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Colde Announces Highly Anticipated ‘Blueprint’ Tour Across North America

Today, singer-songwriter Colde announced his highly anticipated 2024 tour across North America. Produced by Live Nation, the Colde ‘BluePrint’ North America Tour 2024 20-date outing kicks off on Thursday, August 15 in Minneapolis, MN at the Fillmore, with stops in Chicago, Toronto, Boston, Brooklyn, Los Angeles, San Francisco and more before wrapping up on Saturday, September 21 in Vancouver, BC at The Centre in Vancouver.

Colde first came on the scene in 2016 as a part of the indie duo offonoff before making his solo debut in 2018 with his EP Wave. Since then, Colde has gained both domestic and international recognition in the Korean R&B and hip-hop space. Additionally, he has founded several record labels including Wavy, Layered Island and PYRAT.

Kim Hee-soo, better known as Colde, is a South Korean singer-songwriter. He debuted in 2016 as a member of the indie duo offonoff. As a solo artist he has released the extended plays Wave, Love Part 1, Idealism, and Love Part 2.

COLDE ‘BLUEPRINT’ NORTH AMERICA TOUR 2024 DATES:
Thu Aug 15 – Minneapolis, MN – Fillmore Minneapolis
Sat Aug 17 – Chicago, IL – House of Blues
Tue Aug 20 – Toronto, ON – History
Wed Aug 21 – Montreal, QC – L’Olympia
Fri Aug 23 – Boston, MA – House of Blues
Sat Aug 24 – Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn Paramount
Tue Aug 27 – Silver Spring, MD – The Fillmore Silver Spring
Wed Aug 28 – Raleigh, NC – The Ritz
Fri Aug 30 – Orlando, FL – House of Blues
Sun Sep 01 – Atlanta, GA – Buckhead Theatre
Tue Sep 03 – Houston, TX – House of Blues
Fri Sep 06 – Dallas, TX – House of Blues
Sun Sep 08 – Denver, CO – Summit
Tue Sep 10 – Phoenix, AZ – The Van Buren
Thu Sep 12 – San Diego, CA – House of Blues
Sat Sep 14 – Los Angeles, CA – The Wiltern
Sun Sep 15 – Anaheim, CA – House of Blues
Wed Sep 18 – San Francisco, CA – August Hall
Fri Sep 20 – Seattle, WA – Moore Theatre
Sat Sep 21 – Vancouver, BC – The Centre in Vancouver

6lack Announces Headlining 2024 Tour Dates: ‘6lack: No More Lonely Nights’ Tour

One of music’s most beloved and groundbreaking artists 6LACK has announced he will be heading back on the road this summer after the success of his recently-wrapped Since I Have A Lover Tour. The new 6LACK: No More Lonely Nights Tour dates, produced by Live Nation, will be a limited run of shows visiting seven U.S. cities. The intimate performances will capture the raw emotion that lines the collection of songs on Since I Have A Lover that delve into 6LACK’s personal journey with mental health, healing, personal growth, love and his own journey of finding his way — the good and the bad.

‘Since I Have A Lover’ has received monumental praise from both media including New York Times, NPR, Zane Lowe, Rolling Stone, Business Insider, Complex, Fader and Pitchfork to name a few upon its arrival. It introduced a collection of profound songs speaking on mental health, recovery, self-improvement, love and revealed much about 6LACK’s personal journey navigating life’s highs and lows. It’s 6LACK like we’ve never seen or heard him before. The album features stunning collaborations with Don Toliver, Wale, India Shawn, Ty Dolla $ign, QUIN, and production by Leon Thomas, OZ, Fwdslxsh, Scribz Riley, EarthGang’s Olu, Teddy Walton and others.

Pronounced “Black”, the three-time GRAMMY-nominated and multi-platinum selling artist has brilliantly captured a voice of a generation through his dynamic art for years now. Born and raised in Zone 6 of Atlanta, 6LACK exploded onto the scene with his breakout debut FREE 6LACK album in 2016, cementing his insatiable, singular sound. He was later catapulted into stardom in 2018 with the arrival of his critically acclaimed album, East Atlanta Love Letter, which hit No. 1 on the Top R&B Albums and peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard 200.

