Skye Wallace

**feature picture

MUSIC
The top 20 folk & roots shows in Toronto for summer 2014
Posted by Ryan Ayukawa / JUNE 4, 2014 13 Comments
Folk shows TorontoThe top folk, blues, and roots shows in Toronto this summer arrive at the best time of the year to catch live music in the city - indoors and outdoors. For those who like their music with a country feel, there are plenty of great concerts coming up in the usual haunts.

Add to those the annual NXNE festival, and TURF and you've got a packed summer. With all the iconic names coming to town and under-the-radar showcases popping up, it can be a challenge sorting through all the artists performing.

Here are my picks for the top folk, roots, and bluegrass concerts this summer.

Scarlett Jane with Andrew Austin / June 5 / Drake Underground / $15
Andrea Ramolo and Cindy Doire (aka Toronto folk/noir duo Scarlett Jane) have toured cross-Canada, bringing their "sultry, boot-stompin' magic" and haunting harmonies wherever they play. They perform at the Drake Hotel Underground June 5 with Sarnia's Andrew Austin.



Buffy Sainte-Marie and Tanya Tagaq / June 10 / David Pecaut Square / free
Luminato Festival 2014 presents a Northern Lights & Music double bill with Buffy Sainte-Marie and Tanya Tagaq. The two iconic artists perform at David Pecaut Square on June 10 as part of a free concert. Buffy Sainte-Marie's career dates back to Toronto's '60's Yorkville folk scene, with early appearances in television (Sesame Street 1975) and film, and later Native American issues social activism. Tanya Tagaq brings traditional Inuit art of throat singing to the modern stage. Her artistry in multiple fields has led to international collaborations.



Ian Foster CD release / June 12 / Belljar Cafe / $10
One of Newfoundland's hardest-touring songwriters makes his way from St. John's through Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, and Ontario. Ian Foster's new CD, The Great Wave, combines the melodies and sounds of traditional folk with a modern approach. His local CD release will take place at the Belljar Cafe on June 12.



Showcase 13: the Concert / June 13 / The Assembly Hall / $13
Presented by Village Vinyl Music Emporium & Cafe, Showcase 13 is a rare chance to hear 13 artists for only 13 dollars. Like Village Vinyl, the event welcomes a range of genres. Folk and roots and bluegrass fans will hear The Wordman of Alcatraz, Erika Werry, the Barrel Boys, along with other diverse solo to full band artists. Tickets only available through Village Vinyl up until the date of the show.

NXNE / June 13-22 / various venues
This year's NXNE festival is packed with artists from Toronto to Iqaluit (Nunavut) to Sydney (Australia). Canadian artists in the folk and roots and bluegrass genres from coast to coast are well represented at the festival. Five showcases worth checking out:

The Jerry Cans / June 21 @ 10PM / Tranzac
Shawn William Clarke / June 14 & 15 / Harbour Parklands / June 18 @ 9PM / Baltic Avenue
Skye Wallace / June 22 @ 11PM /Handlebar
Whitney Rose / June 21 @ 3:30PM / Cameron House
The Tequila Mockingbird Orchestra / June 18 @ 1AM / Dakota Tavern
The Boxcar Boys and Combo Royale / June 15 / The Tranzac Main Hall / $15
The Boxcar Boys feature the combined talents of Rob Teehan, John David Williams, Karl Silveira, Ronen Segall, and Laura C. On stage they deliver a mix of gypsy, old-jazz, klezmer and folk - but it always adds up to a good time. Their next Toronto show is at the Tranzac in the Annex on June 15, with guests Combo Royale.



Skydiggers and Peter Cash / June 7 / Hugh's Room / $29.50
Co-founder Peter Cash returns to the Skydiggers as part of a special two-night concert at Hugh's Room on June 6 and 7. Now in their 26th year, Skydiggers bring their Canadian roots rock sound back to Toronto.



