Lights at the Commodore Ballroom, Nov 7 2009. Issha Marie photo

Concert announcement – Lights Acoustic at the Rio Theatre in Vancouver

Lights will play two shows at the Rio Theatre May 3 and 4 in support of her new album, Siberia Acoustic.

The record is a stripped-down version of Siberia, her 2011 album. Siberia Acoustic will be released April 30.

Stripped-down though it may be, the album features guest appearances by Owl City, Max Kerman of Arkells and Coeur de pirate. The first single from the album is “Cactus In The Valley” featuring Owl City, which will be available March 19.

Photos – Lights at the Vogue Theatre, Vancouver Nov 15 2011

Siberia Acoustic is her second stripped down and self-produced offering. In 2010, she released Lights. Acoustic., the lo-fi companion to 2009′s The Listening.

From the PR: “It’s really special the way just a guitar and vocal speaks to the heart, an intimacy that a lot of production can’t convey quite the same way,” said Lights, aka Valerie Poxleitner. “There is a time and a place for each, Siberia in its full form was a different kind of journey than this acoustic record, but this is the version of the songs I sit down and play at home when I’m alone.”

Lights Acoustic tour dates:

Tuesday, April 30        San Francisco, CA     Great American Music Hall
Thursday, May 2          Los Angeles, CA       El Rey Theatre
Friday, May 3               Vancouver, BC          Rio Theatre
Saturday, May 4           Vancouver, BC         Rio Theatre
Monday, May 6            Calgary, AB               Grand Theatre
Tuesday, May 7            Winnipeg, MB           Garrick Centre
Wednesday, May 8      Minneapolis, MN      Varsity Theater
Friday, May 10              Toronto, ON             Wintergarden Theatre
Saturday, May 11         Montreal, QC             Virgin Mobile Corona Theatre
Monday, May 13          Boston, MA               The Sinclair
Tuesday, May 14          New York, NY           Bowery Ballroom

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MGMT at Coachella 2010. Duncan Joseph photo.

Just announced – MGMT at the Commodore Ballroom May 13

MGMT will play the Commodore Ballroom May 13.

The band was founded by Benjamin Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden. Performing live as a five-piece, MGMT continue to entertain through unconventional appearances, including covering Pink Floyd‘s “Lucifer Sam” on Jimmy Fallon while decked out in hardened fisherman’s gear.

In November 2011, MGMT performed two nights at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City, creating a unique musical performance to coincide with the opening of Maurizio Cattelan‘s career retrospective All – an installation of over 100 art pieces dangling from the museum’s ceiling through its inner spiral space.

In 2012, MGMT took their live show to South America. The duo are currently completing the third MGMT album due for an early summer release. The band have released two full length-length albums so far, 2007′s Oracular Spectacular and 2010′s Congratulations.

Tickets go on sale March 8 at 10 a.m.

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Jonsi at the Vogue Theatre, Vancouver April 6 2010. Catherine Carmichael photo.

Concert announcement – Sigur Rós at Deer Lake Park, Vancouver, May 27 2013

Iceland’s Sigur Rós will play Deer Lake Park in Vancouver May 27 2013, Live Nation has just announced.

From the press release: “Having started 2012 with the ambient-leaning and largely-untourable Valtari album, they closed with a hometown show in Reykjavík hinting at broad changes to come. Playing the new song “brennisteinn” with Valtari still very much in the air, the band put a marker in the ground for how their world might look as a newly-forged three-piece (without departing keyboard player Kjartan Sveinsson).

“Now, on the cusp of their 2013 tour, Sigur Rós are in Portugal rehearsing more new material to be unveiled across Europe, North America and South East Asia.

“This tour will feature a new show looking to eclipse the band’s previous high-water marks of live presentation. New visuals, new lights and new stage set, and not forgetting a new player (welcome Ingrid on viola). Plus, of course, the new songs.”

Tickets go on sale 10 a.m. this Friday, March 1, at livenation.com. Tickets are $55 (limited early bird tickets for $45).

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Just announced – Legends of the Summer Tour dates

Jay-Z and Justin Timberlake have announced a 12-city tour, beginning with Toronto July 17 and including a Vancouver show at BC Place Stadium July 31. The two humble performers are calling this the Legends of the Summer Tour, and you can see the dates below.