The revered artist has amassed over 7.8 billion global streams across platforms while also giving the world some of the biggest hits from the past decade through explosive collaborations with some of today’s most beloved artists including J. Cole, Future, Selena Gomez, Young Thug, Timbaland, Normani, Isaiah Rashad, Rita Ora, Ty Dolla $ign, Lil Baby, Khalid, Jessie Reyez, Nao and many more. Most recently, his colossal collaboration with Lil Tjay on the song “Calling My Phone” earned him a No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, No. 1 on the Hot Rap Songs chart and hit No. 3 on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 chart. The track has since reached platinum status and was brought to life through a moving performance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.

6LACK: NO MORE LONELY NIGHTS TOUR DATES:
Sat May 18 | Honolulu, HI | The Republik
Sun Jun 09 | Albuquerque, NM | Revel Entertainment Center
Tue Jun 11 | San Antonio, TX | The Aztec Theater
Tue Jun 18 | St. Louis, MO | The Pageant
Wed Jun 19 | Cincinnati, OH | Bogart’s
Sat Jun 22 | Waukee, IA | Vibrant Music Hall
Thu Jun 27 | McKees Rocks, PA | Roxian Theatre

Gene Moran Channels Road Woes and Personal Struggles in New Single “In A Flash”

Country music was built on the backs of musicians who spent grueling hours on America’s endless highways between low-paying gigs, self-medicating in their downtime to deal with chronic pain, loneliness and boredom. It’s what Americana upstart Gene Moran has witnessed all too often from people in his life. He explores the danger of those long, slow hours in his new single “In A Flash.”

The former teacher out of Mesa, Arizona has worked through a lot just to play smoky rooms and juke joints. Born with cerebral palsy, Moran had to develop his own playing style and get over a crippling stage fright before he could bring his high, lonesome tunes to audiences.

“Starting from when I was 15, I’ve always wanted to be in bands like my friends in high school,” he explains. “But I had a hang up about being disabled and playing on stage and thought I would look stupid.”

“In A Flash” deals with putting anxious thoughts to bed with an unhealthy mix of alcohol, nicotine and prescription pills. In a dusty croak reminiscent of Steve Earle, Moran delivers an unvarnished look at life on the road over a rambling guitar line that wouldn’t sound out of place on any ‘70s speed-addled trucker tune.

“Smoking cigarettes for breakfast, my dinner’s alcohol, two hours of shut eye, if I even sleep at all, so I just keep on going, life goes by in a flash,” he sings. “I gotta bad, bad feeling, tonight might be my last.”

Moran says the tune has caught on in the rooms away from those long white lines, with audience members approaching him and sharing how relatable they found the strung-out bit of honky-tonking.

“I wrote it in the parking lot of a pharmacy while waiting for a prescription refill,” he said. “One of the things I like about this song is almost every time I play it live, people come up to me and tell me that they can relate to this song because they have similar experiences in their own lives and they don’t feel so alone.”

The single follows “Dead Man’s Guitar,” a direct reckoning with the events that pushed him to overcome his disability and develop his own guitar-picking style. Both tunes are chock full of the sort of lonely, twangy songwriting that would have filled up jukeboxes in desert diners during the era of the 45 singles.

For Big Dave McLean, Blues Is The Meaning Of “This Old Life” With His New Album

Is it possible to still be underrated at age 71, and after a five-decade career in which you’ve inspired just about everybody in Canadian blues?

Big Dave McLean is about to offer an emphatic “yes” with This Old Life, an album that’s poised to finally shine the light of mass acclaim on his mighty talents as a singer, harmonicist and slinger of the National guitar—skills that, among his many other accomplishments, once led Billboard to proclaim “He’s done more to shape the Western Canadian blues scene than perhaps any other artist.”

And now everybody gets to hear why. The new record is a 14-song collection of immediately indelible, classic blues, combining supremely authentic covers of tunes by legendary artists like Willie Dixon, Muddy Waters and Little Walter with three new McLean originals that can stand proudly with the best the art form has to offer.

The bar is set by leadoff track “Well, I Done Got Over It,” a rendition of the 1953 Guitar Slim nugget that shows McLean’s soulful, gravelly rumble of a voice is perfectly suited to the archetypal lament of a good man done wrong:

On the day we first met, baby
You sure was a sweet little thing
After a while you got so bad
You know it was a cryin’ shame
Well I done I got over it
Hey I done got over it
Lord I done got over it
I done got over that lass

Versions of Waters’ “Honey Bee” and Blind Lemon Jefferson’s “See That My Grave’s Kept Clean” are among the smartly chosen, impeccably performed tributes that round out the record. Meanwhile, McLean shows his more romantic side on his own “You Mean So Much to Me,” gets wistful on “Sometimes” and spins a yarn of escalating neighborhood violence on the regretful, world-weary “Billy Canton’s Bulldog.”

