Monday, July 26, 2010

Saying Goodbye

Last week we said goodbye to not only a friend but, the first friend we made up here.

Jaime was our resource when we were planning this journey. She became a guide for us as we planned and finally,after we got here she became our friend. A friend we would've liked to have spent more time with but, a friend nonetheless.

I thought it be appropriate that we say goodbye on our blog since it was Jaime's blog that convinced us to make this journey. When we arrived she was nice enough to welcome us over some wings and a few drinks. Since then we've curled with Jaime, played badminton, and I'm sure we've frustrated her with our up and downs while we've adjusted during our first year up here.

Jaime has found love and is pursuing it no matter where the journey leads her. She's brave and we wish her nothing but the best in her next steps. We'll miss her and we thank her for all her help.

Good luck Jaime.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Alianait Arts Festival 2010

This was one of the best moments I've had being in Iqaluit.

Kyle & I were invited to play this years Alianait Arts Festival. When the invitation came in I immediately felt honoured to be asked to contribute to the event. I don't know if I've mentioned this before or not but, Iqaluit has an incredible amount of talent. Seriously. The spectrum and depth of the talent up here is unlike anything I've ever seen. Every single artist or act is completely different yet equally engaging. Anywhere you look you have these great people who get great support from anyone and everyone in town. Artists share camaraderie instead of competing against one another. We buy each others records, we listen to each others songs, we communicated and collaborate; it's never ending.

Ever since I got here and started up friendships with some of the musicians, all I heard about was "Alianait". When you first step off the plane, it just sounds like another word you don't know how to say nor do you understand but, as time went by it became both more familiar and intriguing. So, when I got the e-mail with the invitation I was instantly stoked.

I think us getting involved was mostly due to Karen MacKenzie. Without gushing over how talented she is and how much I love her album "Wind Don't Blow" as well as her song "Wind Don't Blow", I'll just let you all discover her for yourself and send her the biggest THANK YOU KAREN ever given.

Kyle and I worked diligently on new and original material and we were very happy with our results. We practiced until we lost our voices and played until our hands were sore. We opened the Friday Night "Sound Fusion" stage with as much energy as we could and we couldn't have been happier with the reception. We even ended up filling in some extra time before the Headliner "Kodiak" since they were late getting to their time-slot. It was such a surreal experience.

Not in a decade had I been on a stage singing my own music; it was such a rush. We got so many compliments on the energy and the fun nature of the performance. We only played 20 minutes but we ended up signing autographs on kids shirts and doing interviews with News North. Autographs!!!! . . . like, I haven't signed an autograph in my whole life, let alone enough signatures to necessitate pluralising the word "autograph". It was just SO amazing.

The festival itself is so well organized. The entire team are all dedicated individuals who have out in the time and effort to make this a great great event. The Tent is majestic, the music is eclectic, and the whole event is just amazing. If or when you come to Iqaluit, make sure you are here for Alianait. It's this festival that gets your feet wet from the talent pool we have up here. It's a perfect blend of styles that you're guaranteed to enjoy.

Thank you Heather Daley . . .Thank you Karen . . . Thank you Alianait . . . Thank you Iqaluit.