Johnny Cash Tribute / June 20 / Hugh's Room / $25
Michael Wrycraft presents In Cash We Trust, a concert tribute to Johnny Cash, at Hugh's Room on June 20. The talented lineup includes Paul Reddick, Jon Brooks, JD Edwards, The Rucksack Willies and others. Tickets are available through Hugh's Room. Expect folks to wear black.

Young Running at the Junction Solstice Festival / June 21 / 2 venues / free
The Junction's own Young Running blend folk, roots, indie, honesty and fun in their showcases. They'll be performing at the Junction Solstice Festival - a free, all-ages fest meant to celebrate the neighbourhood's diversity - on June 21. Their night begins with a set at the festival's beer gardens at 7pm; at 10pm, they'll move the party to the Hole In The Wall and play until 2 am.



Pheromone Recordings Night / June 21 / Horseshoe Tavern / $25
Five of Pheromone Recording's artists are set to play the legendary Horseshoe Tavern on June 21. Lineup includes Steph Cameron, Mo Kenney, double Canadian Folk Awards nominees The Wilderness of Manitoba, Bidiniband, and Joel Plaskett Emergency. The event is a NXNE ticketed event with wristband entrance depending on available capacity.

The Slocan Ramblers / June 25 / Shops at Don Mills / free
Toronto bluegrass band The Slocan Ramblers, will squeeze their June 25 appearance in between a BC tour in early June, a lengthy set of festival dates in July. The performance at Shops at Don Mills is part of a free Toronto Jazz Festival event.



Suzy Vinnick / June 26 / Nathan Phillips Square / free
Suzy Vinnick is known for her career in roots and blues music, her contributions to her peers' music, three Juno nominations, and her parlour guitar ("Mabel"). The Suzy Vinnick Quartet will be performing on June 26 at Nathan Phillips Square at noon as part of a free Toronto Jazz Festival event.



Toronto Urban Roots Festival / July 4-6 / Fort York July / Tickets vary
Fans of more than just roots music will find the Toronto Urban Roots Festival (TURF) is aiming to impress with this year's installment. They'll get to hear the Sam Roberts Band, Ladies of the Canyon, Jenny Lewis, Sam Cash & The Romantic Dogs, the Willie Nile Band, and many others at the Garrison Commons (Fort York) from July 4 to July 6.

The Jessica Stuart Few / July 26 / Harbourfront Redpath stage / Free
The Jessica Stuart Few are a "Koto-toting folk-jazz power trio" making them the only one of their kind. Stuart's use of the the 13-stringed Japanese Koto (and guitar work) have helped build her a growing national fan base. They'll be finishing up their Western Canada summer tour with a free showcase at Harbourfront's Redpath Stage on July 26.



Joe Hall / August 9 / The Tranzac
Though Hall's been living in Peterborough for nearly 30 years, he's got a long history with the city, having been a fixture of the Queen St. scene in the late 70's. He's acknowledged for his wit and crafty songwriting, which he'll bring to the Tranzac on August 9.



The Kruger Brothers / August 12 / Hugh's Room / $27.50
Jens Kruger (banjo, vocals), Uwe Kruger (guitar, lead vocals), and Joel Landsberg (bass, vocals) are internationally recognized as one of the finest composers and performers folk, Americana, and classical music today. Hugh's Room presents the band in a dining concert setting on August 12. - Blog TO

Skye Wal­lace is a national trea­sure. Her third stu­dio album “Liv­ing II Parts” is a melodic, raw and orches­tral beauty that tells an untold nar­ra­tive about the vast Cana­dian land­scape. Skye has the abil­ity to reel you in for story time, paint por­traits of bar­ren vis­tas and give the illu­sion that all things are dead. Her music and per­for­mance elicit power and beauty, cou­pled with vul­ner­a­bil­ity. She’s cur­rently trav­el­ing the coun­try but we caught up with Skye to ask her Sad­Mag Local Musics Q’s:

If life weren’t filled with music it would still be filled with sto­ries and art, some way or another.

A good show means heat and heart and soul and barely remem­ber­ing what it is that you’ve done—not due to any kind of intox­i­ca­tion, but due to being lost in what you’re creating.