In true traditionalist style, the album was recorded in just four days at The Ganaraska Recording Company in Cobourg, Ontario, on a purist’s arsenal of vintage instruments and equipment. And most of the performances are first takes, with all of the core guitar, bass and drum tracks cut live “off the floor.”

The approach was hugely satisfying to co-producer Steve Marriner, a Juno- and Maple Blues Award-winning musician in his own right who counts himself among McLean’s biggest fans.

“He is as genuine a bluesman as it gets, and I’ve been dying to capture Dave and present him to the rest of the world in the way I’ve always heard him: raw and real,” says Marriner, who also brought along his producing partner, Jimmy Bowskill, to help shepherd the project and join him in its core performing ensemble. “I’m very proud of what we’ve done here. I think we’ve shown Dave and the music itself the deep respect [they’re] so deserving of.”

The Saskatchewan-born McLean has been earning that respect since 1969, when he received his first guitar lesson from the legendary John Hammond after a gig. After that, you couldn’t stop him: He became a regular presence on the Canadian club and festival scene, where his profuse talents and obvious love of the blues won him the support of further mentors like the aforementioned Waters, whose friendship ended up inspiring the title of McLean’s debut album, Muddy Waters for President.

But the blues has never been a rich man’s game, and for decades thereafter, McLean had to work in construction and at other odd jobs to supplement his gigging and recording habit. His struggles were even documented in a 2015 short, “Ain’t About The Money.”

Accolades, fortunately, have been a good deal more forthcoming than heaps of cash. McLean has been nominated for three Junos and won one (for 1992’s Saturday Night Blues). He’s also received a Western Canadian Music Award, a Prairie Music Award, a Great Canadian Blues Award and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Toronto Blues Society. And in 2019, he was made a member of the Order of Canada, in recognition of his influence in the field of Delta and Chicago blues, and his own mentorship of younger artists like Colin James, Shaun Verrault and Luke Doucette.

Is the mainstream finally catching up with the tastemakers? Everything about This Old Life points to a big breakthrough— ironically but rewardingly, since it makes no compromises in its warm embrace of everything that’s always been great about the music.

With the album out and the whirlwind tour looming, McLean is feeling reflective. “I would like to send out my deepest gratitude, respect and admiration to all of the many people who have shared their incredidble talents and have helped me present my interpretation of blues over the past fifty years or so,” he says.

And thank you, Big Dave. We promise we’ll never get over it.

Visionary Musician Margaret Maria Champions Social Change Through Innovative Compositions and Performances

Margaret Maria, a visionary innovator, creator, music producer, composer, cellist, and educator, is on a mission to advocate for programs and initiatives that “change the world”, through her musical endeavours. Renowned for her innovative compositions and masterful cello performances, Margaret Maria is set to launch an event showcasing her talent for pushing the boundaries of music, creativity and nudging the needle forward for social change.

Earlier this month, Margaret Maria performed their original song, “Music Can Change the World” with soul/reggae singer Tréson at the book launch in the MaRS Atrium. The launched celebrated Margaret Maria’s contributions to OrKidstra and achievement in the book “Canadians Who Innovate – The Trailblazers and Ideas that are Changing the World” by Roseann O’Reilly Runte, published by Simon and Schuster.

Following the book launch on May 25th, Margaret Maria will be joined by pianist Bill Gilliam, performing Marbyllia (her spontaneous music with Gilliam) in Ottawa benefiting the SuzukiMusic cello program, where Margaret Maria also teaches. Please visit www.margaretmariamusic.com for event details and time tba.

From July 17th to 31st, Margaret Maria will lead the BIIMA Creativity, Improv, and Composition Retreat in Breno, Italy. Guiding participants through a transformative journey of musical exploration and discovery. Here she will share her life experiences and innovative approaches to composition and improvisation. Join her in Italy as she nurtures the creative process and empowers others to unlock their artistic potential.

With a diverse portfolio spanning 16 studio albums, collaborative projects, and educational initiatives, she continues to inspire and uplift audiences around the globe. From her early days as a cellist with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra to her recent forays into composition and education, Margaret Maria delves deep into the soul of her music, seeking to inspire meaningful connections.

