🎭 Jenn Grant comes home + this week's events
Plus Pretty Archie's first single in 4 years and a Thunderbirds Cinderella run
Hey Halifax!
A lot of homecomings this week. Jenn Grant brings her year-in-the-making Cradled by the Waves show home Saturday — the only NS date on the tour. Pretty Archie are back with their first new music in four years. And the Thunderbirds went from 5-8 to hosting a home NLL semi-final next Friday in a truly Cinderella late season run.
Plus Cape Breton crime-drama Little Lorraine is selling out theatres across the country, Mayworks is in full swing at The Seahorse and Bus Stop Theatre, the Tides have their home opener Saturday, and there are big new releases from Mat Elliott, Quake Matthews, Wolf Castle & Jah’mila, and Laura Roy.
Let's dig in 👇
🌊 Jenn Grant: Cradled by the Waves
After touring her incredible interactive “Cradled By The Waves” show across Canada, Jenn Grant is coming home to the Rebecca Cohn for her only NS show of the tour.
We asked her about what this show and tour have meant to her, and think her words say it better than anything we could write.
Do yourself a favour: stream her amazing new album and buy tickets to her only NS stop this Spring.
This album has taught me what matters to me most. And that it is okay to share the stories of my life that have made me who I am and shaped my music.
The release of this album and this show, which has been in development for a year with support from an amazing organization called Creation Fund through the national Arts centre - gave me the time and power to build a show of my own.
This process of writing a script - including cinematography, theatre, comedy and an interactive moment with the audience - has taught me that I can make realize more things than I thought possible. That it is fun and wonderful to be different.
I have felt the impact of this show with the audience. And that has been my goal - to have them walk away with a choice made, a shift in their heart - that we each can do small things and big things to make this world a better place. The humanity is everything. This music and this show reflect that, and that is what brings me joy.
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Quick Hits
🎬 Cape Breton's Little Lorraine is a phenomenon. Sydney sold 4,000 tickets in a week. 12 of 13 showings sold out. Cineplex expanded the film to 20 theatres across the country. The Cape Breton crime drama is the feature film debut from Halifax's Andy Hines, based on Adam Baldwin's song Lighthouse in Little Lorraine. Hines on CBC: "Without Screen Nova Scotia, our premier, and the province wanting to see us make that film, we would not have actually been able to film in Cape Breton. We would have had to make it up somewhere else, which would have been a disaster." Find a screening: cineplex.com/movie/little-lorraine
🎸 Alert The Medic celebrates 20 years on Saturday. The Halifax indie-rock vets hit the Marquee Ballroom on May 2 with Good Dear Good. Doors 9 PM, $25. Get tickets.
🎤 Laura Roy's Late Bloomer Season album release show. We told you Laura's story last week. Grammy nominated, Sabrina Carpenter & Dua Lipa-approved, and one of the UK’s most in demand backup vocalists. Do not miss this show. Saturday, May 31, 8 PM, The Sanctuary Arts Centre, $30. Buy tickets.
🎷 The Halifax Jazz Festival's 40th anniversary lineup is in. Tower of Power, Bahamas, Men I Trust, Broken Social Scene, Rose Cousins, plus new adds Universal Soul, Virginia MacDonald, the Atlantic Jazz Collective featuring Norma Winstone, Etran De L'Aïr, and a new Big Band Commission directed by composer James Shaw tracing 40 years of Halifax jazz from Africville to today. July 7-12 on the waterfront. https://halifaxjazzfestival.ca/
🍴 Food for the Ears Festival is back, this summer at Alderney Landing. 20 year old Ethan Chitty's annual two-day music festival and Feed NS fundraiser locks in for June 12-13 with a stacked lineup including Rankin MacInnis & The Broken Reeds, Morgan Toney, The Public Service, Elyse Aeryn, and Good Dear Good. More from us on this one soon. Buy tickets.
🥍 The Halifax Thunderbirds are in the semi-finals. After clawing back from 5-8 and barely making the playoffs, Halifax now hosts the Georgia Swarm at the Scotiabank Centre next Friday, May 9 at 7 PM — with brothers Max and Casey Wilson finally on the same team. This is a scenario nobody saw coming a month ago. Get tickets.
⚽️ The Halifax Tides have an anthem. Tides player Tiffany Cameron co-wrote the new Northern Super League anthem with NS reggae artist Jah’mila. CBC
📚 NS bookshops kept their doors open on Indie Bookstore Day despite the cuts. Independent bookstores across the province turned out with strong community support, even as provincial arts funding gets squeezed. CTV
Mayworks Festival weekend picks (thru May 10):
🎤 Fri at The Seahorse: Saint John alt-rap vet Stephen Hero brings working-class hip-hop rooted in growing up in poverty and Saint John history, with Latin-fusion crew El Tata y Los Taqueros, Ambeez, General Khan, and Gearl. 9 PM, $10.
🎷 Sat at Bus Stop: $10 double bill — Be Eternal (Aquakultre, Andrew Jackson + 3 musicians on Black male mortality) + and so we dance (Kay Macdonald, I'thandi Munro). 7:30 / 8:30, PWYC.
🪁 Poet kite banners: Sat at Citadel Hill (Seán Kennedy), Sun at Point Pleasant (Sue Goyette). FREE, 1–4 PM.
