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Fifth Burt Block Party goes full country

A fifth Burt Block Party aims to become a country hoedown.

Alberta country music star Brett Kissel and the James Barker Band from Ontario will headline the Aug. 18 outdoor concert to be held in front of the Burton Cummings Theatre.

Ticket prices start at $49.50 plus fees and go on sale May 26 at ticketmaster.ca.

Four other Burt Block Party outdoor concerts were already announced for Aug. 11, 12, 19 and 20, with acts such as the Strumbellas, Billy Talent, Glass Tiger and Cheap Trick headlining.

Indie-folk band Almost Insight shifts gears for debut

A four-year wait is over for Manitoba indie-folk group Almost Insight.

It was 2019 when the quartet of vocalist Mya Roy, keyboardist Nathanaël Wsiaki, drummer Riley Sobering and guitarist Cédric Morier-Roy played a gig at Clear Lake and realized they could be more than a band that plays bars and small festivals around the province.

“We travelled two-and-a-half hours to go there and play three sets in the evening and didn’t ask for enough money whatsoever,” Morier-Roy remembers. “In the morning, we’re just like, ‘What do we want to do next?’ We sat down, had some coffee and made a consensus that we wanted to make an album.”

Roy (Morier-Roy and Roy are not related) has similar recollections of that fateful morning sit-down.

Thunderous standing ovation, four curtain calls for James Ehnes at MCO concert

Canadian superstar violinist James Ehnes received a hero’s welcome Tuesday night, his sublime artistry as bright as stars in a Prairie sky, his tone as golden as the wheat fields surrounding his birthplace of Brandon.

The Manitoba Chamber Orchestra featured the world-renowned artist during the first of two identical concerts held at the Crescent Arts Centre, both evenings led by MCO music director Anne Manson.

No stranger to Winnipeg audiences — Ehnes performed in the city earlier this season; his last MCO appearance was in 2016 — the artist treated the capacity crowd of 650 to Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 5 in A major, K. 2918, a.k.a. the “Turkish,” an audience-pleasing work he has performed before on this stage.

Following the orchestra’s crisp introduction during the opening Allegro aperto, Ehnes immediately got down to the matter at hand, holding listeners rapt with his virtuosic technique, flawless intonation and seamless bowing, as his gleaming 1715 “Marsick” Stradivarius scaled the heights and leaped across its full range.

Canadian pianist Jan Lisiecki dazzles audience as WSO ends 75th season

The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra ended its 75th season with a joyful bang Saturday night, as it presented two blockbuster performances led by maestro Daniel Raiskin.

Its final (A)bsolute Classics concert featured dynamo Canadian pianist Jan Lisiecki, marking his WSO debut with Chopin’s Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor, op. 11. The 145-minute program (including intermission) also included Beethoven’s mighty Symphony No. 9 in D minor, op. 125, a.k.a. the Choral Symphony, which has been spreading its joyful message of love for humankind since its Vienna première in 1824.

The critically acclaimed Calgary-born Lisiecki, 28, who has been dazzling audiences since he was 15, held nothing back, displaying an iron-clad conviction in which his Chopin often shook a defiant fist at life, rather than spinning webs of poetry.

He attacked the Allegro maestoso like a lion, his highly visceral performance at times seeing him rise from his bench, his eyes closed in fierce concentration, as his fingers nimbly danced up and down the keyboard with quicksilver runs and gossamer-light embellishments.

75 years of song

A previously all-male chorus, which only opened its doors to women five years ago, will belt out Broadway hits and silver-screen tunes this weekend to celebrate its 75th anniversary.

River City Sound, an a cappella group that’s 38 members strong, will present the Diamonds From Stage & Screen concert at Prairie Spirit United Church, featuring songs such as Pretty Woman, Stand by Me and Do You Hear the People Sing.

To add to the celebration, River City Sound has invited award-winning barbershop quartet St. Croix Crossing, whose members hail from Minnesota and Wisconsin, to take part in the show.

Part of the proceeds from this weekend’s two-hour show will be donated to Newcomers Employment and Education Development Services (NEEDS Inc.), a non-profit charitable organization that enrols newcomer children aged six to 12 in classes at NEEDS within three days of arrival in Canada, in preparation to attend regular school.

An album in search of Earth Day hope

For 53 years, Earth Day has served as a reminder to commit time and resources to looking after and protecting our environment. One billion people mark the annual event on April 22 with a wide range of activities co-ordinated among countries around the world.

Four Manitoba wins at Canadian Folk Music Awards

Hurricane Clarice blew through the Canadian Folk Music Awards last weekend in Vancouver.

Then there were three

Hailey Legary and Hailey Hunter needed a drummer.

Raitt gives Grammy thanks to Bros. Landreth

When Bonnie Raitt walked on stage Sunday to accept her Grammy for Americana performance of the year, the iconic artist had two brothers from Manitoba on her mind.

Business leader Marcel Desautels left local legacy

Marcel Desautels, a Winnipeg business leader and one of the University of Manitoba’s major benefactors, died Tuesday in Toronto. He was 88.

New William Prince album due in April

William Prince released two new songs Tuesday and announced they’ll be part of a new album coming out April 14.

Taking notes on a year of music

As is our December tradition, the Free Press’s trio of freelance album reviewers — John Kendle, Keith Black and Holly Harris — have pored over a year’s worth of listening to and writing about music to bring you their top 10 picks for 2022. From fresh new acts to established artists, there’s something here for every ear.

NFL Honors awards show to be hosted by Kelly Clarkson

Musical artist Kelly Clarkson will host the 12th annual NFL Honors awards show Feb. 9 in Phoenix, recognizing the league's best players, performances and plays from the 2022 season.

The Emmy and Grammy-award winning artist will be the first woman to host the show, where multiple NFL awards will be announced, a spokesperson said Friday in a new release.

