Madchild from Swollen Members played a 45-minute set at the New Black for Music & Art on Tuesday, January 24th. Transit opened for him. Here are a couple of shots from the show.

Samantha Savage Smith and her band played at the Republik on Wednesday, December 28th. They played tracks off "Tough Cookie" -- her nationally distributed debut -- and a handful of new songs. The intimate yet professional performance proved why Smith was signed by Arts and Crafts earlier this year. 

Here's a handful of shots from Transit's CD release show at the Gateway (SAIT). Transit opened his hour-long set with "Calgary" (the song that put him on the map), played through most of "22" and concluded with "Escape With Me," which is easily one of the best songs off of his new record. Natural Ensemble also delivered a great set, and Geeze (Natural Ensemble's emcee) made a reappearance during Transit's set dressed in a hipster costume for the song "I'm So Indie." The show was well attended, considering the often dismal turnouts to local hip-hop shows. 

Em dashes aren’t usually a significant source of controversy. Even as a writer, I don’t pay much attention to the punctuation. But I couldn’t help notice the use of a pair in the description of CJAY 92’s new contest, called Upgrade Your Spouse.

The contest, which is beginning to be advertised on billboards throughout Calgary, carries the same sexist traits that the radio station has always proclaimed. But that’s no surprise.

One only needs to search Canadian … Read More

   … Read More

I never thought that I would be praised for attending Take Back the Night.

For some reason, I assumed that we were past the point in our collective pursuit of gender equality that a public demonstration against domestic abuse and sexual assault would be normal for both men and women to attend. With the generation of youth that apparently care about poverty, homelessness and all those other trendy issues growing up, I imagined that males would be almost expected to come to show solidarity with all the women that have been impacted by the tragic grip of patriarchy upon the world.

But I was wrong. Friends and family expressed admiration that I would go to such an event. At the sacred event itself, which was held on the evening of … Read More

Following a barrage of Calgary Sun articles last week regarding the distribution of crack pipes by Safeworks, a Calgary harm reduction program, staff there has been instructed by Alberta Health Services (AHS) to stop handing them out. 

At 1 p.m. today, the staff of Safeworks received an internal memo via email which said, "As of today, we have been instructed by the deputy minister of health to discontinue crack pipe distribution until further notice due to legal implications. Crack pipes are to be removed from the van immediately."

Although crack pipes have been distributed by the program since 2008, the Calgary Sun published two articles in its Tuesday, August 2 newspaper, lashing out at the fact that the Alberta government … Read More

The Bearspaw First Nation has finally elected a council, six months after a vote was scheduled to happen. Former chief David Bearspaw Jr., who cancelled the vote late last year in spite of longstanding band tradition, was voted out Tuesday, Aug. 9. Darcy Dixon is his successor.

After months of disputes and protests over the cancellation, six band members took the issue to court. Late last month, Judge Richard Mosley forced Bearspaw and his councillors to step down so that an election could happen in the following 60 days. Bearspaw's lawyer filed an appeal regarding the decision, but it was turned down. 

My monthly limit of photo uploads on Flickr is maxed out, so a lot of the photos I would like to have included in this slideshow will have to wait until August before being posted.

Sunday was another fabulous day, and one suited to round out the Calgary Folk Music Festival perfectly. Although I left halfway through due to a combination of exhaustion, sunburn and other commitments, there were plenty of acts that I managed to take in during the time I was there.

The day started off with Raleigh, who are quickly becoming one of my favourite local acts. The harmonies created by Brock Geiger and Clea Anais are absolutely stunning, and the gorgeous cello and always changing time signatures only add to the fun.

The same stage was filled by … Read More

Fast Forward Weekly caught up with poet, beatboxer, singer and playwright C.R. Avery on Sunday afternoon behind the stage 5 tent.

James Wilt: How’s the festival been for you so far?
C.R. Avery: Oh, it’s been lovely. It’s been good. You having a good time?

JW: Of course. How have the collaborations been?
CA: Wonderful. I just played with Joseph Arthur, Imaginary Cities and the Head and the Heart. I really connected with those.

JW: So when did you start beatboxing through a harmonica?
CA: They just kind of fell into each other in one show. I was doing blues and the hip hop thing, and I thought that it might be a dorky thing to do. It turned into my meal ticket.

JW: When did you start getting into slam poetry?
CA: It was more freestyle. I was living in Hamilton, and would … Read More