Your back­ing band is a very tal­ented bunch. Devon Kroeger is my right hand (wo)man. She’s been there through thick and thin. The release show is an excel­lent exam­ple of what the ideal setup tends to be: myself on vocals and gui­tar, Devon on vio­lin, Alex Hauka on cello, Ste­vie Bed­dall on drums, Wyn­ston Minck­ler on bass, Owen Con­nell on keys, and Ben Doerk­sen on elec­tric guitar.

Bed­time is nice, if it comes naturally.

My daily rit­u­als include def­i­nitely brush­ing my teeth twice a day.

Tour­ing is hella enjoy­able; hav­ing moved around a lot when I was younger, I have cer­tainly prac­ticed detach­ment when it comes to things and homes. I don’t find it dif­fi­cult to shed domes­tic comforts.

Best city to eat in while on the road: Bur­rito Jax in Hal­i­fax makes this answer Halifax

The musi­cian to make babies with would be: Tom Waits. I like to think we’d get each other.

Favourite music video as a teenager: Sun 41 — Fat Lip/Pain For Pleasure

Favourite much music VJ: George Stromboulopoulos

Name of your favourite pet: Gum­my­bear. A funny anec­dote regard­ing pet names: I saw a chain email once say­ing your strip­per name is your first dog’s name and then your first street name. This lands me at Willy Put­sey. Not very sexy.

Skye is headed to Toronto to release “Liv­ing Parts” at the Horse­shoe Tav­ern on June 4, 2014. Lis­ten to her new album on Sound­cloud and escape into the beauty that is skyewallace.com. - Sad Mag

Location: Vancouver, BC
Label: Unsigned | Website: http://skyewallace.com

There is an element to Skye Wallace’s music that encapsulates something out of the ordinary – the landscape and history of Canada.

This is a conscious effort on Wallace’s part and perhaps influenced in part from touring from coast to coast. There is both a sense of perceptiveness and vulnerability in Wallace’s upcoming release Living Parts, which continues to showcase her enthralling vocals and penchant for the art of storytelling in her lyrics.

“Dead Things Part II”, is one of the highlights of the album as it explores the story of a ghost seeking to haunt an ex-lover through a brooding and atmospheric build-up. The release of Living Parts will be celebrated this Saturday April 12th in Vancouver at the Biltmore Cabaret with Honourary MD and Savannah Leigh Wellman.

Halifax on May 14th and Toronto on June 4th are currently the other two announced shows in support of the new album, with more stops on the way. Living Parts is due on April 12th. - ASAP Music Blog

24-year-old, Vancouver-based singer-songwriter Skye Wallace describes her upcoming album, L I V I N G || P A R T S, as ‘bold’ and ‘tragic.’ “It’s an album about things hidden in plain sight. Forgotten things. Dead things,” Wallace says.

L I V IN G || P A R T S is also a compilation of concepts and stories that derive from Canadian history. With a timeline that spans over one-hundred years, each song on the album is a story told from a different character’s perspective.

Wallace says she hardly ever sings about herself. She likes to become other characters and tell their stories through her music. She comes from a long line of storytellers; it is a huge part of her Newfoundlander/Scottish heritage.

On L I V I N G || P A R T S, Wallace sings about the invisible people of the past: the humans that don’t often get written about – the women whose voices were never able to be heard.

Wallace says her favourite song on the album is “Middle Class Ontario”, which is probably not everyone’s typical choice, but she just loves it! It’s about a teenage girl caught in stagnant, middle-class Ontario in the mid-1980s.

Other songs on the album are set in the prairies, in rural Alberta, and in the Yukon, and capture the voices and struggles of women of all different ages.

One song that is extremely important to Wallace is “Monster”, which explores Canada’s problematic history of institutionalizing people with disabilities. Her goal with it is to draw some light to a past that is often covered up and to address residual problems in the present by looking to that past.

History has always really interested Wallace, especially Canadian history and all the stories and details that are deliberately buried or lost. “This country is so interesting, and so weird!”