Featured East Coast Pod |
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Afternoon Pint · S4E151 · 1:18:28 Taylor Olson, Bob Mann & Adam DeViller Turned Friendship Into Award-Winning TV & Film The Hey Halifax, Hello! Today! trio — Taylor Olson, Bob Mann, and Adam DeViller — around a pub table on how a 15-year friendship turned into Bell TV1’s most freewheeling sketch experiment, writing your own roles when auditions dry up, and the case for treating NS artists as entrepreneurs. Best moment, on their CSA nominations: “We’re very excited to lose to 22 Minutes.” Listen |
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Pretty Archie “Lessons Learned” After four years of silence, Cape Breton’s Pretty Archie are back with “Lessons Learned” — a quieter, harmony-driven single that trades the foot-stomp of their ECMA-nominated 2022 LP for something more reflective. They’re at The Carleton on May 23 (sold out) — Sunday’s unplugged matinee still has tickets. Listen on Spotify | ||
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Thursday, 4/30
Queendom Film Screening @ The Bus Stop Theatre - 6:00 PM
Bearly's 40th Birthday Party! @ Bearly's House of Blues & Ribs - 6:30 PM
Paint Night - Paint Your Partner @ Monte's Showbar Grill - 7:00 PM
Better Times Comedy at Good Robot @ Good Robot Brewing - Robie St. Taproom, Store & Beer Garden - 7:00 PM
Trivia with Mark! @ Woodside Beverage Room and Grill - 7:00 PM
Acadian Embassy Présente: Caroline Savoie W/ Serena Wu @ The Carleton - 7:30 PM
Dvořák’s Cello Concerto @ Rebecca Cohn Auditorium - 7:30 PM
Pro-Am Night Halifax at Yuk Yuk's Halifax @ Yuk Yuk's Halifax Comedy Club - 8:00 PM
Celtic Woman - A New Era @ Scotiabank Centre - 8:00 PM
Jon Epworth & The Improvements Reunion w. Roxy & The Underground Soul Sound @ Seahorse Tavern - 9:30 PM
Friday, 5/1
Bearly's 40th Birthday Extravaganza! @ Bearly's House of Blues & Ribs - 4:00 PM
Alanna Matty & Pillow Fite @ The Mousetrap @ Good Robot Brewing - Robie St. Taproom, Store & Beer Garden - 7:30 PM
Alex MacKenzie – Never Been Better Comedy Tour at Yuk Yuk's Halifax @ Yuk Yuk's Halifax Comedy Club - 7:30 PM
Lighthouse & Pine Theatre Collective proudly presents The Last Five Years @ The Sanctuary Arts Centre - 7:30 PM
FLAT BLACK CADILLAC @ Monte's @ Monte's Showbar Grill - 8:00 PM
Ivytide w/ Jenny & The Tide @ The Carleton - 8:00 PM
Global Centric Brass Band @ Woodside Beverage Room and Grill - 9:00 PM
MAYWORKS FESTIVAL: Stephen Hero + El Tata y Los Toqueros @ Seahorse Tavern - 9:00 PM
Saturday, 5/2
NSYO: A Joyous Trilogy @ St. Andrew's United Church - 2:00 PM
Lighthouse & Pine Theatre Collective proudly presents The Last Five Years @ The Sanctuary Arts Centre - 2:00 PM
Halifax Wanderers FC vs. Forge FC @ The Wanderers Grounds - 3:00 PM
Bearly's 40th Birthday Extravaganza! @ Bearly's House of Blues & Ribs - 3:00 PM
Lighthouse & Pine Theatre Collective proudly presents The Last Five Years @ The Sanctuary Arts Centre - 7:30 PM
Mayworks presents And So We Dance @ The Bus Stop Theatre - 7:30 PM
Alex MacKenzie – Never Been Better Comedy Tour at Yuk Yuk's Halifax @ Yuk Yuk's Halifax Comedy Club - 7:30 PM
RAZORBOY - The Ultimate 80's Rock Concert Showband @ Monte's Showbar Grill - 8:00 PM
Jenn Grant: Cradled by the Waves @ Rebecca Cohn Auditorium - 8:00 PM
Campbell & Johnston @ The Carleton - 8:00 PM
Mayworks presents Be Eternal @ The Bus Stop Theatre - 8:30 PM
ALERT THE MEDIC 20TH ANNIVERSARY @ Marquee Ballroom - 9:00 PM
ELECTRIC PINES PRESENTS: JOANNA MAGIK @ Seahorse Tavern - 10:00 PM
Sunday, 5/3
Razzmatazz For Kids @ The Carleton - 1:00 PM
Bearly's 40th Birthday Extravaganza! @ Bearly's House of Blues & Ribs - 2:00 PM
Monday, 5/4
Bearly-a-Trivia @ Bearly's House of Blues & Ribs - 6:00 PM
Goodwill Trivia Mondays (Click For Reservations) @ Good Robot Brewing - Robie St. Taproom, Store & Beer Garden - 7:00 PM
Open Song Circle with Noah Tye! 8pm @ Bearly's House of Blues & Ribs - 8:00 PM
Tuesday, 5/5
Ballet Jörgen presents: A Midsummer Night's Dream @ Rebecca Cohn Auditorium - 7:00 PM
Dallas Alexander W/ Cameron Nickerson @ The Carleton - 7:00 PM
2b presents Your Show Here @ The Bus Stop Theatre - 7:30 PM
Garrett Mason @ Bearly's House of Blues & Ribs - 8:30 PM
Wednesday, 5/6
📖 Silent Reading @ Good Robot Brewing - Robie St. Taproom, Store & Beer Garden - 6:00 PM
Vinyl Night @ Cafe Marco Polo - 7:00 PM
Craft Draught Showdown: Burnside VS Gahan @ The Carleton - 7:00 PM
Ballet Jörgen presents: A Midsummer Night's Dream @ Rebecca Cohn Auditorium - 7:00 PM
Oh Canada! Comedy Show @ Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 - 7:00 PM
2b presents Your Show Here @ The Bus Stop Theatre - 7:30 PM
Halifax Comedy Fest: Opening Gala @ Light House Arts Centre - 7:30 PM
That’s it for this week!
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