We kick off our week of ‘music videos coverage’ with our latest edition of Video Vault. The music videos are overflowing in our email inbox right now, and with our Wednesday video spotlights already filling up, we’re not only bringing you these four today, but have another four freshly squeezed mini-movies for a bonus Video Vault later this week.
Ken Yates (ft. Katie Pruitt), “Consolation Prize”
Following the news of his upcoming album, “Cerulean,” and recent single ft. Kathleen Edwards, Ontario’s Ken Yates shares another single – this time a collaboration with Nashville based singer-songwriter Katie Pruitt. “I wrote this song as somewhat of a sequel to the song Quiet Talkers from my last album,” Ken shares. “I wrote Consolation Prize imagining how that relationship might look a few years in the future, with one of the characters falling in love, and the other person not feeling the same way.”
Rachel Bobbitt, “Half Right (Heatmiser Cover)”
Nova Scotia-born and now Toronto-based indie pop artist Rachel Bobbitt very recently shared this beautiful, harrowing cover of “Half Right,” the composition from Elliott Smith and Neil Gust dating back to 1996. “The song is masterful in its simplicity. It paints the universal feeling of heartbreak in such a devastatingly pointed way,” Rachel shares. “The lyrics deliver gut punches while the instrumentation marches on, steady and constant. One of those few truly ‘perfect’ songs.”
The Strange Valentines, “Hold Your Fire”
The contemporary Nova Scotia-based folk-duo of Janet Mills and David Farrell recently shared news of their upcoming album, “Dear Mother Earth,” which drops on Earth Day. Following their recent teaser of new music with the single “She Smiles,” the duo promptly followed up with “Hold Your Fire,” a haunting, stunning, soft-acoustic, dual-vocal-focused number that they declare “a song of love, because perhaps these artificial divisions are actually meaningless and we are all the same.”
Ian Janes, “Shouldn’t Be Calling You”
While coverage of Halifax, NS-based artist Ian Janes is LONG overdue here at GDW, it would be the videographer that drew our attention to the inclusion of this ‘live-off-the-floor’ visual piece. Filmed on location at The Mule Spinner, a former cotton factory (one of our favorite music venues) in Hamilton, ON by our good friends at The Unicorn Project, this intimate capture reminds us just why the live music experience is so important. Great musicianship, great visuals, great result.
The British guy that crossed the ocean and crash landed in central Pennsylvania (to quote Greg Keelor, “And I wonder what am I doing here?”). As the youngest of four siblings, exposure to music from a very early age nurtured my passion and appreciation for many musical genres. Continuing to discover some amazingly diverse and talented musicians based in Canada, I gravitate to live music experiences and remain devoted to spreading the word about such a vibrant music scene.
