Tell Me Stories Podcast with Paula Allen

Alone, in the relative quiet of the podcast trailer, he too is quiet, thoughtful, reflective and open. This is one of the more powerful interviews I've done and I don't know if it's just indicative as my growth as a podcaster and interviewer or if I purely lucked out getting someone as intelligent and willing as Billy. 

Either way, I hope you enjoy our talk. 

Please find Billy's incredible work:

https://www.reverbnation.com/billymoon

https://billymoon.bandcamp.com/

Gab Godon and Emma Beko are HeartStreets, and they are a game changer if I've ever been humbled enough to see such a thing live. Hailing from Montreal, where just so much great Canadian music rolls out of, these two make me proud to be a female in the music world. 

SOCAN invited them to camp. This is a thing. It's a pretty exclusive songwriters camps we've been hearing about for a while now but I have yet to meet anyone who's been lucky enough to go. This place is the stuff of legends ya'll, a huge group of writers, some of the top producers in this country, all gathered and isolated deep in the Canuck woods for a solid week of sequestered writing and performance. Oh to be a fly on those tent walls. Or maybe cabins, yeah, probably cabins cause SOCAN can roll like that :)

These two women are unassuming, down to earth, you wouldn't know walking through a crowd as they approached the stage they were about to literally blow the minds of everyone there. It's just them and a laptop. That's it. What they have created with this is nothing short of musical genius. This is the band to watch. 

Great stories, great women, great time. Thank you both. Find them here and basically everwhere and of course Instagram 

Not sure what this guy isn't up to these days but playing live shows again can be added to the incredible mix of managing bands like The National (you read that right). It was such an incredible night of solid Cuff the Duke fans revelling in their sudden return and new fans forged in the foggy, heady goodness of Koop Stage, Riverfest. 

Then Wayne stepped into my trailer and told me what deems to be his favourite story. One all his friends know but one never shared publically before now. Feeling a little honoured here... no big deal.

It's about Hayden, coincidentally the first live show I ever saw was Hayden, It was in St. Catharines in the 90's and yes, he did make everyone sit down for his shows then. 14-year-old Paula did so and loved, LOVED the talent that guy brought. So did Wayne. Years later they would work together closely and become friends, then Steve Buscemi became their friend. Kinda a big deal. 

Hilarity and honestly some good parenting tips came outta this interview. 

Find Cuff the Duke

Find The National

Find The Odd Years

and then thank me later :)

Katrin Sawatzky, Jordan Gabriel and now AJ Johnson are Royal Castles. They sit down with me after their main stage show at Riverfest and get into stories, such great stories you guys. Tattoos in Majorca level good. It's a new level I'm coining here in honour of their storytelling abilities on this very episode.

Motel Raphael: three women, Clara, Emily and Maya have much to say and sing. Please check them out, they are brilliant and talented and make me want to join a band immediately. 

www.motelraphael.com

FB/motelraphael

Twitter: @motelraphael

One of my favourite quotes from the interview: Hello Kitty Nightmares.

Hailing from Niagara/Toronto, the perennial festival closers and dance floor inciters mix New Orleans style grooves with funk, jazz and hip hop.  Bolstered by a giant horn section and the well-oiled rhythm players, emcee Jacob Bergsma and vocalist Sylvie Kindree drive the show with Danno O'Shea.  My Son the Hurricane has “stood out like a sore, yet extremely talented thumb at every show they’ve played” (Pulse Niagara), and become revered for their live performances.

Raina Douris of CBC Music's Mornings joins me in studio (ahem, trailer. But like a decked-out mother of a trailer backstage at a music festival, so ya know, a studio) for a one-on-one chat about, well, everything. She's a music buff and major fan of Canadian music so we had quite a bit to talk about and she tells great stories.

Listen in to our convo and thank you again Raina, it was a pleasure.

Laurel Sprengelmeyer lives in Montreal, she's a visual artist, producer and musician and when she's making music, she's Little Scream. 

She has worked with The National (part of Riverfest 2018!!), Barr Brothers, Saltband and countless others as well. Please go and check her out at www.littlescream.com and follow her on Twitter @littlescream  

Follow me too if you aren't already, I love people!! @stories_podcast and no, I don't have a Facebook page and I make no apologies for that.

Tim Newton, Sage McBride, Jordan Vlasschaert, Ty West and of course Eddie Annett are Shred Kelly, hailing from Fernie BC. Where? Oh yeah, it's that small but their sound is pretty huge. 

I play Archipelago at the end of the episode, their new single and you are going to love it. Check out their tour dates this summer and go see them, you will not regret it. 

NO CORN

www.shredkelly.com

@shredkelly on Twitter

Thanks again you guys, loved it.