Examineradio - The Halifax Examiner Podcast

The young singer-songwriter Braden Lam has already got a pair of EPs under his belt, which he made in between getting a degree at Dal, starting his own business, and falling in love. For the holidays he's dropped a fresh cover of Joni Mitchell's "River," and stops by theshow to talk stalled momentum, the musical ice age caused by the pandemic, why land acknowledgments are important to him, and his slate of December shows.

The legend Steve Murphy will retire from on-air life on November 30, but not before stopping by to chat about the state of journalism past and present, big stories from Nova Scotia's history, and whether he and Tara will go to driver's ed together. The CTV icon loves alongform interview and is a choice one himself, as you'll hear here.Plus brand-new holiday music from Catherine MacLellan.

The Halifax indie-rock quartet No, It's Fine has released its second pandemic project—the first being a collection of covers that dropped in March—in the form of the full-length album I Promise. Mastermind Cailen Alcorn Pygott visits The Golden Palm to chat Cancon, words versus melody (and he uses a lot of words), and the influence of the Philadelphia scene on his band. Plus we hear two new tracks and hey did you hear Sarah Harmer is finally coming back to town?!

The trad quartet Villages recorded and put out its debut EP, Upon theHorizon, in the midst of the pandemic and subsequently had its releaseshow rescheduled twice. Since then they've already made a full-lengthbut now is the time—specifically November 13 at the Marquee—tocelebrate those songs. Matt and Travis Ellis—cousins, not brothers, asTara learned live on air, after 15 years of writing about them—drop byto talk about the recording process, the ways they access the Celticside of themselves, and how their indie-rock band Mardeen is notnecessarily over.

Music Nova Scotia's annual celebration of artists and industry returns to Truro this week with a new captain at the helm. Allegra Swanson, who became executive director of the organization last year after a lengthy stint with CARAS and the Juno Awards, drops by on her way to the Hub to talk planning for everything, her goals for the org moving forward, and her past life as an opera singer. Plus some jams from multiple nominees Keonté Beals and T. Thomason.

Gather round the campfire for our semi-annual Hello City special, this time all about that fakest but most commercially dominant of holidays, Halloween! Liam Fair, Henri Gielis, Colin McGuire, and Beth Poulsen bring some s'mores and spooky tales to the studio, all made up in the moment. It's rated G for Ghoulish. Stay for the stinger about the best Halloween candy!

Two Tideline favourites, Kat McCormack and Stevey Hunter, are the show's first repeat guests as they swan in to talk Fat Juliet, the Eastern Front Theatre/Shakespeare By The Sea production taking over Alderney Landing until the end of October. Writer/star Stevey and director Kat relay this show's five-year journey, how they threaded in a Billie Eilish moment, the ins and outs of Shakespeare, and the production's emerging team. Plus Kat reflects on a year at the helm of Eastern Front! Plus a new song from No, It's Fine!

The Halifax-set Diggstown, which launched its third season this week on CBC TV, was part of the wave of #NSFilmJobs able to shoot in the COVID-light province over the past year and a half, with the added bonus of being able to employ tonnes of local actors. Star Vinessa Antoine joins the show from Toronto to chat about Marcie Diggs' emotional evolution, what she learned from her years in soaps, and her favourite place to eat in Dartmouth. Creator Floyd Kane — a Dalhousie law grad before he moved into producing, writing, and directing — also beams in to talk about threading the pandemic into the current season, how the team fits so much story into such a short episode run, and what's up with that Fox broadcasting deal that was announced off the top of the year.

Tara's first boss and current life coach Stephanie Domet drops by the show to talk about AfterWords, the literary festival she co-founded with Ryan Turner. After an auspicious live debut in 2019, AfterWords is now marking its second—and hopefully final—round online with thelikes of Katherena Vermette, Sheila Heti, Ann-Marie MacDonald (marking 25 years of Fall on Your Knees), and many more, all at very reasonable prices with many free events. They also chat about the state of journalism—keep your finger near the volume button for that segment.

The Canadian television multi-hyphenate Sheri Elwood has spent thepast two summers down in Hubbards making Moonshine, asemi-autobiographical drama about the family that runs a summer resortand its adjacent venue (aka The Shore Club). In a spare 15 minutesfrom creating, co-writing, and directing the second season, she phonesin from the shore to talk about being "repatriated" from American TV(and the differences of working in it versus here), and why now feltlike the time for a show like this.

