me anymore.”
Aside from the name change, much will be familiar to fans of Feuerstack’s work, which dates back to the early ‘90s when he played guitar for the Wooden Stars.
The Ottawa band earned national acclaim with their 1999 Juno win for their album collaboration with Julie Doiron. Their music — reflective, with an almost meditative quality — launched dozens of other bands on the same musical ilk. It was practically the soundtrack of Centretown and is often cited as a definitive mark in the evolution of an Ottawa sound.