Hard Folk with Matt Gower

Today Jennifer Noxon joins me on the podcast. We talked about her latest release “The Gathering”, reminisced about the old days on Bronson avenue hub of Rasputin’s & the Ottawa Folklore Centre. and we chatted about the community singing experience in her Rhythm & Song group.

Jennifer Noxon will be featured along with Christine Graves at CKCU Presents Friday Night Folk at the Art House Cafe on Friday Nov. 6th. Tickets are available for purchase here.

The Hard Folk podcast is available on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, Amazon etc. or visit https://pods.link/hardfolk.

Fresh off the news of winning the Estelle Klein award, Chris White joins me on Hard Folk to talk about how folk music and community have played an important role throughout his life and career. Whether it’s through co-founding the Ottawa Folk Festival, hosting Canadian Spaces on CKCU, organizing shows & events or leading community choirs.

The Hard Folk podcast is available on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, Amazon etc. or visit https://pods.link/hardfolk.

Today I interview Ottawa singer-songwriter Malia Rogers. We talked about her East Coast roots, how she developed her songwriting tools, how she deals her audience a “heavy dose of vulnerability” at live shows, the kindness and generosity that community brings when touring, how loss and grieving have played important roles in her songwriting and leaving folks with a sense of wonder and curiosity.

Malia Rogers will be playing CKCU Presents: Friday Night Folk alongside Woods of Light and myself Sept. 4th at Art House Cafe. Tickets are $15 in advance or $20 at the door.

The Hard Folk podcast is available on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, Amazon etc. or visit https://pods.link/hardfolk.

Today I’m joined by Don Pyle. Don has a new book out called Rough Description: love letters and ghost stories from a life in music but if you’re like me, you know him as the drummer for Shadowy Men on a Shadowy planet. We discussed the art of a good setlist, navigating a music career without a safety net, Don’s experience going to hairdressing school and how Shadowy Men may have played a role in Jiffy Pop reducing their packaging so that it wouldn’t perfectly hold a 7” record…

The Hard Folk podcast is available on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, Amazon etc. or visit https://pods.link/hardfolk.

Today, I’m joined by Elizabeth Royall. We talk about the balancing the administrative and entrepreneurial aspects of the music industry with the creative side of things. We also delve into Elizabeth’s love of 70s & 90s music, especially Fleetwood Mac and how she shook off trying to emulate Billie Eilish and discovered her own voice in the process.

CKCU Presents Friday Night Folk

with Elizabeth Royall and Graven

Friday, July 10, 8:30pm

Art House Cafe (555 Somerset st W)

Tickets are available now $15 advance /$20 door

Sean Sisk was dead. His heart stopped for 30 minutes. A case of Invasive Group A Strep had sent Sean to the hospital for 4 months, where his heart stopped 4 times and he needed multiple blood transfusions.

Jeff Larocque had donated blood 86 times before being diagnosed with prostate cancer. His goal was to donate blood at least 100 times, but unfortunately the cancer diagnosis prevented him from being able to donate.

After sitting down to breakfast they came up with the idea to organize a blood drive and have a little party afterwards. On June 17th, after you donate blood (visit blood.ca to schedule an appointment), Sean & Jeff are hosting a party at the Prescott featuring live local bands, prizes and more!

Today’s episode of Hard Folk is a special one: I invited my friend and fellow singer-songwriter James Leclaire to interview me. We talked about my songwriting process, how I recorded Vacated Shapes, navigating social media, performing solo vs with a band, plus we took a bit of a dive into my family and how that affects my life as a songwriter.

Vacated Shapes is out now both streaming and on CD.

Click here for tickets to CKCU Presents: Matt Gower - Vacated Shapes Album Release Show

Art House Cafe 555 Somerset st W

8:30pm, Sat. June 20th

The Hard Folk podcast is available on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, Amazon etc. or visit https://tr.ee/RweJx2PNii.

Today I’m joined by Mikhail Laxton. He’s here to talk about his 613 Soul initiative. It’s a free concert series taking place in Orleans, Hog’s Back Park, Vanier and a couple other locations. His goal for 613 Soul is to not only provide an alternative to the outdoor festival experience, but to mentor up and coming local musicians. Mikhail’s goal is to grow the music community and give back some of the knowledge, experience and wisdom he’s learned throughout his career.

Visit Mikhaillaxton.com to learn more about 613 Soul.

Today I’m joined by Rollie Pemberton (AKA Cadence Weapon). He’s got a new book called Ways of Listening: Building a Deeper Relationship with Music in the Streaming Era coming out May 26th as well as a new album called Forager which was released earlier this year.

Rollie and I talked about leaning into the musical terroir of certain areas he’s searching out new tunes at record stores, the recent trend of album “rollouts”, the fad of AI music and the motives behind its recent popularity and what the numbers & statistics can tell us about music.

Ways of Listening: Building a Deeper Relationship with Music in the Streaming Era is available May 26th.

Today I’m joined by Joel Elliott. We talked about his roll as “bandmaster” with The Magic Machine and incorporating his love of musical theatre into their stage act. We also dove deep into the inner workings of the Folk Canada conference and how joining a band full of middle aged government workers influenced him to pursue a career in music.

The Magic Machine is playing May 22 at Night Oat with Cassidy Houston. Tickets available here.

Also, my album Vacated Shapes is now available to stream! Tap here to listen!