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LITTLE MISS CANADA
PLUS TRI–PRIDE PRESENTS BRUISED FRUIT
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by Declan Kelly
March 25 – 31, 2004 |
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Country & Eastern
Halifax alt country songstress Little Miss Moffat
(aka Ashley Moffat) plays Monday at eBar.
Moffat is touring in support of her first
full–length album, Miss Canada, and is looking
forward to sharing her collaboration with a
who’s who of the Halifax scene with the rest of
the country.
Miss Canada features appearances by,
among others, Gabe Minnikin (ex of The
Guthries), Joel Plaskett, Lukas Pearse, Chris
Luedecke, and Charles Austin (Superfriendz),
who also recorded and co–produced the
album.
“The players that are featured on Miss Canada
are all individuals who I respect and connect
with on some level or another,” Moffat explains.
“Everyone saw potential in the songs and
wanted to be a part of making them come alive.
The studio was a complete and utter blast. I
felt like the luckiest gal in the world. There were
some late nights, lots of red wine and sushi. I
can’t wait to do it again.”
Despite the alt country sound being fairly
popular of late among indie musicians, Moffat
says her own sound harkens back to early
childhood experiences with her family.
“I grew up listing to old country — George
Jones, Dolly Parton, Willy Nelson, et cetera,”
Moffat recalls. “My formative years were spent
in a rocking chair beside my dad’s 8–foot high
homemade speakers. So, needless to say,
that type of arrangement is engrained.”
Although, when it came time to record Miss
Canada, Moffat says there was yet another
influence at play, namely Neil Young’s seminal
album Harvest.
“I didn’t really have a vision for the album,”
Moffat says, “that’s why Joel stepped in, and
Charles, and everyone else. It became a group
effort. My lack of vision made this album so
unique. We did use Neil Young’s Harvest as a
template for actual sound and I think we came
kind of close in that regard.”
Having moved east from Ontario in 2000,
Moffat feels being part of the Halifax scene has
been very motivating for her, as well as
providing her with the opportunity to play with
some of the country’s finest musicians.
“Halifax has an incredible music scene that is
so interconnected that any new force driving in
from away has an immediate impact on the
scene’s fabrication,” Moffat says. “Since I
arrived in 2000, several other solo
singer/songwriters — Kate Maki, Jill Barber,
Mark Bragg, Tyler Messick — have transplanted
themselves here from away. Even if they have
come to Halifax for a short while, the music
community is hyper–aware of new talent.
“For me, Halifax was always home. I was
pulled east from my gut ever since I heard
Sloan, Thrush Hermit, Julie Doiron, and Al Tuck
in the mid–’90s. There was something about
this city that made me come here to stay. I think
that homey feeling was visible to everyone I
met, as everyone was so supportive of creating
and recording new music. Today it still is home
and I see no end in sight to that inner feeling.”
Opening for Moffat’s Miss Canada tour is
fellow Haligonian import Mark Bragg and his
Black Wedding Band. A talented alt blues
performer in his own right, Bragg is touring in
support of his recently released album, The
Reckless Kind, and has been garnering high
praise from across Canada for his charged live
shows.
Tickets for Monday’s show are $4. For more on
both performers checkout
www.littlemissmoffat.com and
www.markbragg.com respectively.
Bruised Fruit
Sunday at Club Ren Tri–Pride presents
Bruised Fruit, an evening of queer stand–up
comedy. The event features an impressive line
up of seven internationally acclaimed comics in
what is being hailed as the “largest queer
stand–up show ever done in Southwestern
Ontario.” The bill includes Doug Taylor,
Stephen Sharpe, Dawn Whitwell, Robert Bozac,
Richard Ryer, along with Ted Morris and Susan
Fischer. For more on the performers, or ticket
info, checkout www.rainbow.on.ca.
The ‘Other’ Barber
Tonight sees the release of Jill Barber’s Oh
Heart cd at Guelph’s new Atmosphere Café.
Barber is the sister of singer/songwriter Matt
Barber who made waves of his own with a big
label debut earlier this year. Opening tonight’s
no cover show is By Divine Right’s Brian
Borcherdt, with things getting underway at 9 pm
sharp.
K–W Arts Awards
Saturday the Walper hosts the 16th annual
K–W Arts Awards Ceremony & Moveable Feast.
Six Denneys (named after the statue’s
designer Alan Denney) will be awarded in the
categories of Literary, Visual Arts, Performing,
Music, Mentor and Open. With last year’s event
having sold out in advance, tickets for
Saturday’s event are selling briskly. Tickets are
$15 for adults and $12 for students and
seniors in advance, and $18 and $15 at the
door. Please call the Awards Office at Waterloo
City Hall at 747–8537, or visit
www.kwartsawards.ca for a full list of
nominees.
The ‘Evil’ Has Landed
Kitchener’s Symbolic Studios has pulled off a
serious coup by hosting UK djing pioneer ‘Evil’
Eddie Richards tomorrow night at the Walper’s
Rum Runner Pub. Dubbed “Britain’s godfather
of house and techno,” Richards was one of the
first to champion the house scene in the
1980s, and his name is now synonymous with
all things, house, techno, and dynamix.
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