From the press release: “With more than 23 Grammy Awards, 67 million albums sold and two Emmys combined, music icons Jay Z and Justin Timberlake announce 12 once-in-a-lifetime stadium performances. The LEGENDS OF THE SUMMER tour will begin on July 17th in Toronto, Ontario at the Roger’s Centre and continue through August 16th in Miami, Florida at Sun Life Stadium.  Tickets for all dates except New York go on sale to the public on Thursday, February 28th at LiveNation.com . Stay tuned for special New York on sale date announcement.

“Beginning today, fans can click here or visit http://on.fb.me/13p2NSi to RSVP for early access to presale tickets available on February 27th.Live Nation mobile app users will have access to presale tickets beginning February 27th.  Mobile users can text “LNAPP” OR 404040 to download the Live Nation mobile app. (Available for iOS and Android.) All presales end at 5 p.m. local time on Wednesday, February 27th.”

Tickets on sale Feb. 28 10 a.m.

Legends of the Summer tour dates:

July 17            Toronto, ON                Rogers Centre
July 19            New York, NY             Yankee Stadium**
July 22            Chicago, IL                  Soldier Field
July 26            San Francisco, CA     Candlestick Park
July 28            Los Angeles, CA         Rose Bowl
July 31            Vancouver, BC           BC Place Stadium
August 4          Hershey, PA               Hershey Stadium
August 6          Detroit, MI                   Ford Field
August 8          Baltimore, MD             M&T Bank Stadium
August 10        Boston, MA                 Fenway Park
August 13        Philadelphia, PA          Citizens Bank Park
August 16        Miami, FL                    Sun Life Stadium

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Rush at Rogers Arena, June 30 2011. Jade Dempsey photo

Rush 2013 tour dates announced

Rush has added 15 cities on its 2013 Clockwork Angels North American Tour. The tour includes a Vancouver date at Rogers Arena July 26.

The band’s 2012 album Clockwork Angels entered the charts at #1 in their native Canada and #2 in the U.S.. The album has spawned three top five hits at Classic Rock radio, including “The Wreckers”, “Caravan”, and “Headlong Flight” . Rush’s latest single is “The Anarchist”.

Rush Time Machine 2011 Vancouver concert photos

At the end of 2012, Rush won both the Band of the Year and Album of the Year awards at the Classic Rock Awards in London, UK. This year, Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson and Neil Peart will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame at the momentous ceremony in Los Angeles on April 18.

Rush kick off their Clockwork Angels North American Tour 2013 on April 23 in Austin, TX and will visit Ft. Lauderdale, Orlando, Nashville, Raleigh, Virginia Beach, Baltimore, Uncasville, and Atlantic City this spring. After returning from their European dates, a second leg will begin in June which will include stops in Hershey, Wantagh, Saratoga, Chicago, Cincinnati, Milwaukee, Calgary, Vancouver, Portland, Salt Lake City, Denver, Kansas City, Hamilton, and will return to Grand Rapids and Halifax for the first time in decades.

Clockwork Angels is the band’s 19th studio album. Rush formed in Toronto in 1968.

Rush Clockwork Angels North American tour dates:

Apr-23              Austin, TX                     Frank Erwin Center
Apr-26              Ft. Lauderdale, FL         BB&T Center
Apr-28              Orlando, FL                   Amway Center
May-1               Nashville, TN                 Bridgestone Arena
May-3               Raleigh, NC                   PNC Arena
May-5               Virginia Beach, VA        Farm Bureau Live at Virginia Beach
May-7               Baltimore, MD               1^st Mariner Arena
May-9               Uncasville, CT               Mohegan Sun
May-11             Atlantic City, NJ            Etess Arena
Jun-21              Hershey, PA                 Giant Center
Jun-23              Wantagh, NY                Nikon at Jones Beach Theater
Jun-25              Saratoga, NY                Saratoga Performing Arts Center
Jun-28              Chicago, IL                  First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre
Jun-30              Grand Rapids, MI         Van Andel Arena
Jul-2                 Cincinnati, OH              Riverbend Music Center
Jul-4                  Milwaukee, WI              Summerfest

Jul-6                 Hamilton, ON               Copps Coliseum
Jul-12               Halifax, NS                   Halifax Metro Centre
Jul-24               Calgary, AB                  Scotiabank Saddledome
Jul-26               Vancouver, BC             Rogers Arena
Jul-28               Portland, OR                Sleep Country Amphitheater
Jul-31               Salt Lake City, UT         USANA Amphitheatre
Aug-2               Denver, CO                   Pepsi Center
Aug-4               Kansas City, MO           Sprint Center

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British singer-songwriter Lucy Rose is scheduled to play the Media Club April 3.