She hopes her songs will evoke emotions and curiosity in people and that her listeners may even be inspired to do their own research on the particular issue or time period.

Wallace often receives compliments on her beautiful, soulful voice, which is nice, but whenever someone comes up to her after a show or after hearing her music for the first time, and they tell her that her songs made them ‘feel things’, it’s huge. It’s when she knows she has accomplished her goal. One compliment that Wallace remembers fondly was at a music festival last summer. A guy came up to her after her set and said, “That scared the shit out of me.” He thought it was so intense and beautiful, he didn’t know how to react.

Wallace describes the sound of her first album Bison Bison (2011) as raw and gritty and spontaneous. On it, she used a lot of ‘found sound,’ whereas her second album This Is How We Go (2013) was a lot prettier and cleaner with a full, big studio sound.

With L I V I N G || P A R T S, Wallace describes the evolution of finding her happy medium. She didn’t want the album to be terribly pretty, but she still wanted that big, voluptuous sound.

She says the songs on L I V I N G || P A R T S are not typical or trendy. But so far, people have liked what they’ve heard.

Wallace has released three songs from her upcoming album: “Carry Our Son”, “Klondike”, and “Dead Things Pt. II”, which is the sequel to a song on her previous album. And ironically, it is the song that carries the inspiration for her new album title.

To hear the rest of the album, join Skye Wallace at the Biltmore Cabaret on Saturday, April 12, for the official Vancouver release of
L I V I N G || P A R T S. It’s an early show with a curfew, but for you, Wallace hopes to sing her way through all of the parts.

Tickets are available at Highlife Records, Zulu Records, and Red Cat Records. - Vancouver Weekly

Anything that makes a point of going out in search of new talent is deserving of a big ol’ gold star in my books, so needless to say I’m a big fan of the CBC Searchlight Competition. Currently in the midst of the first round, voting is on to pick the Regional Semi Finalists. Plucked from the Vancouver region is the incredibly talented­, Skye Wallace.

Her song Dead Things Part II, comes from her third album Living Parts (2014). After Wallace’s successful 2013 Canada-wide tour and West coast festival lap, she hunkered down with her band and producer Spencer Carson in Egmont, B.C. to record Living Parts in just two weeks. Humble Egmont has the classic Northern B.C. power chord of rapids, sky, mountains, and forest and clearly provided the perfect setting for Wallace to uncover stories of aching loneliness for her new Canadiana-Folk album. In Dead Things Part II, you hear the story of a ghost having to experience a lovers new life via haunting. The restrained, nearly incredulous tone of her voice paired with the barely there acoustic guitar brings a great deal of focus to the space between the notes where you can almost hear the landscape. Then, along with the release of the chorus you’re introduced to the dirty hits of the electric guitar and ghostly chants from what sounds like a backroad gospel choir.

It’s a beautiful song that you can check out on the CBC Searchlight website or even better you can go ahead and check Skye Wallace and her band out live at the Biltmore Cabaret on April 12th, for the Living Parts Album Release and the beginning of her 2014 Canada wide tour. Tickets are available at Highlife Records, Redcat and Zulu.

1. I can imagine you become incredibly invested in the places you choose to record. Can you hear Egmont, B.C. in Living Parts?

SW – You can – quite literally – hear the sounds from Egmont BC on the record. We sampled footsteps on our way up to the rapids and made them sound like beats, we recorded in woodsheds there, and – on a more metaphorical front – that place runs strongly through the album, as a couple of songs were born out there. It’s a very special place.

2. You’re about to embark on another Canada wide tour, are there any places you’re particularly excited to revisit or any new spots you’re excited to be introduced to?

SW – I’m really excited to be returning to Halifax. Particularly Jax Burritos. And the Horseshoe in Toronto is always an incredible time.

3. What would be your dream setting for a show?

SW – We went up to Brittania Mines for a Green Couch session recently. How cool would it be to have a show there, in the old mines? They’re big and open and creepy and old! We could arrange a shuttle system to get folks out there and have a giant party in the mines!
4. Name one musician that if you found out they were a fan of your work, you would lose it?