Jeffery Straker Releases Two Vulnerable Singles – “More Than Two by Fours and Timber” and “Sing Your Song” From New Album Great Big Sky

With modernization and urbanization comes big changes – and inevitable sadness and nostalgia. Regina, SK-based folk artist Jeffery Straker captures a loss of rural identity in his new single “More Than Two by Fours and Timber,” in which he describes a grain elevator being bulldozed in a small farming town.

It was so much more than two by fours and timber
That last grain elevator was comin’ down today
Under their breath people said good-bye
They tried their best to take it all in stride
They just got used to doin’ it that way

Tinged with sunny sadness and harmonica-laced introspection, the song tells the story of how the town near the grain elevator has also been in decline, and how some of the old buildings are boarded up and the church is no longer in use. The townspeople gather to watch the grain elevator coming down and, in witnessing its fall, a part of ‘them’ and their collective rural identity inevitably crumbles away, too.

The song comes from a very personal place in Straker’s history. “I’m a child of the Canadian prairies, having grown up on a grain farm in Saskatchewan doing all the ‘farm things’ like cleaning the barn and helping with harvest,” he said.

Though not everyone shares Straker’s upbringing, the song’s wistfulness for simpler times and for what’s increasingly becoming a bygone era struck a chord with fans. “The first time I sang this song at a show, I had so many people ask me afterwards if they could get it on an album or find it online – but I was just trying it out,” Straker recalls. “It’s great when a song gets a reaction like that.”

When bringing “More Than Two by Fours and Timber” to life in the studio in Nashville with producer Steve Dawson, Fats Kaplin came in and added a brilliant harmonica part. “It adds a melancholy character to the tune that really suits the song,” Straker said.

Straker becomes even more emotionally vulnerable on his mellow, piano-studded second single “Sing Your Song,” which is about finding strength in letting down one’s guard. Co-written with Canadian folk icon Lynn Miles, the song is about when Straker took a leap several years ago and came out as gay. It’s also, equally, about when he quit his job to pursue a music career.

“It’s hard to say which one was tougher,” Straker reflects. “I thought that music would be a hobby and that I should really pursue a more ‘typical’ career. I didn’t think I had the chops to make a go of it in the classical world, and the idea of being a touring singer-songwriter seemed pretty outrageous at the time, like traveling with the circus. And everyone around me was saying things like, ‘Stick with the security of the real job.’”

I learned it’s ok to not quite belong
That letting down your guard is how to be strong
I was so afraid of getting it wrong
Even if you think your voice ain’t the best
That’s OK it’s yours go right ahead and
Sing your song

Singer-songwriter pianist Jeffery Straker grew up taking piano lessons in small-town Saskatchewan and has gone on to perform more than 100 shows per year across Canada, Europe, and Latin America. The roots-y storytelling of his songs has the power to transport a listener out onto a lake in Canada’s North or to the main street of a prairie town. A clever lyricist with an energetic approach to the piano, his songwriting has drawn critical comparisons to the likes of Harry Chapin, Kris Kristofferson, and Murray McLauchlan while maintaining a style distinctly his own. He’s recorded his roots/folk music for CBC radio’s Canada Live and has seen his songs used in film, TV, and theatrical productions. In 2019, he won a Western Canadian Music Award. Recently he was awarded “Roots/Folk Artist of the Year” at both the 2020 and 2021 Saskatchewan Music Awards and has seen the Saskatchewan Country Music Awards name him “Keyboard Player of the Year” three years running.

Jeffery has emerged from the studio with his latest recording Great Big Sky, which will release in June 2024. Working with Roots/Americana producer Steve Dawson (Nashville), the album delivers a folk-roots singer/songwriter flavour.

His two singles “More Than Two by Fours and Timber” and “Sing Your Song” are available now.

Toronto Singer-Songwriter henryqin’s Lovelorn Single ‘Shade of Hue’ Unveils Bittersweet Tale of Young Love and Loss

Young love is hard and unrequited but young love is even harder. Just ask henryqin, the singer-songwriter born in Shanghai and based in Toronto, who documents his own teenage romance in his latest lovelorn single, “shade of hue.”

The track, out now, tells the story of a fateful day spent sight-seeing in Toronto at the end of his freshman year.