Concert announcement – Lucy Rose at the Media Club in Vancouver

Lucy Rose is coming to the Media Club in Vancouver April 3.

The Warwickshire songstress has released four singles. Despite only recently getting signed, the 23-year-old Rose has already amassed YouTube hits, radio airplay and crowds the sell-out 500-capacity venues back home.  According to a press release, “Her first in-store at Rough Trade East in November was so over-subscribed that 50 latecomers were stuck outside.”

The Sunday Times, NME, Daily Mirror, and Music Week have all featured Rose. Her singles include “Middle of the Bed”, “Scar”, and “Red Face”.

From the press release: “Lucy’s journey began, when she hopped on a train to London leaving behind the house in which she grew up in rural Warwickshire and struck out for the big city and the big time.  Armed with an acoustic guitar and an unstoppable dedication, Lucy played every open-mic night imaginable, she met people on the way who are still with her now and with their support and her graft she learned the ropes.  As her songs and sentiments spread their warmth through the iciest of hearts, Lucy became that most modern of phenomenon; she went ‘viral’.  Her biggest videos have clocked up over 800,000 views and on average, her sessions and videos are receiving 250,000 views each.

Video – Lucy Rose, “Middle of the Bed”:

“In moving forward, Lucy decided to return home to record her debut album.  Setting up in the basement where she once taught herself guitar, Lucy, the producer Charlie Hugall, recording team and band folded down their beds and mic’ing up the mixing desk.  With a nationwide headline tour already underway, be prepared for a confessional long player of disarming intimacy and candid truth.  To quote the Daily Star: ‘So simple she makes Adele look try-hard’.”

Tickets for the Lucy Rose Vancouver show at the Media Club go on sale this Friday Feb 22 at 10 a.m. at ticketmaster.ca.

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Beats Antique at the Vancouver Folk Music Festival July 17 2011. Christopher Edmonstone photo

Concert announcement – Beats Antique at the Commodore Ballroom, Vancouver

After playing the Vancouver Folk Festival 2011 and Live at Squamish 2012, Beats Antique is returning to Vancouver. The Bay Area trio headlines the Commodore Ballroom April 17.

The band, which blends live electronica and experimental world fusion music, is on tour to support its latest eight-song release Contraption Vol. 2. The press release calls it “a new cinematic, orchestral, and seductively bass heavy EP.” It follows 2009′s Contraption Vol. 1.

Beats Antique have played Coachella, Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, Red Rocks and more. The band’s live performances “blend electro-coustic breakbeats set to a Bollywood bass-circus stage show, with the sophistication of top hats receding to a sea of animal masks and wild feather headdresses,” according to the press release (and this collection of photos from Beats Antique at the 2011 Vancouver Folk Festival).

Beats Antique at the Vancouver Folk Music Festival July 17 2011. Christopher Edmonstone photo

Beats Antique has released four full-length albums and a number of EPs over the last five years, since the group formed in San Francisco’s underground performance art scene. The  alliance of producers David Satori and Tommy Cappel is offset by their collaborative partnership with world-renowned belly dance performer and music producer Zoe Jakes.

Satori studied at California Institute of the Arts and Cappelat Berkeley School of Music. before they ventured to locations such as Bali, West Africa, and Serbia. Jakes adds a third dimension as the dance counterpart to Beats Antique’s sound. Jakes has worked with two major dance troupes, including Miles Copeland’s Bellydance Superstars and Rachel Brice’s Indigo Belly Dance Company.

More from the press release: “Beats Antique is best imagined as an innovative creature built from the cumulative heritage of the world’s music chasing its tail. However vivid that image, when a marching band groove crashes into bluesy folk chords only to be accompanied by electronic beats and Middle Eastern melodies, you’ll still be surprised and taken to a place you hadn’t previously known existed.”

Tickets for the April 17 show go on sale Feb 22 at 10 a.m. at ticketmaster.ca.

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Kate Nash at the Commodore Ballroom, Nov 3 2010. Robyn Hanson photo

Concert announcement – Kate Nash at the Electric Owl May 14

Kate Nash will play Electric Owl May 14, Live Nation announced Monday morning.

The British singer is on tour in support of her new album Girl Talk, scheduled for a March release. Tickets go on sale Friday Feb 8. She’ll play some East Coast tour dates in March before coming back in May for more North American shows.

The last time she was in Vancouver, in 2010, Nash played the Commodore Ballroom.

