Festival Seekers September Music Spotlight

After a busy month of playing shows across BC & Alberta, my family took the month of August off to road trip across Canada to visit both of our folks on either sides of Ontario. In total we enjoyed 10 days of driving across the country, which meant ample opportunity for road trip music!

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I was excited to listen to some new music as we blazed across the prairies and past the great lakes, and am sharing with you some of my favourite new releases from Western Canadian musicians I love!

September Spotlight Artists

Jon and Roy - BC

Feature Track: Here’s Where You’re Wrong
Genre: Indie Folk 

In addition to releasing new music, they also have tour dates announced! Most exciting of all, they just performed at All Ways Home Festival in Langford BC alongside Current Swell, The Funk Hunters, Jesse Roper, Carmanah, Bedouin Soundclash, Whitehorse, and more. It was a stellar lineup, and judging by the photos it looked like an epic celebration of live music!

"Given Victoria’s strong local music scene, All Ways Home leans on some of the fantastic homegrown talent the city has while pulling in some of Canada’s top acts to round out an exciting lineup that will bring music festivals back to the area post-covid,” - All Ways Home Festival 

Where you can catch them next:
October 2nd - Bowen Island Pub - Bowen Island, BC 
November 19th - The Commodore Ballroom - Vancouver, BC 

Stream ‘Know Your Mind’ on your favourite streaming platform (Apple Music, Spotify,  Soundcloud, Bandcamp, Youtube Music, Deezer, Amazon Music, Tidal, etc.)  

Mariel Buckley - AB

Feature Track: Hundred Cities
Genre: Americana / Alternative Rock

Ever since first seeing Mariel Buckley perform at the legendary Dakota Tavern in Toronto Ontario, I have been a fan. I am obsessed with her new single Hundred Cities and her version of Sloan’s ‘The Other Man’ from her new two song EP ’97 Riverdale’. They are both stand out tracks and they have me longing for a full length release. Luckily, she has been working on a full length record with Marcus Paquin (The National, Sarah Harmer, The Barr Brothers, Tim Baker), so it shan’t be long now! But these tracks will be on repeat in the meantime. "The recording process was one of my favourites to date, fully of belly laughs and great ideas.” - Mariel Buckley. 

Where you can catch Mariel Buckley and her band next: 
September 23rd - Americanafest @ The 5 Spot - Nashville, TN 

Stream '97 Riverdale' on your favourite streaming platform (Apple Music, Spotify, Soundcloud,  Bandcamp, Youtube Music, Deezer, Amazon Music, Tidal, etc.) 

Ashleigh Ball - BC

Feature Track: I Tried To Tell You
Genre: Indie-Pop

Ashleigh Ball’s new album ‘Before All The Magic’s Gone’ was recorded, ironically, in the days that preceded the first lockdown of 2020. It was released this past June and has been on repeat all summer, and I recommend you get it on vinyl, or stream it as soon as possible for immediate transportation to bliss. 

"I went to Winnipeg in June 2019 on a whim to work with 'The Matt’s’ (Matt Schellenberg and Matt Peters of Royal Canoe), not knowing either of them really at all, except for a couple funny band encounters when I was on tour with Hey Ocean! I’d been a huge fan of their band for a while and had heard they were producing as a duo. As soon as we started working on the first song I felt this rush of excitement and knew it was the right thing. We wrote 4 songs in 3 days and at the end of the weekend we we went for a beer and were like, “Well, looks like we’re making a record!?”

We continued writing in LA that fall and then finished up back in Winnipeg right before Covid hit. The Deadmen really just let the songs come out of me in the most organic way and working with them was a truly magical experience," says Ball. 

I have been a fan of Ashleigh Ball’s since her Hey Ocean! days, and her new music is equally catchy, and I’m so in awe of how she has grown as an artist and continually creates stunning music.

I wish I could tell you where you could catch her live, but she is expecting her first child this fall (congratulations, Ashleigh!). So in the meantime, listen to the new record until tour dates are announced so you can sing along when you get the chance. 

Stream ‘Before All The Magic’s Gone’ on your favourite streaming platform (Spotify, Amazon  Muisc, Apple Music, YouTube or Deezer) 

Are you a BC or Alberta based musician releasing new music and doing cool things? We’d love to hear from you! Send your press releases to us at FestivalSeekers.

Sage McBride is the singer/keyboardist of Fernie BC based band Shred Kelly. www.shredkelly.com.