Asian Persuasion All Stars Fundraiser for Elimin8Hate

The Asian Persuasion All Stars headline a special fundraiser with musical guests, China SyndromeNorine Braun and Alice FraserSwimming Hammers, and the Hathaway Brothers. Proceeds go to Elimin8Hate.

The show takes place at LanaLou’s Restaurant 362 Powell Street, Vancouver

The Asian Persuasion All Stars is a Vancouver supergroup comprised of award-winning musicians: Tony Lee (Eddy D & The Sexbombs), Tim Chan (China Syndrome), Eric Lowe (The VanRays), Mike Chang (China Syndrome), Brooke Fujiyama (The Shit Talkers, Swimming Hammers), Felix Fung (Sunday Morning), Greg Hathaway (Roots Roundup, The Hathaway Brothers), Tamla Mah and Gabe Ng (Abel Collective), Brian Minato (Slip~Ons, Sarah McLachlan), Ashton Sweet (Balkan Shmalkan), Kevin Tang (Camaro 67), Ron Yamauchi (Kele Fleming), and Norine Braun (Norine Braun).

Elimin8Hate (E8) is the advocacy arm of the Vancouver Asian Film Festival. E8 strives to interrupt, dismantle and eliminate anti-Asian racism at the individual, institutional and systemic level by providing anti-Asian racism learning opportunities, creating multimedia projects, and offering safe and inclusive ways to participate in initiatives aimed at disrupting oppressive systems and attitudes.

Buy tickets here

Karen Fowlie: International Women’s Day Free Concert “A Tribute to Canadian Women in Song”

Join Karen Fowlie (vocal/guitar), Terri Breeze (bass), Mal Temple (drums), Owen Thomas (electric guitar) and Mike Hurst (keyboards) for this pre-recorded live concert Wednesday Mar 8, 2021 at 5:00pm PST / 8:00pm ET. You will songs by Sarah McLachlan, Joni Mitchell, Shania Twain, Sylvia Tyson, Loreena McKennitt as well as “Moment in Time”, one of Fowlie’s Originals. The chat room will be open before and after the show.

Karen Fowlie is an award-winning singer-songwriter with deep musical roots in her community. Influenced by musical greats (Heart, Sarah McLachlan, Emmylou Harris, Jann Arden, Joni Mitchell, Chantal Kreviazuk, Carrie Underwood and more) Fowlie writes Alt. Country/Rock songs people can easily relate to. Karen has been recognized by B.C.’s Attorney General for her song writing and has also appeared as a special guest on a TV talk show. Fowlie and her band regularly entertain audiences and have released three singles in recent history.

Gracias a la Vida Project

Music provided sonic support for the world during 2020, and it is helping us move into a new year. For Toronto and Vancouver– based singer-songwriter, Gisun, this arrives via The Gracias a la Vida Project – a collaborative, philanthropic music initiative crossing an array of countries and communities. Today, Gisun launches the project with the release of Gracias a la Vida (thanks to life) – a special cover of Chilean singer Violeta Parra’s iconic 1966 song. Produced with friends and former colleagues from her time at the New School and beyond, Gisun gathered a diverse ensemble of five vocalists to create a unique take, each person contributing a verse with their own flair. The project is partnering with Music Heals is to bring attention to the importance of music therapy, where proceeds of the song will be donated to support their work and to encourage public involvement.

“Despite such a hard year, for all of us around the globe, we have been given the gift of family and togetherness during a time where plague has riddled us with separation and loneliness. It brings such happiness to be able to sing the words gracias a la vida, as we are grateful that it has given us a united family. This is a time where gratefulness can really help us heal, spiritually and physically. Through re-connectivity with others and ourselves, we have regained a deeper appreciation for community, family, and friends,” says the ensemble on The Gracias a la Vida Project. “Gracias a la Vida is an interesting song, because it stands in the midst of forking paths. On one hand, this song has become a global song of humanism and of hope. But on the other, this is the goodbye letter of songwriter Violeta Parra to the world. Being able to expand on the possibilities of collaborating with musicians from around the world has been a shining light.”

The Gracias a la Vida Project was developed in the early stages of the pandemic as Gisun reflected on daily gratitude. Throughout this very transformational year, she especially connected with the Mercedes Sosa version (Homenaje a Violeta Parra) of Gracias a la Vida. As it is one of the most widely covered Latin songs to date, Gisun brought an incredible team of artists, all within the Latin American Diaspora, to bring an array of styles and backgrounds into the fold; Montreal, Quebec’s Ada Lea, Italian-Congolese artist, Sans Soucis, and two artists based in New York: Bianca Muñiz, Joy Morales, and Guayaquil, Ecuador-based, Luz Pinos. In addition, guitarists, Stephen Orr and Alper Tuzcu, perform on the track.