Bretten Hannam has been working on Wildhood, in one way or another, for the past decade, pausing to make multiple short films and their debut feature, North Mountain (2015), an experience that took years itself to recover from. Wildhood is the story of a Two-Spirit Mi'kmaq teen who sets off to find the mother he thought was dead, a gorgeously rendered, gentle journey of self-discovery. In 2020 it became the first feature film to shoot in Nova Scotia in a post-COVID world. Brett stopped in on their way to the film's world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival to chat challenges, considerations of community, and opening FIN tonight.

The married duo at the core of Dog Day also makes movies together: First there was Lowlife, then there was The Crescent, and now there is Tin Can, an eerily prescient drama about a world consumed by a plague and a scientist trapped in a life-suspension chamber (it's the titular role). Nancy Urich and Seth A. Smith venture into the city for the first time since pre-covid to talk building an entire universe, premiering online, their plans for their live FIN premiere later this month (spoiler alert: fries), and lots more. Plus TWO Dog Day tracks.

Halifax legend Jane Kansas drops by the show to talk about her new Fringe play My Heart Attack, which covers a quadruple bypass, six hospital visits, multiple infections, and nearly 170 days total in hospital. Like her previous shows — My Funeral: a dry run and My Dead Dad: stories from the front yard  — My Heart Attack promises to be a unique mix of sharp observation, startling nuance, and sneaky tears. The Halifax Fringe Festival runs September 2-12; Tara makes some good show recommendations based solely on who's involved.

Rachel Reid — aka Rachelle Goguen — has been writing the Game Changers series out of Bedford for the past three years. Role Model, the fifth book in her gay hockey player anthology, dropped earlier this month and is about a closeted player who's traded to Ottawa (the horror) and is gently moved toward coming out by a new co-worker, while also grappling with a Me Too fallout courtesy of his former best friend. Rachelle — once upon a time Tara's co-worker — stops by the show to chat secret projects, romance, the politics of sports, and the series' real-life parallels.

The Prince Edward Island singer-songwriter Catherine MacLellan will return to Nova Scotia for the first time since the pandemic began to play the second Tatafest in Tatamagouche at the end of August. She dials up the show from Baie-Egmont, PEI to talk about how she's spent her time in the relative safe haven of her home province — it included slowing down and decking some musical halls — and how excited she is to get back to live shows, among many other things.

Tara and Palmer take a field trip to the Museum of Natural History to visit with Halifax's unofficial mascot, Gus the Gopher Tortoise, who turns 99 this weekend. We chat with the Museum team that cares for him, join him for his daily walk, and discuss how a random $5 purchase in the 1940s has become a venerable and beloved symbol of the museum.

It's been a wild two COVID years for Halifax Pride—in 2020 the festival snuck in its event during a restriction-light July; for 2021 the event moved back a whole month in the hopes of clearing the bar fully. Things will look a little different—smaller—again this year on the Garrison Grounds, but the lineup is robust, diverse, and all-ages. Executive director Adam Reid stops by for a year-by-year comparison and how the pandemic pushed the organization toward a more "thoughtful" event. Plus a brand-new song from Tara's former students in Kids Losing Sleep!

The actor and playwright Jacob Sampson drops by the studio this week ahead of opening night for Shakespeare By The Sea's mainstage show of the season, A Midsummer Night's Dream. It's his first time on stage—in this case the grounds of Point Pleasant Park—in over two years! He chats about easing back into the rehearsal hall, this season's motto—choose kindness—and the journey of the award-winning play he wrote for himself, Chasing Champions, a little-known story about the Nova Scotian boxer Sam Langford. Plus: a sweet song from the new Dusted album.

Dana Beeler leads the rock band Hello Delaware, has her hands in all facets of the music industry—just last week she returned to Music Nova Scotia after a year at CKDU—and hates the patriarchy. She and Tara are from the same town (Lantz, it's the worst) so after some rage-tinged nostalgia about adolescence they'll get into post-pandemic perspectives about music, old attitudes—that would be the many all-male music festivals on the docket this summer—and what Nova Scotia Music Week could look like in November.

One of the nation's most accomplished and celebrated opera singers headlines the Halifax Jazz Festival on Friday, performing a repertoire that celebrates Black women vocalists like Nina Simone and Sarah Vaughan. Measha Brueggergosman beams in from rural Nova Scotia to talk about the heart attack that set her back in 2019, the Measha Jazz record she put out (for free!) in 2020—we all know what else happened that year—and how hope and endurance keep her moving forward. Plus we'll hear her take on "Strange Fruit," take a look at the Jazz Fest's other virtual offerings, celebrate the return of Hello City, and more.