“It only took a few months for an eighteen-year-old hopelessly romantic boy to almost give up on ever finding teenage romance,” he says of the song’s inspiration. “Just days before I flew home for summer, I ran into this guy at my friend’s residence, and we instantly connected while watching a game. Later, he proposed to take me to my first Blue Jays game and teach me how to take photos with his digital cameras.”

They spent the day together, taking photos in the city and talking “passionately and endlessly” about their interest. “I was so excited to get to know more about him and how this romance could take me, until on the way back from the game, when he picked up a phone call, which turned out to be from his girlfriend.” They became friends instead.

“I had been so afraid to even acknowledge those feelings I once had that I only looked back to them months later,” he says. “I remember, last August, sitting on my bed, strumming a Cadd9 chord, and as the humming came off my mind, tears streamed down my face. Barely able to enunciate the words because of sobbing, I wrote the first draft of this song.”

“Those tears didn’t just come from the pity of what could or should have been between us. It’s also a reflection of the absolute hopelessness for love after repeatedly regaining hope and then losing it.” Still, there’s a thread of optimism holding the echoing track together. “It’s not that sad of a song because that night contains so many beautiful memories I won’t ever forget about. I won’t forget about those magical interactions, about that baseball game, or about his digital camera. Especially not about the ‘shade of hue’ of every single picture he took that night.”

Crafting soundscapes and lyrics from his personal experiences, the 19-year-old is gearing up to release his debut EP, BAY-COLLEGE on July 26. Acting as the writer, composer and producer of his work, every sound is self-made. Having released his debut single “Istanbul” this January, he has so much more to explore. henryqin is ready to bring his deeply personal music to the world.

Toronto Hip Hop – Funk Connoisseur John Orpheus Heats Up The Summer By Taking Us Back

Baggy jeans and Timberlands for everybody! Toronto hip hop – funk connoisseur John Orpheus teleports us back to the salad days of the late 20th century on his new single, “90’s Fool.” And young and old alike take notice: What we have here is a throwback with real pull.

From one listen to this irresistible faux time capsule, it’s clear Orpheus hasn’t missed a period detail—whether it’s the Dre-like siren song of the long, held keyboard notes or the lyrical references to everything from the Fugees’ breakup to Janet Jackson’s infamous encounter with Tupac on Poetic Justice. And if all that namedropping goes over anyone’s head, the joyful chorus refrain underlines just where—and when—Orpheus is coming from:

I came up in the ’90s fool
Never playing by no rules
Yeah we used to play it cool
Now we still do what we do

“I wanted to make a song where I could reminisce about the past, celebrate the present and see the future, all in the same place,” Orpheus says. “It’s catchy, singable, danceable and will make your uncles and aunties do funny dances and tell stories that make no sense.”

The kinfolks’ tongues will really be wagging when they see the accompanying music video, in which Orpheus takes a colorful walking tour through the street art and other visual iconography of the decade. Over to director Agata Waclawska, who shot the clip:

“’90s Fool’ was a journey back in time, a nostalgic exploration of an era defined by its music, its style and its attitude. Bringing John Orpheus into this vibrant landscape, surrounded by the relics of the past, was like watching a modern-day time traveler embrace his roots. With each step through the city streets, we aimed to capture not just the sights, but the essence of ’90s cool. It’s a celebration of authenticity, of staying true to oneself even as the world changes around us.”

Yet for the performer himself, the point of the single and video wasn’t to simply wallow in nostalgia, but to use yesterday as the foundation for an artistic identity that’s very much of the moment.

“I’m not trying to live in the past,” he explains. “I’m trying to understand what my vision of myself is, so that I can live here and now. That vision was formed in the ’90s. So, I guess what’s unique is that the song is my version of the ’90s and the things I liked and that shaped me personally.”

The song is yet another tasty appetizer for Orpheus’ forthcoming EP, Get Right! Like the title track that dropped back in March, the record mines the same vein of vintage funk and R&B the artist first began to explore on his 2021 album, Saga King—with sprinkles of everything from dancehall to Afrobeats mixed in to give it all a unique flava. The new EP was tracked in a frenzied nine days’ worth of activity at Copper Sound in Guelph, with musical director Adam Bowman and producer Mike Schlosser helping to preserve the immediacy of performances that prioritized good, old-fashioned live instrumentation. Expect a dynamic re-creation of the energy and spontaneity Orpheus has brought to the stage in festival gigs and show-opening slots throughout Canada, the U.S., and the UK—high-octane affairs that have been known to erupt into bouts of audience participation, chanting and impromptu dance-offs straight out of a Caribana road party.