Canadian singer-songwriter Gisun is influenced by her Uruguayan background and South Korean roots to showcase her own style of Latin and soul-inspired music. Her songs weave together stories that reflect distinct chapters and stages of life. Since 2017, she has released three EPs: Suspiras, Partes, and Fin, in collaboration with musicians and sound engineers in New York, Spain, Toronto, and Vancouver. Currently, Gisun is working on her first full-length album with musicians from all over the world.

The video was produced by Rodrigo Ferrat, compiling performance videos independently filmed by each artist. With an aim to reach a global audience, particularly connecting with Latin American communities, the music video includes closed captions in English, French, Italian, and Portuguese.

Music Heals increases access to music therapy for patients in children’s hospitals, seniors centres, palliative care, AIDS & HIV programs, at-risk youth, rehabilitation, and bereavement support. To date Music Heals has funded over 32,000 music therapy sessions. You can learn more about Music Heals and support the organization by donating or getting involved at musicheals.ca.

Noble Oak – Live Stream Virtual Tour

Noble Oak performs 4 live-streamed concerts from October 6th – 9th, hosted on Facebook Live by 4 different venues across Canada.
October 6: Victoria – Capital Ballroom @capitalballrm
October 7: Vancouver – Biltmore @biltmorecabaret
October 8: Winnipeg – The Garrick @thegarrickwinnipeg
October 9: Toronto – Adelaide Hall @adelaidehallTO

couchwalker on film by Jenny Banai

“couchwalker on film” is a short film experiment, imagined and created by Jenny Banai; a visual representation of her sophomore album “couchwalker”.

“couchwalker on film” premieres Monday, December 14 on Audiofemme. Read full conversation Jenny Banai had with them about the story behind the film here – https://www.audiofemme.com/jenny-bana…

Inspired, in part, and due to the limited ways live music can be shared in our current world environment, Banai envisioned a multi-medium digital concept performance to clarify “couchwalker” on another level, so as to invite viewers in as close as one can to the music and to her particular creative character.

Starring Banai, the film features long single-shot segments in a warehouse fashioned to look like a living room set, with a couch—and her interactions with said couch—as the centrepiece. She is accompanied by two dancers, who appear throughout the film and represent the emotional pulls within her humanity as she sorts through her convictions and feelings regarding relationship choices and her faith.

Pulling on her novice dance and theatre background, and audio editing skills, the creation of “couchwalker on film” both challenged and unveiled Banai’s abilities. She first edited her album down to twenty minutes of audio; a mix of full album production, lo-fi live takes and voice memos, to create an audio narrative. She then brought on film director, Matej Balaz of Colla Films and choreographers and dancers, Joanna Anderson and Kezia Rosen, as her collaborating partners on the project.

Over weeks of meetings, a handful of rehearsals and two postponements, couchwalker on film became the intricate and nuanced piece that it is. Expressing the wrestling match between the conscious and subconscious, reason and intuition, convictions and feelings, Banai invites the viewer into a world where moving through various emotions is both an invitation and a necessity, and how we move through them is the choice we are gifted with.

“The [Hebrew] word, the word timshel—’Thou mayest’—that gives choice. It might be the most important word in the world. That says the way is open”
– Lee (Character in John Steinbeck’s “East of Eden”).

Credits:

Concept and creation by Jenny Banai and her collabs: Matej Balaz, Joanna Noelle, and Kezia Rosen
Directed by Jenny Banai and Matej Balaz
Produced by Colla Films
Cinematography: Nate J Slaco
Editing: Daša Netíková and Matej Balaz
Choreography: Joanna Anderson and Kezia Rosen
Costume Design: Jenny Banai, Joanna Anderson and Kezia Rosen
Artistic Direction: Camille Candia
Music: Jenny Banai
Live Take Edits: Scott Currie
Production Assistant: Michal Slako

We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts.
We thank Creative BC for their Showcase grant helping us out during the strangest of times for artists (and all people of course!).

website: https://jennybanai.com
spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3dUsj…
instagram: https://instagram.com/jennybanai
facebook: https://facebook.com/jenny.banai
bandcamp: https://jennybanai.bandcamp.com
twitter: https://twitter.com/BanaiJenny
soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/jennybanai

Sevens Studio’s Live Stream Event.

We’re going to host a Livestream show at a local studio. We will have 2 local radio stations (100.5FM and CJSF 90.1FM), that will broadcast the event. Our goal is to provide other young artists with an opportunity to showcase their talent at a local level. We will have 6 different artists perform a 10-minute set and they will be interviewed by 100.5 FM after their performance. This will help the young local artists to get their name out there and will help with their branding and marketing as there getting press.