The NFL Honors show debuted in 2012 and features the announcement of The Associated Press' annual awards, the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year award, and the newest Pro Football Hall of Fame class, among others.

The show is held annually the week before the Super Bowl.

Canadian songwriter Shirley Eikhard, who penned ‘Something to Talk About,’ dies at 67

TORONTO - Canadian singer-songwriter Shirley Eikhard was decades into a successful music career when Bonnie Raitt recorded her flirty track "Something to Talk About," turning it into a massive, Grammy-winning hit.

But one of her closest friends says the sudden elevation of her name in the music industry changed very little about how Eikhard saw herself. She remained a private person who enjoyed the people around her, making art and preferring to stay out of the limelight.

Eikhard died Thursday surrounded by her friends at a hospital in Orangeville, Ont., after a three-year battle with cancer, said longtime friend Deborah Duggan. She was 67 years old.

"She lived a big life," Duggan said. "It was always a joy to be around her. She really did have a glow about her."

The Weeknd receives Allan Slaight Humanitarian Spirit Award

TORONTO - Pop superstar The Weekndis being recognized for his support of charitable causes with an award from the Slaight Family Foundation.

The Toronto native is the recipient of this year's Allan Slaight Humanitarian Spirit Award.

In a statement, the foundation says The Weeknd, whose given name is Abel Tesfaye, will have a $50,000 donation made on his behalf to a charity of his choosing.

Among the causes Tesfaye has supported in recent years is a global hunger fund with the United Nations called the XO Humanitarian Fund, which says it has raised $5 million.

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Hedley frontman Jacob Hoggard opts for jury over judge-alone sexual assault trial

HAILEYBURY, Ont. - Canadian musician Jacob Hoggard has elected to be tried for sexual assault before a jury, rather than by judge alone.

The Hedley frontman is facing a sexual assault charge for an incident alleged to have happened on June 25, 2016, in Kirkland Lake, Ont.

A lawyer for Hoggard told a Haileybury, Ont., court Wednesday that the musician has opted to have his case heard in the Superior Court of Ontario.

Hoggard's next appearance is slated for Jan. 19 before a trial scheduling court.

Kendrick Lamar, Billie Eilish to headline Montreal’s Osheaga festival

TORONTO - Rapper Kendrick Lamar and pop singer Billie Eilish are headlining next year's Osheaga music festival in Montreal.

The two Grammy-winning stars will join Australian alternative dance trio Rüfüs Du Sol as the main acts for the festival, which runs Aug. 4 to 6 at Parc Jean-Drapeau.

Rüfüs Du Sol will play as the Friday night headliner, while Eilish performs on Saturday and Lamar closes the event on Sunday.

All three acts have appeared at Osheaga in past years, with Lamar hitting the main stage in 2015, while Eilish performed on a smaller stage in 2018 and Rüfüs Du Sol made their debut at the festival a year later.

AP’s top albums 2022: ‘Renaissance,’ ‘Motomami,’ Bad Bunny

Ten of the best albums of the year, as selected by The Associated Press entertainment journalists.

BEYONCÉ, “RENAISSANCE”

Few would be shocked that Beyoncé's “Renaissance” would makes our top albums list, but just because it’s low hanging fruit doesn’t negate how delicious it is. Dropping her first album in six years, Queen Bey once again proved why she’s worth the wait. Led by the multi-format dance track “Break My Soul” and the TikTok-crazed “Cuff It” which both reached No. 1 on various Billboard Charts including “Soul” reaching the top of the Hot 100, “Renaissance” boasted plenty of fan favorites including “Cozy,” “Alien Superstar,” “Church Girl,” Plastic off the Sofa” and “Virgo’s Groove.” But beyond the two-stepping and body-rolling was the messaging within the music, championing Black women and reminding the LBGTQ community they have an ally in her. Whether meticulously planned or purely coincidental her highness released the album as the coronavirus pandemic moves behind us, if her goal was to get us out of our houses and out dancing again, then mission accomplished. — Gary Gerard Hamilton

THE WEEKND, “DAWN FM”

The music subgenre sadcore finds a new life with a new generation

TORONTO - It's been nearly 40 years since Elton John crooned about the importance of sad songs. But for a new generation facing a new suite of traumas, a new musical genre has emerged: sadcore.

Distinguished by minimal instrumentation and production, melancholy lyrics and slow tempo — which lends the genre its other name, slowcore — Montreal-based musician Amy Macdonald says the style resonates with many young people coming of age during a global pandemic and economic turmoil.

She says the genre allows her to connect withlisteners over shared emotions and fostera sense of community.

“There’s just so many songs that seem to instantly hook people in by expressing a sad or heartbroken emotion,” Macdonald says of a proliferation of sadcore songs that have been shared over the past several months, many of them buoyed by TikTok.

Ukrainian musicians find healing in performance after fleeing war-torn homeland

For the Ukrainian people, Mariia Balieieva says, there is a before and an after.

A ‘downtown’ choreographer brings her craft to the opera

NEW YORK (AP) — It was a delicious challenge that came as a total surprise.

As choreographer Annie-B Parson tells it, she was walking down a Brooklyn street when her phone rang. It was the general manager of the Metropolitan Opera, Peter Gelb, wondering if she’d be interested in choreographing for the Met.

Parson, based in Brooklyn, founder of the Big Dance Theater and also known for choreographing David Byrne’s joyous “American Utopia” on Broadway, had never done an opera and acknowledges she knew little about the art form.

But of course she was interested. It was the Met’s buzzy, commissioned production of “The Hours,” about the interior lives of three women connected — across generations and an ocean — by Virginia Woolf and her writings (one of them Woolf herself). Parson would be the only woman on the creative team.