SW – Tom Waits. I can’t even.

5. How would you describe the feeling you have when you’re playing your music in front of an audience?

SW – On fire! I love that inner fire. I got it the other day at practice, so I can tell this April 12th show at The Biltmore is going to be outrageous.
6. With National tours, the CBC Searchlight Competition and festival tours under your belt, you’re definitely coming into your own with your career as a musician. What advice would you give to Young and Only readers that want to get their music careers off the ground?

SW – Don’t try to fit in. Keep crafting your own thing, even if you feel like it’s not excellent at first. It’s so important to create new works of art and to let your particular brand of art become what it needs to become.

7. What’s next in the life of Skye Wallace?

SW – There’s a sick video in the works for Dead Things Part II. I’m not at liberty to give specifics, but we’re concocting big things with Fresh Ninja Films and Ja Pace’s collaboration between film and projection. I’m over the moon. Then after the release, I’m off to CMW in Toronto. That’s going to be such a cool time. I love that city.

Vote for Skye’s song Dead Things Part II for the CBC Searchlight Contest at http://music.cbc.ca/#/artists/Skye-Wallace

Skye was styled in clothing from the Young & Only Store, available April 8th!

Lucca Couture Cut-out Daisy Dress
Lucca Couture Quilted Sweatshirt
Someday’s Lovin Denim Shorts

Young & Only Team
Photographer: Emery Pastachak,
Stylist: Jordan Dyck

Written by Kirsten Geekie, Vancouver (Instagram @kgeekie) - Young & Only

By Alex Hudson
Vancouver songwriter Skye Wallace's upcoming album is called Living Parts, but an announcement ironically notes that it's "about dead things."

Due out April 12, the album was produced by Spencer Carson (Kyprios, Dead Soft), with recording taking place in Egmont, BC. During the sessions, Wallace was backed by a full band, with contributors including Miss Quincy, Blair Hansen (Good for Grapes), Alex Hauka (Good for Grapes, Wooden Horseman), John Sponarski (Portage & Main) and others.

A press release describes the album like this: "Simultaneously visceral and ethereal, the tracks on Living Parts are a collection of strikingly personal portraits of characters at their most vulnerable, exposing the messy, fragile 'parts' that make them alive, or, in some cases, not quite alive."

For a taste of what she's cooked up, hear the album cuts "Dead Things Pt. II" and "Klondike" below. Both tunes begin as sparse folk numbers before swelling up with distortion and atmospheric textures,

Wallace has a Canadian tour planned for this spring. She will make stops in Vancouver (April 12), Halifax (May 14) and Toronto (June 4), and more dates will be confirmed in due course. - Exclaim!

I had the exciting opportunity this week to interview Skye Wallace, a talented vocalist and instrumentalist with a hauntingly beautiful voice.

Skye has already released an EP (2010′s Amuse-Bouche) and an album (2011′s Bison Bison), and on March 23, 2013 will be releasing her full length album, This Is How We Go. If you’d like to go to the release party, tickets are on sale at Anchor Guitars, in Vancouver.

To find out more about this talented artist, read on below and get excited for her next album!


Tell us a bit about your background. When did you start singing? Was it something you’ve grown up doing?

I started singing Willy Nelson and Randy Travis when I was around one or two. I carried the tapes around with me everywhere. I have a serious relationship with Randy Travis—judge as you will. My parents didn’t know a lot of songs when I was little, but did manage to broaden my horizons with classics like Blood On The Saddle. My Dad also instilled in me an intense love of Rush.

I began vocal training when I was eight years old. The many years training under Garvin Farr in Ontario set an excellent foundation for the music I wanted to make later.



Where do you get the most inspiration for your music?

Books really have an impact on me. Non-fiction, especially of the Canadian historical variety. Anything obscure that would be found in a typical Canadian thrift store really does it for me.

I like making stories out of stories that are hiding in plain sight.

Where is your favourite place that you’ve performed, and why?