From the announcement:

“Born and raised in London, Nash started playing music as a kid, but her creative interests didn’t stop there. She studied theater at the BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology. Nash was contemplating a future as an actor when, after a freak fall down a flight of stairs, she found herself temporarily housebound with a broken leg. To ease her boredom during recovery, the singer’s mom bought her an electric guitar and songwriting became her obsession. After playing a few local gigs, Nash started uploading her music to MySpace. The response was immediate and overwhelming. By spring of 2007 the singer and songwriter had a record deal, and by the summer her debut album Made of Bricks was wreaking havoc on the UK charts. She played the entire UK festival circuit, including Reading and Leeds, and made her TV debut on Later with Jools Holland.”

Kate Nash’s Girl Talk tracklisting:

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Preview—Détective at the Cobalt, Vancouver, Jan 25

Guided by Voices fans – and fans of hooky guitar-pop – take note: Détective, featuring former GBV bassist Jim Greer, plays the Cobalt this Friday, Jan 25.

The Los-Angeles based outfit Détective also includes Guylaine Vivarat (L.A.-based Useless Keys) and Chris Dunn.

Formed in March 2012, Détective has released two EPs, Very Fallen World and Basket of Masks. To coincide with the trio’s national tour opening last year for the reformed “classic lineup” of GBV, Burger Records released a full-length album, However Strange, on cassette last August. In true GBV style, the group is currently working (with Dead Meadow‘s Steve Kille) on a double album.

The band is named after a 1985 Jean-Luc Godard film, which makes sense considering Greer is also a screenwriter. A former SPIN editor (in the ’90s!), Greer also wrote a history of his former band, Guided by Voices: A Brief History and two novels, Artificial Light and The Failure.

We asked Mr. Greer a few questions via email (warning: GBV-related material!):

Shawn Conner: What are some of the non-Détective projects you’re working on?

Jim Greer: I’ve got a book of short stories called Everything Flows coming out this summer. And I’m working on a bunch of movie and TV projects but nothing I’m able to talk about at present without losing limbs.

SC: I think you had finished a screenplay for a (musical) based on the life of Cleopatra for Steve Soderbergh? Do you have any other plans to work with Soderbergh? Like on a GBV biopic!?

JG: We’re still talking about putting Cleo on Broadway. Which I think is a great idea. We’re also working on one or two other things, but sadly no GBV biopic, at least not for now.

SC: A portion of the GBV bio you wrote was dedicated to [GBV frontman] Robert Pollard‘s past and present (at the time) feuds… he seems to take a lot of things personally. Has he mellowed in this regard?

JG: Yes and no.

SC: While touring with the reformed classic lineup last year, what were the songs you were most excited to hear night after night (and how many shows was it)?

JG: We toured with them for about three weeks. I was most excited to hear the new songs, which is good since they were mostly playing new songs. Which were amazing live. Sorry my answers are so short. I’m typing this on my phone. This is the modern world.

SC: I’ve always felt GBV to be very much a boy’s club. How did Guylaine fit in?

JG: Like a glove. Guided By Voices were perfect gentlemen. As always. Except when I was in the band. I’m an asshole.

SC: Apparently the next Detective album will be a double. Is this the result of a GBV-influenced work ethic/aesthetic?

JG: Guided By Voices have never put out a double album. But yeah, we write a lot of songs. That’s what happens when you have two songwriters in the band. Both if whom love Hawkwind.

SC: Can we expect a full-on rock show or a more mellow indie-pop show from Detective?

JG: It will be louder than bombs.

Links:

www.detectivemusic.com
www.detective.bandcamp.com
www.facebook.com/veryfallenworld
www.veryfallenworld.tumblr.com

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The Joy Formidable at the Media Club, Vancouver, Aug 15 2010. Robyn Hanson photo

Joy Formidable tour dates 2013 in support of new album Wolf’s Law

The Joy Formidable’s newest album Wolf’s Law is released today, Tues. Jan 22, via Canvasback Music/Atlantic Records. The second album from the Welsh trio, it’s the follow-up to their debut The Big Roar. That album garnered raves from the New York Times, SPIN, and NME.

Wolf’s Law looks to repeat the first record’s warm reception. Rolling Stone calls the songs “wickedly bracing and Himalaya-huge.” NPR notes that “the power and intensity of The Joy Formidable never ceases to amaze.” Alternative Press says the band’s songwriting has grown and, as a result, “Wolf’s Law cements the Joy Formidable as a ferocious rock act and as a band with plenty to say.”

