MUSIC PREVIEW: Cardinal rule
Celeigh Cardinal has been called (OK, by me) the “Metis Sheryl Crow.”
She doesn’t mind the label. She gets Adele a lot, too, plus Bonnie Raitt because she plays guitar. It’s not so much a comparison to Cardinal’s original songs, which span blues, rock, soul and adult contemporary in a style all her own, as it is her singing – via a big, powerful voice that spurs emotion and commands attention. It’s a rare gift.
Cardinal (no direct relation to any famous area Cardinals as far as we know) will release her second full-length album Stories from a Downtown Apartment with a show Friday at the CKUA Radio Performance Hall (she’s also a fill-in announcer on CKUA). Like everything she’s done, the new music is more a reflection of personal experience than anything else – dealing with, for instance, her weakness for blonde guys in The Devil is a Blue Eyed Man. That’s one of several torch ballads in her catalogue, because like many great singers Cardinal is obviously a sucker for the slow songs. And while she’s won a raft of indigenous music awards, and is proud to represent her heritage, she doesn’t want to classify herself exclusively by her race.
She says, “I think I am representing every time I step on stage. It’s how I look. It’s part of my roots, it’s part of who I am – but it’s not everything.”
Opening the show at 7 pm is the indigenous artist Nisto. Advance tickets $20.
Friday 31
Bobby Cameron – Here’s a local guitar hero who’s been around longer than wood, and while he’s lately been dabbling in sensitive singer-songwritermanship, embracing his Cape Breton roots, he’s also been playing the blues he’s not too young for anymore (having long worn out his first pair of shoes), and is not above hopping on a bar table and playing slide guitar with a beer bottle. Are there bar tables in Festival Place? There are! 7:30 pm, advance $25
Saturday June 1
Heart of the City Festival – How many local acts can you pack into two days of free entertainment on three stages in Giovanni Caboto Park (109A Ave and 94 Street)? We’re about to find out. Of note on the mainstage are Brother Octopus, Misery Mountain Boys, Magnet and The Magnettes, Hewson Grey, RELLIK, Baby Boy Blue, Lutra Lutra, Samara Von Rad, Whyte Ave Womprats, The Give ‘Em Hell Boys, Danielle Dayton, and The Spanish Flies, and dare we add “many more.” Because there are many more. There’s also a spoken word stage, and a youth stage for the event at the park, running 11 am to 11 pm on Saturday, 11 am to 6:30 pm Sunday. Check the complete schedule here. Admission, as mentioned, is FREE.
Anvil – Whoa, there’s a name we haven’t seen in a while – the oft-forgotten underrated Canadian metal band from the early 1980s that never really got their “big break,” but which certainly did not stop them from trying to the tune of 17 albums released. A new documentary film and a tour seems to have renewed some interest in the band some people have called “The Canadian Spinal Tap.” Tessitura and W.M.D. open the show at the Rendezvous Pub, 7 pm, $25 advance
Sunday 2
Downway – Another name we haven’t seen in a while, this Calgary pop punk band cut a swath of speedy sweet ‘n’ sour through the music landscape in the mid-1990s before taking a brief 17-year hiatus. They have since reformed and hit the road again, on the back of their brand-new album, Last Chance for More Regrets. Grizzly Trail and A Gentleman’s Pact open the show at the Buckingham. 8 pm, $12 advance
