
For years, whenever I thought of Newfoundland, I only thought of Jockey Club beer, Iceberg tracking web sites and Ches' Fish & Chips, but lately more and more talented acts have been coming across our desk. Most people know Polaris Short-listers Hey Rosetta! , but for me Jon Janes - aka The Mountain & The Trees - is the act I'm keeping my eye on. You know what? I'm not the only one. Jon is coming to Halifax on Nov. 14th to open for the legendary Billy f&cking Bragg ! It's [...]

I'm not sure I could have found a better fall EP or a better candidate for the old Sunday Morning Coffee section. This Newfoundland folk duo is built on the crystal clear, traditional folk vocals and guitar work of Jillian Freeman and the drum/banjo/drum machine support of Jon Janes (aka - The Mountain and The Trees ). Bird & Bear are about to release their debut EP - Into the Moon - and the overwhelming sensation you get from the collection of folk songs is warmth. Jillian's voice [...]

I'm quick hitting Things Fall Apart, the new album from Newfoundland rock & rollers The Novaks for a couple reasons. Of course there's the ever present "not enough time/too many things to write about" that I deal with on a daily basis right about now, but moreso than that, I think that reaction to this album will be pretty polarized - it's twelve songs of good old fashioned gut-kick rock & roll - and people will likely either love it or hate it, and no amount of rambling, barely coherent paragraphs from me will change that. [...]