It’s all a distinctly different high from the one Orpheus gets from writing under the name of his literary alter ego, Antonio Michael Downing. As Downing, he’s published a well-received memoir and two children’s books, with his first-ever novel, Black Cherokee, soon to follow.

In its own way, maintaining two distinctly different yet complementary personas is great ongoing practice for the balancing act he’s pulling off so winningly as John Orpheus. “90’s Fool” may revel in back-in-the day boosterism, but its author says the real agenda of his music is to break down the barriers between then and now, erecting a playing space that’s beyond the limits of mere time.

“There were no ’90s or 2010s,” he muses. “We are people living lives that are much more fluid than that. So, I want to make music that’s neither trying to be old school or new school but is a place where we can all can hang out: THE WHOLE SCHOOL.”

Class dismissed … for now.

2024 ECMA Winner Gina Burgess Captures The Hibernation State of Magical Worlds With “Kingsburg Blues” from Her New Album ISNOW

There’s nothing all that bluesy or melancholy about “Kingsburg Blues,” the new single by 2024 ECMA Fusion Recording Of The Year for Anuri, Mi’kma’ki (Nova Scotia)-based Gina Burgess, although it is indeed haunting. Instead, the song, which blends psychedelic elements with Celtic and Inuit roots, takes us into a magical and mischievous fairy world shimmering with fireflies and secrets.

There’s only one lyric to the song: “And how long does it take for a rose to bloom and die?” But that lyric allows an entry point into that November day in Nova Scotia when Burgess was first inspired to write “Kingsburg Blues.”

“I was walking along the ocean coast in the village of Kingsburg, on the south shore of Nova Scotia,” Burgess recalls. “The path I walked was lined with rose bushes entering their hibernation state for the winter. The wind picked up and I heard this majikal music. It felt as though the rose hip spirits were singing this melody to me.”

In fact, it was more as though Burgess was being led into the song rather than fully forming it herself. “Quieting my mind, I could hear the whispers of the fae folk as they taught me this song,” she says. “I immediately went and got my violin and played the notes I had heard.”

The trance-y, hypnotizing composition features Burgess’s violin accompanied by Cynthia Pitsulak’s contemporary Inuit throat singing. Also featured is the Angolan instrument, the berimbau, played by Ross Burns. Double bass is played by Jordan Stephens, along with Matthew Gallant on the drum kit.

“I met Cynthia Pitsiulak in Ottawa at a Silla and Rise (her band at that time) performance. I knew immediately that I wanted Cynthia to record the contemporary Inuit throat parts,” Burgess recalls. “We have since then created a wonderful friendship and collaborative spirit together.” Burgess’ collaborations with Jordan Stephens and Matt Gallant go back even further. “I have played with Jordan and Matt in many capacities over the last two decades,” she says. “They are both incredible musicians in their own right and I knew I wanted to work with them for my solo project.”

The Brazilian percussion is played by Ross Burns, a capoeira practitioner and teacher. “Ross and I have a long history performing together in the swing manouche band Gypsophilia,” Burgess explains. “We composed, performed, and toured together in that band for 12 years. During that time, he would occasionally bring the capoeira instruments into the mix, and I absolutely love those sounds.”

“Kingsburg Blues” is one of nine songs on Burgess’ new album ISNOW. The genre-bending compositions were written for violin, contemporary Inuit throat singing, double bass, drum kit, and Brazilian percussion, and they fuse together the different musical elements that have influenced Burgess through her musical training and travels.

“I spend a lot of time in nature,” says Burgess. “That’s where I hear music the most. When I am still and listening, the music comes to me. I have never actually sat down to write a composition yet. I feel more like a conduit where the spirit of music flows through me.”

From Mi’kma’ki (Nova Scotia), internationally recognized artist Gina Burgess is a multi-genre violinist, composer, yoga instructor, educator, and musician wellness facilitator. A former member of the JUNO-nominated Iqaluit-based arctic rock band The Jerry Cans, a four- time East Coast Music Award winner with the Hot Swing group Gypsophilia, and collaborator with numerous ensembles, Burgess is a highly sought-after performer. Her latest project ISNOW reflects her diverse experience by mixing classical music with Celtic folk and incorporating contemporary Inuit throat singing with elements of jazz.

