I was thrilled to be invited back to Nova Scotia Music Week, held in the beautiful town of Wolfville. It’s not often I get chance to leave the country, so to travel somewhere so picturesque, and experience a community bursting at the seams with musical talent, was an incredible treat. Huge thanks to the Music Nova Scotia team for inviting me and looking after me so damn well!
As well as giving a talk on LOUD WOMEN and the work we do, I took part in a panel discussion with some other UK-based festival promoters (the lovely Andy Jones from Focus Wales and superstar Ben Street from Wild Fields/Wild Paths festivals), offering tips to Canadian artists who are hoping to break into the UK music scene. Every day I had dozens of short meetings lined up with musicians – it felt like every female and non-binary musician in Nova Scotia booked a slot to talk to me, what an honour!
There were loads of really inspiring talks and panels to watch too and I picked up loads of useful marketing tips, particularly from kickass Marketing Manager Jo Lukis and awesome Bee Ramesh of Birthday Cake Records. I palled up with superwoman Eve Horne of Unheard and she was a great laugh, and a lifeline to my socially-awkward and networking-phobic self! She also gave me some great advice on seeking funding for our work, so I hope to follow up on that soon.
After the daytime conference activities, (and the fun delegate activities including wine tasting, curling and lobster-eating) there was of course music showcases aplenty, scattered around the buzzing little College town of Wolfville. At these showcase festivals you always expect to see loads of music, but what what so surprising was the volume of very locally-grown music – and the incredibly high quality. This was a common conversation amongst all the delegates – we were all so amazed that such a small region was producing such really great artists, in so many different genres too. Nova Scotia places a really high value on it arts and culture, and many of the musicians I spoke to all mentioned support they’ve received for recording and touring. That coupled with the beautiful scenery and gentle, community-focussed way of life – this seems to be a golden recipe for creating a vibrant source of top quality music.
I’m still sorting through the millions of photos and videos on my phone – and haven’t even yet dared look at the many more hundreds of photos I took on a fancy camera kindly loaned to me by our own photography queen Keira Anee. But for now, here’s some of my highlights.
Moira and Claire
Our Festivals Editor Donna Craine messaged me while I was away, saying that she’d seen Moira and Claire when they were over last year at Focus Wales and she’d loved them – and she was quite right! These sisters have harmonies to die for, and beautiful downtoearth songs that the world really needs to hear. They performed in a chapel, along with an excellent additional guitarist/vocalist – and I got to hang out with them a bit later that evening watching other bands. All of which cemented this class act at the top of my Nova Scotia pops.
Skunk Motel
This fem punk foursome are so ready to take on the world. Having already earned a large loyal local following, their headline showcase show was one of the busiest and most fun I saw. Vibrant singalong anthems, great stagecraft, branded knickers thrown from the stage, and just the most charming ever between song bants from drummer Maya. I’ll get these four to the UK if I have to steal a boat and row them here myself.
Pillow Fite
I was gutted to have missed Pillow Fite’s showcase set (there was SO much on!), so when I saw they were performing at Sunday morning’s Awards Brunch I was really pleased for the second opportunity to hear them play. The alt-pop duo are Art Ross and Aaron Green – blending their vocals and guitars like butter and sugar to make the sweetest sound.
Kilmore
Rockers Kilmore are powered awesome frontwoman Heather – who I really enjoyed chatting and scheming with. I was also lucky enough to meet her beautiful baby and even got to hold a little hand (broody much?). Heather’s band kicks ass, and she’s keen to help get some more gigs happening on her local scene, so watch this space!
Sophie Noel
Speaking of multi-tasking musical babes, Sophie was one of the organisers of the entire conference, and still found time to perform her own killer show. That her bassist was also called Cassie was the cherry on the cake
Loviet
A packed out showcase for this rising star, who put on a stadium-ready alt-rock show.
Many more photos coming just as soon as I work out how to get them off of Keira’s camera!