And, in a four-star review, the Guardian hails the album’s diversity.

The Ritzy Bryan-fronted band recently released the music video for the first US single ”This Ladder Is Ours”, which they performed on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon last week. The song was #1 most added at Modern Rock Radio, where it is currently in the top 20, and spent three weeks at the #1 spot on the FMQB SubModern charts. In a glowing review for the track, Rolling Stonec alled it “a ravenous sonic assault.”

The Joy Formidable‘s tour in support of Wolf’s Law begins March 18 in Santa Ana, CA before hitting up major cities on the West Coast, including a March 26 show at Venue in Vancouver.

The Joy Formidable tour dates 2013:

3/18 Santa Ana, CA @ The Conservatory

3/19 San Diego, CA @ Belly Up Tavern

3/21 Los Angeles, CA @ Henry Fonda

3/22 San Francisco, CA @ The Filmmore

3/23 Sacramento, CA @ Ace of Spades

3/25 Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom

3/26 Vancouver, BC @ Venue Nightclub

3/27 Seattle, WA @ Neptune

3/29 Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge

3/30 Denver, CO @ Gothic Theatre

4/01 Sauget, IL @ Pop’s Nightclub

4/02 Chicago, IL @ Vic Theater

4/03 Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue

4/06 Columbus, OH @ LC Pavilion

4/07 Indianapolis, IN @ Vogue Theater

4/08 Lansing, MI @ The Loft

4/09 Milwaukee, WI @ Turner Hall Ballroom

4/12 Toronto, ON @ Phoenix Concert Theater

4/13 Montreal, QC @ Corona Theater

4/14 Albany, NY @ Upstate Music Hall

4/17 Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg

4/18 New York, NY @ Webster Hall

4/19 Boston, MA @ House of Blues

4/20 Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer

4/21 Washington, DC @ 930 Club

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Catlow.

Preview—Catlow opens for D. Trevlon

Natasha Thirsk‘s band Catlow opens for the D Trevlon Band this Friday night at the Railway Club.

It’s the CD release party for Trevlon, a Vancouver-based singer-songwriter.

Earlier this year, Catlow released Pinkly Things. A follow-up to Catlow’s 2006 full-length debut, Kiss the World, the eight-song EP showcases Thirsk’s talent for melody and pop hooks, set to lush and at times brittle indie-rock. It’s strong stuff.

Thirsk will also be playing some new songs.

Catlow also has a new fan-based video that was just released for the song “Remorse Code”.

Video—Catlow, “Remorse Code”:

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Ty Segall rocks The Horseshoe in Toronto, on May 12, 2012. Photo by Jennifer Bundock.

Preview – Ty Segall at the Waldorf Hotel, Vancouver, Dec 12 2012

-by Elana Shepert

With the release of three full-length albums and two late TV appearances (on Conan and Letterman) this year, Ty Segall returns to Vancouver Dec 12 to showcase his latest solo release, Twins. 

The show marks the second time this year Segall has brought his eclectic, pop-infused garage punk to the Waldorf Hotel. At his last appearance, the rocker crowd-surfed through a sea of fans, fluidly switched instruments with his bandmate mid-song and nailed a cover of Black Sabbath‘s “Paranoid” (Daniel Colussi, Scout Magazine). Needless to say, he puts on an entertaining show, and Twins explores the full range of his talent.

Evan Minsker of Pitchfork writes of Segall’s three 2012 albums: “With Hair, his collaborative album with White Fence, he angled for jam-heavy, psych-leaning rock ‘n’ roll. Only a year ago, he delivered his ‘serious’ album Goodbye Bread, where he both cooed calmly and screamed about an exploding head. Impressively, all three of those albums are really good. It’s a testament to Segall as a restless songwriter who can adapt to, and successfully execute, several different styles. So here we are with Twins, his third LP of 2012, which stands at the intersection of all of his recent interests.”

David Bevan of Spin writes of Segall’s latest album, Twins: “The album is also Segall’s most pivotal work to date, an adamantine, aerodynamic slab of head-splitting primacy that finds a gifted young songwriter coming to terms with the direction and impact of his voice, with what it means to be loud or quiet, clean or dirty, sunny or stormy, a battering ram or a breeze.”

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Barney Bentall plays the Grand Cariboo Opry Dec 8 2012.

Preview—7^th annual Grand Cariboo Opry fundraiser at the Vogue Theatre, Dec 8

- by Fatimah Yasin

Barney Bentall and The Grand Cariboo Opry are having their yearly fundraiser at the Vogue theatre on Saturday, Dec 8.

