Meet Canadian musicians redefining an age-old genre. The series arrives on CBC Arts this week.
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Hi, Art!

Sunday, March 05, 2023

Hi, Art!

Sunday, March 05, 2023

Hi, art lovers!

 
Still from Following Folk. Two women playing banjos are seated in a room with damask wallpaper and black and white parquet floors. They appear to be singing and laughing as they play in front of microphones.

CBC Arts

 
On Monday, March 13, Simu Liu will be hosting the Juno Awards live from Edmonton, and the big show will be airing on pretty much every CBC platform you can name. Our friends at CBC Music will be covering the festivities. As always, they’re your go-to source for Canadian music news in awards season and beyond. But the CBC Arts team occasionally finds room to explore the creative lives of Canadian musicians too, and this coming Tuesday, we’ll be premiering a special project. 

It’s called Following Folk, a four-film collection of short docs about musicians who are redefining the age-old genre. Coincidentally, a couple of the artists appearing on the program are up for Junos this week: Winnipeg’s Allison de Groot and Charlottetown band the East Pointers. 

Allison’s episode is the only one I’ve had a chance to preview so far. Shot in Nashville, where she’s now based, the film captures a first meeting between the banjo player and another Canadian expat, Allison Russell, who won the Juno for best contemporary roots album last year. 

The 15-minute film has a fly-on-the-wall feel, following the musicians from living rooms to honky-tonks and back again, and culminates with an intimate duet of Sparrow, a song Russell recorded with Birds of Chicago, one of the bands she’s been part of over the years. Hearing her performance took me down a rabbit hole immediately after viewing. In case you wind up having the same reaction, bookmark these links from around CBC: from the Q archives, hear her discuss her breakout solo album, Outside Child. CBC Music Live captured this concert film at Toronto’s Koerner Hall. And since we’ve got Junos on the brain, here she is at last year’s Juno Songwriters’ Circle.

Look for Following Folk on CBC Arts starting March 7. The series will be streaming on CBC Gem and YouTube.
 

And because we promised you eye candy ...

 
Photo of a painted sculptural form resembling the shape of a butterfly or perhaps a human pelvis bone.

Mel Arsenault

A garden for Winter who’s waiting for Spring by Mel Arsenault. 
 
Photo of pastel-coloured abstract artwork haning on a white wall. Upon close inspection, the viewer may notice an intricate lattice pattern cut into the paper.

Myriam Dion

That cut-out patterning! You’ve got to zoom in on this image if you can, or better yet, get yourself to Blouin Division in Toronto to see Myriam Dion’s exhibition (Jardins) in person.
 
Acrylic painting depicting crumpled looseleaf paper. The sheets at the bottom of the composition are red and orange, suggesting flames. White sheets, suggesting plumes of smoke, rise from the papers at the base. The images are painted on a black background.

Victoria Wonnacott

Spark by Montreal painter Victoria Wonnacott.
 
Pattern suggesting an Afghan rug created using characters generated in Microsoft Word.

Shaheer Zazai

Shaheer Zazai (previously seen here) created this Microsoft Word composition for Emily Carr University in Vancouver. It’s now appearing on ECU’s Urban Screen at the Wilson Arts Plaza.
 
 

You've got to see this

 
 
 
Still from HBO series Succession. Three actors are seen standing in a medium shot. The centre figure, a woman with red hair cut in a bob, clasps her hands in front of her and appears to be addressing someone off camera.
HBO

What’s on TV in March

 
Succession and Yellowjackets are the premieres getting all the attention, but there’s plenty more to see this month. Add these shows to your streaming queue.
 
Still from CBC series Plan B. Twins wearing black suit and tie with their platinum hair cut into short mohawks, stand in front of a white panel van.
CBC

‘Need a second chance? Too many regrets? Get the ultimate escape with Plan B’

 
In the world of Plan B, a new CBC drama starring Patrick J. Adams (Suits), people can travel back in time to correct their mistakes. Hear from the makers of the show, who adapted the project from a hit Québécois series.
 
Medium close-up of actor Brendan Fraser, a white man wearing black-rim glasses and a tuxedo with bowtie.

AFP via Getty Images

 

Every Canadian actor who’s been nominated for an Oscar

 
Attention, trivia nerds: if Brendan Fraser wins for The Whale, he’ll be the first Canadian to take home best actor.
 

Follow this artist

 
 
 
Instagram

Jessica Leigh Clark-Bojin

@thepieous
Top down photo of a pie crust cut-out in the shape of the CBC logo. The cut-out shapes reveal a dark red raspberry filling.

Jessica Leigh Clark-Bojin

Sweet logo, eh? You should see the other things Jessica’s baked. Her pie art (previously seen here) is incredible, no matter how you slice it.
 

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I’m Leah Collins, senior writer at CBC Arts. Until next time!

 
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