There’s this place in Coleman, Alberta, called The Blackbird Coffeehouse. I had the honour of stopping there for a show in January. It used to be a church, but it’s now a coffee shop-turned-venue. It’s a real gem. Extremely beautiful. I’ve slept on the couch in front of the fireplace for several nights and the owner Kym and her kids are dear, dear people.



Your website says that you “compile elements of the stark Canadian landscape in a sort of musical archive.” Is there a place that inspires you or comes through in your music more than others?

I’m drawn to the North. The farthest North I’ve been is Edmonton, AB, which isn’t terribly far, but I love reading and writing about it the most. There’s a stark, brittle beauty there that fascinates me.

Your new album, This Is How We Go is going to be released soon. How is it different or similar to Bison Bison?

Bison Bison was a project near and dear to my heart, and I’ll always have a preference for lo-fi music, but This Is How We Go is big and it’s interesting and I’m very proud of it. There’s all sorts of sounds coming out of it, from trumpet to kemancheh to cello to pedal steel.

This Is How We Go is something quite different altogether from Bison Bison. It’s quite orchestral and has got a big sound to it that I’ve been wanting to hear for some time. Some of the songs on the new album are even re-imagined versions of a few that were first featured on Bison Bison.

Does This Is How We Go follow the idea of the one track take that you used for Bison Bison?

Not at all. This is another beast altogether. This Is How We Go is a full studio affair, and while it’s full of collaborations that fell nicely into place, it was all a very intentional process. While I still like to perpetuate the idea that music will fall into place as it is meant to, I had a very specific vision as to what I wanted this album to sound like. Producer Cody Taylor did a bang up job of maintaining the integrity of a fairly organic process, while delivering a carefully constructed product. - Red On Black Music

Skye Wallace, a Vancouver-based songwriter, works to compile all of the stark elements of the Canadian landscape into a sort of musical archive. Inspired by historical non-fiction and field recordings, her songs are made out of stories hidden in plain sight. The resulting sound is melodic, gritty, and orchestral.

She’s successfully toured Canada twice, including stops at various West Coast festivals like Artswells, Khatsalano!, Sled Island, and Edge of the World. Skye is now working on a new album set for a spring release. The next evolution in her sound will call upon influences from classical string pieces, the grunge-folk movement, and her own vulnerable storytelling.

On Tuesday January 7th, she will be playing The Horseshoe as part of Nu Music Nite booked by Indie88. This will be your only chance to see her in Toronto until her next cross-country tour, so don’t miss out! She’ll be hitting the stage around 10:30pm.

To satisfy your curiosity, a little Q & A with Skye Wallace:

SDTC: How would you describe your music?
SW: I like to think of it as revisiting of the storytelling tradition of folk music, but it has a darker, harder edge to it. There’s an emphasis on the beat, but the story—and the evocation of that story—is still very prevalent.

SDTC: What song would you like to have SDTC readers hear, and why?
SW: The Bush Pilot is a good example of one of my more story-driven songs. I also love the way the sounds come together in this video, be it Paul Townsend’s cymbal bowing or Devon Kroeger and Stephanie Chatman on strings. It’s a nice cross-section of those aforementioned elements.

SDTC: Pre-show rituals?
SW: I always go on stage hungry. Everything’s sharper that way.

SDTC: Guilty pleasure music:
SW: I will love Sum 41 until the day I die.

SDTC: Idols:
SW: Tom Waits and his mashed-together poetry, Patti Smith and her powerful art, John Darnielle and his eloquent rhetoric, Jeff Mangum and his warbling rawness, Emma Elizabeth Tillman and her images.

SDTC: Artists you’d like to share a line-up with (Aside from those mentioned in “Idols” section):

SW: Siskiyou, Timber Timbre, or Bill Callahan.