Bridge To The Future: Teen Fiddler Mary Frances Bows Her Own Way On “Cheerio”

In the ongoing race to predict the next teen craze, give yourself 10 points if you had … Celtic/Latin/jazz fusion fiddle?

Hey, in a world where Lindsey Stirling has made the violin commercial again, anything can happen. And just one listen to First Light, the debut album from 18-year-old Ontario wunderkind Mary Frances Leahy, will convince you that she’s next in line. Its nine original instrumentals are ironclad proof that composer/multi-instrumentalist Leahy has carved out a wholly unique and captivating musical identity that rings as natural to the ear as it might look peculiar on paper.

The clarity and breadth of her vision are in full display on the album’s showcase singles. “Cheerio” has a traditional Celtic jauntiness that veers into another realm entirely when Rosendo “Chendy” León’s Latin percussion comes in; there’s even an all-rhythm interlude that’s guaranteed to inspire euphoric pandemonium on the dance floor. Meanwhile, the bittersweet “Silhouette LeBert” shows off a completely different yet utterly complementary side to Leahy’s repertoire. It’s a gorgeous and gentle waltz with an achingly romantic, “final dance of the evening” feel. You can just see the last couple to leave the supper club staring adoringly into each other’s eyes as the janitor leans on his broom and checks his watch.

Other tracks like the appropriately named “Celticumbia” effortlessly bridge the worlds of Celtic and Latin music, giving free rein to Leahy’s skills as not just a fiddler and composer, but also a pianist. Oh, and did we mention she’s a dancer, too?

It helps that music is literally in her DNA. The oldest of seven children born to Canadian Celtic-music legends Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy, Mary Frances has been performing with them since age 5, playing an estimated 600 shows throughout Canada and the U.S. together. So it’s not entirely surprising that her emergence as a solo artist came via a little parental encouragement.

“When I hit 14 or 15, I started listening to and writing a lot of music,” she says. “I would sit at the piano and just play for an hour without stopping. It actually drove me nuts, because my mom would hide in the next room or at the top of the stairs with a recording device and tape everything I played. She always said ‘You have to do something with all of this!’”

It was the 2020 pandemic, she says, that gave her the time and opportunity:

“My parents purchased a recording studio, and all of a sudden I had a musical playground right down the hall from my bedroom! Recording an album seemed very natural given the circumstances, and so it began.”

To bring her brainchild to life, she enlisted Elmer Ferrer as co-producer and -arranger. He also played guitar and tres and did digital programming, joining a core ensemble that was rounded out by León on percussion and Mark Kelso on drums. Remi Arsenault plays bass on Cheerio and four other tracks and guitar on yet another. No slouch herself, Leahy says she relished the opportunity to work with top-shelf talents, who “always push you to be better than you thought you could be. Great musicians inspire the ear and direct your musicality in new ways.”

And now she’s directing herself to the concert stage as a solo act. Having already undertaken a couple dozen full shows of her own, she’s fully discovered the high of writing, playing and performing your own music. So of course she has an extensive touring schedule already mapped out for 2024. Appearances announced so far are as follows:

JUNE 21TH, 2024 PEI Festival of Small Halls
JUNE 22TH, 2024 PEI Festival of Small Halls
JUNE 23TH, 2024 PEI Festival of Small Halls
SAT. JUNE 29TH, 2024 Portsmouth, NH
SAT JULY 6TH, 2024 Mahone Bay, NS TBC
SUN. JULY 14TH, 2024 Summerside, PEI Harbourfront Theatre
FRI. JULY 19TH, 2024 Huntsville, ON Algonquin Theater
THURS JULY 18, 2024 Howe Island, ON
FRI. JULY 26TH, 2024 Souris, PEI
SAT. JULY 27TH, 2024 Summerside, PEI
SUN. JULY 28TH, 2024 Broadcove, NS Broadcove Scottish Concert
FRI. AUGUST 9TH, 2024 York, PS Susquehanna Folk Festival
AUGUST 15TH, 2024 Bayfield, WI Big Top Chautauqua
AUGUST 16 2024 Milwaukee, WI Henry Maier
THUR.SEPTEMBER 26, 2024 Truro, NS Nova Scotia Stampede
FRI OCTOBER 18, 2024 Ithaca, NY IMG Show Day – Venue TBC
THUR.OCTOBER 24TH-31ST, 2024 AMA Waterways European Cruise
SUN NOV 24TH, 2024 Calgary, AB Jubilee Auditorium
MON NOV 25TH, 2024 Regina, SK Casino Regina
WED NOV 27, 2024 Saskatoon, SK TCU Place
FRI NOV 29, 2024 Edmonton, AB Jubilee Auditorium
WED DECEMBER 4TH, 2024 Pictour, NS DeCoste Centre for Arts & Creativity
THUR.DECEMBER 5TH, 2024 Moncton, NB Casino New Brunswick
FRI-SAT DECEMBER 6-7, 2024 Halifax, NS Light House Arts Centre
SUN DEC 15, 2024 Burlington, ON Burlington Performing Arts Centre
MON-TUES DECEMBER 16-17, 2024 St. Catharines, ON Partridge Concert Hall
WED. DECEMBER 18TH, 2024 Markham, ON Flato Markham Theatre
THUR.DECEMBER 19TH, 2024 Kitchener, ON Centre in the Square
FRI.DECEMBER 20TH, 2024 Peterborough, ON Peterborough Memorial Centre
SUN. DECEMBER 22ND, 2024 Ottawa, ON Southam Hall
SATURDAY MARCH 1st, 2025 Waterville, Maine Waterville Opera House
SUNDAY MARCH 2nd, 2025 Waterville, Maine Waterville Opera House
THURSDAY MARCH 13th, 2025 Brownfield, Maine The Stone Mountain Arts Center
FRIDAY MARCH 14th, 2025 Keene, NH The Colonial Performing Arts Center
SATURDAY MARCH 15th, 2025 New London, CT Garde Arts Center
SUNDAY MARCH 16th, 2025 Beverly, MA The Cabot
TUESDAY MARCH 25th, 2025 Nanaimo, BC The Port Theatre
WEDNESDAY MARCH 26th, 2025 Victoria, BC Royal Theatre
FRIDAY MARCH 28th, 2025 Campbell River, BC The Tidemark Theatre
SATURDAY MARCH 29th, 2025 Port Alberni, BC Alberni District Secondary School
SUNDAY MARCH 30th, 2025 Duncan, BC Cowichan Performing Arts Centre
MONDAY MARCH 31st, 2025 Courtneay, BC Sid Williams Civic Theatre
FRIDAY APRIL 4th, 2025 Vernon, BC Vernon & District Performing Arts Centre
SATURDAY APRIL 5th, 2025 Vernon, BC Vernon & District Performing Arts Centre
MONDAY APRIL 7th, 2025 Trail, BC Charles Bailey Theatre
TUESDAY APRIL 8th, 2025 Cranbrook, BC Key City Theatre

Even before Leahy’s solo career had left the launching pad, her family experience had enabled her to rack up an impressive list of accomplishments—including a piano performance alongside the great Yo-Yo Ma on her parents’ latest release, CANVAS, which also features two of her own compositions (“Choo Choo” and “Colour Theory”). She’s performed on Little Big Shots with Steve Harvey, the Carmen Nebel TV show in Germany and the special A Celtic Family Christmas. The many performances she’s given in her mother’s homeland of Cape Breton Island led to Mary Frances’ coming out in top in a recent Cape Breton Tourism music contest; her winning entry ended up as the title track to her new album.

As a dancer specializing in the Ottawa Valley/Cape Breton styles, she was seen performing atop a white grand piano for a 2021 Canada Day special, and has also taught multiple workshops. And in the past year alone, she’s had the opportunity to perform with Bela Fleck and Jerry Douglas, as well as arrange and record fiddle for the BBC’s musician of the Year, Tim Edey.

With her eyes set squarely on the future, she’s determined to further her development as a musician and performing artist. She spends an average of 7 hours per day practicing on her various instruments, not counting her private jazz piano lessons with the University of Toronto’s Adrean Farrugia. She’s also enrolled in a Latin-style piano course through the famous Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA, and is learning the fine arts of orchestration via private lessons from Becca Pellet at Humber College in Toronto.

Her main focus, though, is on the labor of love that is her new album, and the very real shot it represents at making her the next big thing among listeners who might be hearing a fiddle for the very first time—or at least as they’ve never heard one before.

“If I had to describe the album, I would say it’s a salad,” she muses. “It’s a mixture of many odd things which, put together, create something delicious.”

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That Eric Alper
6-time nominee for Publicist of the Year during Canadian Music Week, a 16-time JUNO Award winner overseeing PR campaigns, and have also been truly honoured to work with some of the biggest and most important artists of our time.

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