Two generations of Canada’s country musicians come together this Saturday to celebrate a continuing tradition. There will be storytelling and performances by a roster of guests including Ridley Bent, Dustin Bentall, Wendy Bird, Kendel Carson and Matt Masters to name a few. The show will be hosted by Barney Bentall, who has been present since the inception of the Grand Cariboo Opry.

Through it, he has been instrumental in creating a sense of community within the music industry. With the release of his album Flesh & Bone on Nov 13, perhaps he’ll do a bit of storytelling of his own. Proceeds of the fundraiser will go to the Potluck Café Society.

The Potluck Cafe Society is a social enterprise that incites change in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside by addressing peoples’ basic needs. In the past six years, the proceeds have contributed to job creation and the distribution of over 40,000 nutritious meals to people living in this area. The meals are a product of the Potluck Café Society’s café and catering business.

Tickets are available online at the Vogue Theatre website.

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Lauren O’Connell plays the Bug Jar. Photo by Savannah J. Richards

Preview – Lauren O’Connell at Little Mountain Gallery Dec 1 2012

- by Elana Shepert

Francisco-based singer/songwriter Lauren O’Connell headlines a night of folk music this Saturday, Dec 1 at the Little Mountain Gallery (26thth and Main). Joined by Vancouver roots talents Rodney Decroo, Kelly Haigh, Mac Pontiac, and The Minimalist Jug Band, she will play a selection of songs from her new album Quitters, her third full-length release.

O’Connell’s latest record has incredible range, with upbeat songs like “I Will Burn You Down”, with its heavy guitar to the waltzing, ethereally-delivered “The Same Things”. Originally from New York, she’s written songs since she was 15, and her lyrics demonstrate a great deal of symbolism and depth. The track “If Found/Gravity” describes a profound fear of forgetting, as she sings “Should I await some revelation / Some great blessing from above / So every memory be quelled /Of anyone I might have loved”. Laden with tenderness, all of her songs delicately portray the ambiguous underbelly of the human experience.

Recording all of her previous albums at home, working from inside a studio was a new experience for O’Connell. She chose a barn in the middle of nowhere where Tom Waits used to record, and went analogue instead of digital. Originally a YoutTube sensation, her career heads in a more mature direction, both in production and performance, as she starts to tour outside the United States.

Check out her performance at the singer/songwriter showcase this Saturday at Little Mountain Gallery .

Doors are at 8pm and the show starts at 8:30. Tickets are $10 and are available at the door.

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Amelia Curran at Times Change(d), Winnipeg, Sept 27 2009. Dallas Ludwick photo

Preview—Amelia Curran at the Media Club, Vancouver, Oct 12 2012

- by Fatimah Yasin

Amelia Curran performs at the Media Club Thursday, Nov 22. The Newfoundland singer/songwriter is touring Canada to promote her new album, Spectators. 

The record was released by Six Shooter Records on Oct. 12. It’s a follow up to Curran’s 2010 Juno award-winning album, Hunter, Hunter. Since the start of the millennium, Curran has released four other albums as well.

Curran has been praised for her storytelling, and her ability to hold her audience spellbound with each word. Her cryptic lyrics encourage listeners to dig for deeper meaning. Curran’s minimalist style is preserved with the subtle complement of strings, horns and vocals of guest musicians including The Once, Martin Tielli, Todor Kobakov, Bryden Baird, and Selina Martin.

The tour began the day of her album release in her hometown of St. John’s, Newfoundland. Since then, she’s been traveling west with her band towards her final stop in Vancouver. While Curran has been passing through the towns in her tour, her performance has stayed with her fans long after she’s gone.

In Lynn Saxberg’s review in the Ottawa Citizen of Curran’s recent Wakefield, Quebec performance, she wrote, “Without the sweeping production of the album, the quietly intense ‘Soft Wooden Towers’ and the understated might of ‘The Great Escape’ could have fallen flat, but in a testament to the beauty of Amelia’s writing and the emotional punch of her voice, they were just as powerful performed solo on acoustic guitar. ‘Awesome,’ one fan exclaimed between songs, a spontaneous outburst that erased any tension in the room.The tension was a result of the nerves present in both Curran and her fans regarding how the album would be received.”

The Vancouver show opens with another Canadian singer/song writer, Joe Nolan. Doors open at 7 p.m. and tickets are available through the Media Club.

Video—Amelia Curran, “What Will You Be Building”:

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