Blog

Suzie Ungerleider’s gloriously emotive, crystalline voice and her bewitching performances have captivated audiences for over 25 years. A wordsmith with a keen mind for detail and a wicked sense of humour, Suzie’s songs and voice pierce the heart, inspire a knowing laugh or a welling of the eye. Born in the USA and raised in Vancouver, Canada, this award-winning singer-songwriter began performing under the name Oh Susanna in the mid-1990s, winning instant praise for her striking voice and poetic songcraft. Her musical path has criss-crossed the mountains and valleys of Americana, folk, and roots, yet throughout her journey she has remained true to her own artistic vision.

Buenrostro was formed in 2010 in San Pedro Atocpan, on Mexico City’s southern edge. These six musicians take traditional Mexican music as the axis of creation, and flow from there between genres and time periods. You may hear a ranchera song with rock riffs, a Cardenche song with blues tinges, progressive rock mixed with son calentano from the Tierra Caliente region, or a punk merengue. These styles form the soundtrack to a show full of theatricality. Buenrostro beautifully addresses humanity’s impact on the planet with upcycled garments and stage scenery made of recycled bottles and clothing, integrating characters inspired by world cultural traditions.

It’s said the cells in your body replace themselves every decade or so. After 11 albums, two EPs and 17 years as a singer-songwriter, Victoria-based Leeroy Stagger has been wondering if maybe the soul works the same way. Ten years sober, with two kids, he’s far removed from the hard-living twenty-something who started on this musical path. Now, Leeroy’s roots rock bears the mark of a seasoned songwriter with punk rock origins and Americana influences, whose latest album Strange Path covers topics from environmentalism to alcoholism, from break-ups to race wars.