Stay in the know at www.skyewallace.com, listen to her sounds on bandcamp, and follow her on Facebook, and Twitter! - She Does The City - Toronto

When Skye Wallace first walked through the doors of the Media Club, her quiet and soft spoken nature was a stark contrast to watching her on stage later that night: hauntingly beautiful and eerie. The past few months have been busy and never-ending; it's surprising that she comes across so unfazed by the challenges and pressures of an up-and-coming artist. Having moved around a lot when she was younger gave her an advantage to be able to handle this summer's transient lifestyle, with no fixed address. Since the get-go, music has always been something that she has pursued and has been passionate about. Cultivated to do so from an early age by her family, she accredits them to be the biggest inspiration to not look at challenges in life and see them as looming, impossible negatives.

"Fortunately, my family instilled in me the mindset to not give in to hopelessness when it rears its ugly head. I get that most from my sister, who - while it was medically deemed at birth that she would never be able to walk - has overcome so many physical challenges and now walks with gusto. She even climbed Machu Picchu a few years ago to raise funds for Equip Kids International, under her own (very apt) campaign title "Anything Is Possible"."

The balancing act between life and music comes very naturally after having worked on it for quite some time. Her affinity is complimented by her roots, learning her first guitar and vocal song, Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are A-Changin'". Her Bob Dylan and Neil Young phase hit her pretty hard when she first started writing, also delving into very different records like Against Me's Reinventing Axl Rose. She admits that her first "real" love would be the entirety of Randy Travis' 1987 album, Always and Forever. Wallace's presence on stage reflects the tones of the voices who inspired her. When comparing her light-hearted spirit to the darkness that overcomes the stage, she becomes absorbed in her stories - that of which are often times very intense.

"The last show I played, someone came up to me and said, "you scared the shit out of me!" Luckily, they meant it as a compliment. That kind of portrayal comes with the territory of writing about dead things, tragedy, and even turn-of-the-century Northern Ontario. I'm glad it comes off as haunting; that's the desired effect." An emotion of enchantment is what she aims to evoke throughout every show. This confidence has thrived since her first show, an intermission performance at the Heritage Playhouse on the Sunshine Coast when she was fifteen. "It was being filmed, to what end I don't know. I do recall that it was nerve-wracking as hell."

She calls on her release show she held back in March of this year; having never felt so absorbed in the energy created in that old Railtown gallery-warehouse-turned-guitar-shop and filled to the brim with good people and sound. Other highlighted shows of the year include opening for the Rural Alberta Advantage for the opening show of Sled Island in Calgary and this year's North Country Fair. Her humility allows her to embrace every aspect of performing in its entirety. "I guess the most important part would be going into a performance without the expectation for perfection. I believe that growth and progress happen naturally, and sometimes manifest themselves as mistakes. So that makes mistakes rather exciting, while they're not the most fun. And besides, the audience won't often recognize a mistake took place if you don't let on."

Wallace is currently developing her sound, incorporating different elements from various genres, and honing in on stories to tell. Having just signed with new management, Nightheat Entertainment, the next year will hold recording, great shows, and no signs of slowing down on the horizon.
skyewallace.com
facebook.com/skyewallacemusic
twitter.com/skyewallace
skyewallace.bandcamp.com
http://issuu.com/one1onemagazine/docs/september_issue_loq/10?e=6023373/4683866 - One1One Magazine

LUCKY 13
WITH SKYE WALLACE
www.skyewallace.com
Megan-Magdalena recently caught up with her good pal Vancouver based singer songwriter Skye Wallace behind the scenes of her music video for her new song Dead Things Part II.

Star sign?
Libra-Scorpio cusper

If you could have any superpower what would it be and why?
All of Professor Xavier's powers, because Patrick Stewart.

What does your perfect day look like?
Sun, brunch, fire, cider

What was your upcoming album "Living Parts" inspired by?
The first track Carry Our Son is the first of a trilogy taking place in North Ontario at the turn of the century. This was written on the train through that region, sparking the inspiration for the album: the history and landscape of Canada.

If you were a professional UFC fighter what song would you walk out into a fight to
Rush - Working Man

What do you miss about being a teen?
Feeling justified in my desire to carve shitty lyrics into various wooden things.

