 Hi, art lovers! | | |  | 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 ... | | | | |  | Mel Arsenault | | A garden for Winter who’s waiting for Spring by Mel Arsenault. | | | | |  | 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. | | | | |  | 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. | | | | |  | HBO | | | | | 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. | | | | |  | CBC | | | | | 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. | | | | |  | AFP via Getty Images | | | | | | | Attention, trivia nerds: if Brendan Fraser wins for The Whale, he’ll be the first Canadian to take home best actor. | | | Share this newsletter | | or subscribe if this was
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I’m Leah Collins, senior writer at CBC Arts. Until next time! | | | | | |
