Articles in our latest issue
Juno Award-winning songwriter’s hard truths make his latest recording timeless. Reliever: a noun meaning something or someone that relieves pain, distress, or difficulty. Long before he won a Juno for Contemporary Roots Album of the Year, and left side hustles…
The Senegalese global superstar emphasizes the importance of community activism. “Don’t mention my name,” Baaba Maal remembered telling a Senegalese deejay the first time he performed live on radio. More than four decades before he recorded The Black Panther soundtrack,…
They honour the legacy of their ancestors and highlight the injustices they faced. “Afro-Métis” may look like a word you should know but odds are you’ve never seen it or encountered the fraught history it encapsulates unless you’ve heard The…
With an all-star cast that includes Bela Fleck, their new disc highlights the moving plight of immigrants. “I walked, and ran, and screamed / miles on end, to find peace / before I could pronounce my own name. / I…
The fifth feature in a series celebrating contributors to Canada’s grand folk legacy. Traditional music came to Linda and Joe Byrne through family and community connections. “When we resettled to Arnold’s Cove, I went to parties that were on the…
Québec trio mixes traditional tunes with clever contemporary arrangements. Since first appearing on Québec’s traditional music radar with their debut album in 2017, the band É-T-É (which could mean ‘summer’ but is solely based on the first names of its…
Tony Montague celebrates Black culture and its indelible contributions to various forms of folk and roots music. As I write, it’s Black History Month, and I’m home in Vancouver after 15 ear-opening days in New Orleans—including Folk Alliance International. It…
Australia’s most audacious and literate songwriter discusses his extraordinary 35-year career. It seems fairly absurd that Paul Kelly doesn’t fill football stadiums worldwide. One of the most consistently adventurous and literate songwriters on the planet throughout the past 35-odd years,…
Calgary-based podcaster delves deep into the history of Canadian folk music. In early December, our esteemed Penguin Eggs editor, Roddy Campbell, received an email with a subject heading that read, “The Folk Podcast Series Hits Top 15 On Apple’s Music…
The Record That Changed My Life: Drew Gonzales salutes Leonard Cohen’s You Want It Darker. Drew Gonzales: The maestro behind the thrilling, neo-calypso unit Kobo Town finds solace in Leonard Cohen’s You Want It Darker. A few years ago, I…
Penguin Eggs pays tribute to Joseph Shabalala, David Onley, Arty McGlynn, Bob Stone, and Buddy Cage. Joseph Shabalala Joseph Shabalala, founder of the Grammy Award-winning South African all-male, a cappella group Ladysmith Black Mamboza, died in Life Eugene Marais Hospital…
Roddy Campbell assess the trade-off between flying artists to gigs and climate change. An interesting article appeared in a January issue of the U.K. daily newspaper The Guardian. The headline pretty much sums up the content: ‘Celtic Connections to scale…
After five decades, veteran musician still revels in making roots music recordings. So much music. So many insights. From the sheer satisfaction of strumming and singing to his deepest or more light-hearted songs, to his work interpreting the tradition, Ken…
Their impressive, inspirational bluegrass roots stretch from Argentina to Appalachia. Che Apalache—a band that puts the world back into world music. Definitively. You try to imagine the pitch session of a screenwriter or agent or manager or aspiring novelist. Here’s…
Skye Concert, et É-T-É, Critiques Skye Concert Avec ses instruments remarquables dont la nyckelharpa (violon à clavier), le violoncelle et le cistre/bouzouki; la voix d’or de sa chanteuse principale originaire de Suède et un répertoire enraciné dans les traditions de…
They’re at the forefront of a new Irish wave of traditional musicians flush with modern intensity. Lankum approach traditional Irish music with a modern intensity—a relentless spirit of non-compromise that obliterates perceived past notions. “We’re definitely drawn to dark music,”…
Skye Consort, Maìri Rankin and Eric Wright and Dayna Manning. Skye Consort - by Tony Montague With an instrumental lineup that features nyckelharpa (keyed fiddle), cello, and cittern/bouzouki; a lead singer from Sweden with a golden voice; and a repertoire…
Rob Oakie, excutive director of Music P.E.I. Music PEI executive director Rob Oakie has overseen one of the most successful programs in the country. Artists such as Irish Mythen, Catherine Maclellan, The East Pointers, Vishtan… have all enjoyed remarkable national…
Iconic Cajun fiddler recounts a life lived in Louisiana and the storied musicians who inspired him. Mardi Gras 2018 in New Orleans. Cajun fiddle maestro Michael Doucet is strolling with friends through streets filled with revellers—his ears, eyes, and mind…