When did you realize you wanted to pursue a career in music and what was your first step?
Professionally, I realized this was something I wanted to pursue when I was about 18/19. To be honest, the first step I took was dropping out of university. I decided what I needed to do was to not provide myself with a backup plan, and university was proving to be exactly that: a directionless, expensive back up plan, something you're told you're supposed to do in the framework of society. Taking that out of the equation raised the stakes and let me concentrate wholeheartedly on my art.

Describe your perfect 3 course meal.
Pizza, chocolate, poutine later.

What is your dream gig?
Whatever, wherever, opening for Tom Waits.

Tell me your favourite tour story.
Devon Kroeger and I outran the thunder storm that ruined last year's Sled Island festival. We played a slot at Sled Island (in Calgary) in the evening, as the storm clouds rolled in. We drove that night until midnight and parked on the side of the road halfway to Edmonton. We drank whiskey as the rain poured down. "Pretty nasty weather out," we thought. We made it to Edmonton for our show the next day only to hear word of the horrible conditions we left behind in Calgary. We were so grateful to have missed it, but felt so sorry for those who were stuck in the flood. It was a pretty bad ass situation, we thought, after the fact.

If you could time travel , what year /time would you travel to and why?
I'd love to catch a Woody Guthrie show in the 30s.

Best live show you have ever been to ?
The Weakerthans and The Constantines, together.
Or siskiyou at The Waldorf (Vancouver) before it closed.

Tell me about one of your most awkward moments ever.
Bif Naked came up to me once after I sang at East is East and told me that it was such a pleasure to listen, how much she enjoyed it, and all I could do was stare at her and say "you're bif naked..." - ONE FINE BUNCH

Orchestral, cinematic, sweeping, and grim, Skye Wallace hits a wide range of emotions on her third LP, LIVING || PARTS. She draws upon history to weave lyrically rich narratives about loss and absconding – stark themes she accentuates by combining weighty strings, plodding drums, and her powerful, arresting voice. Instrumental details rise like steam and linger during placid moments: a song as sparse and open as “General Taylor” allows Wallace’s voice to shine like a beacon against the most distant tom drum as she leads a charge over foggy moors.

LIVING || PARTS is dramatic, but it’s also subtly optimistic. The whimsically strummed “Ain’t It Hell” is a triumphant folk-rock song; one can easily imagine Wallace’s protagonist fleeing her loveless marriage on horseback, galloping across windblown prairie flats with her head held high. “Carry Our Son”, about the loss of a child, conceivably teaches that life goes on after tragedy – that what matters is how one deals with and moves on from adversity. And “Dead Things Part II”, despite the deceased narrator’s vow to haunt her husband and his new wife, stirs interest with a modestly fuzzy guitar line not usually heard in folk music.

A diffuse album that probes the past in an attempt to relate the downtrodden’s spirits, hopes, and yearnings to modern lives, Skye Wallace’s LIVING || PARTS is a cohesive whole that gives new voice to the dead. - Vancouver Weekly

Steam Whistle Unsigned is a concert series started by the Toronto microbrewery to promote local unsigned talent, and they returned to Vancouver last week to spotlight three more bands. The ongoing series, which takes place in multiple cities across Canada, also partners with a charity or non-profit that receives 100% of the proceeds of the show. This time it was Music BC, a non-profit society helping support, develop and nurture the BC Music community. (Who was also having their annual holiday party & "SchMusic" event right before the show!)


Kicking things off was Skye Wallace, her three piece band joined by a couple members of the Four on the Floor String Quartet on cello and violin to add mood to Skye's dark, alt-country sound -- her music would be perfect for the theme and score if someone decided to make a Canadian Deadwood.
Starting off with "Carry Our Son", the first song on her latest album Living Parts, her voice swirling around the haunting strings, setting the tone for the set. Highlights included the intense "Monster" as well as a version of Timber Timbre's "Lay Down In the Tall Grass", definitely a fitting choice for a cover song.
Skye invited Jody Peck (aka Miss Quincy) on stage -- the two just finished a tour of Europe together -- to perform a couple songs to end off, including a new one called "Guiltiest Hymn" which I quite liked, their voices blending together really well.

... - 3am Revelations