Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - March 21, 2024, Winnipeg, Manitoba Expedited Delivery on In-Stock Items dlanoDcM dlanoR House Charities ® Free In-Home Design Assistance LIMITED TIME ONLY! ENDS MAR. 25 TH ! Buy More, Save More 10 % PURCHASES UP TO $999 15 % PURCHASES $1,000 - $3,499 20 % PURCHASES $3,500 - $9,999 25 % PURCHASES $10,000 OR MORE OFF* OFF* OFF* OFF* THE MORE YOU BUY, THE MORE YOU SAVE! 204-783-8500 1425 Ellice Avenue Monday to Friday 10AM – 6PM Saturday 10AM – 6PM Sunday 11AM – 5PM www.la-z-boy.com/winnipeg *Some exceptions apply, see store for details. WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM ● C3 THURSDAY, MARCH 21, 2024 Winnipeg-based songwriter nabs Juno nom for debut album Leith Ross learns to accept accolades W HEN Leith Ross began writing songs, the trans- planted Winnipegger never believed they would connect with so many people, let alone awards jurors. It was one of many things Ross has learned about To Learn. The debut album earned a Juno Award nomination for top alternative album and the singer-songwriter will be in Halifax for the week’s worth of events, which build up to award presentations, most of which are on Saturday night, with the major ones handed out during Sunday’s televised gala (CBC, 7 p.m.). “I think that is almost the strangest, most ironic and most wonderful part of songwriting is that you can write something entirely about yourself and then forget for a sec- ond that the human experience overlaps in so many ways with almost every person,” Ross says in an interview after learning of the nomination in February. “It’s incredible to be recognized on this kind of level, but it also feels just as special to be able to put on a show and have anybody show up at all.” And people have indeed shown up. Ross, who uses they/them pronouns, has amassed a growing legion of devoted fans — members of a small social-media community call themselves “beleithers” — and the 25-year-old has become a hot commodity as a live performer. The former Ottawa resident began building that follow- ing at the 2022 Winnipeg Folk Festival when a throng of fans enjoyed songs such as We’ll Never Have Sex, Guts and I Just Don’t Think You Like Me That Much Anymore, followed by two sold-out shows at the West End Cultural Centre when To Learn came out last May. The excitement for Ross and To Learn continues in 2024. They open for Bahamas, the Toronto pop singer, April 27 at the Burton Cummings Theatre and will make a return visit to the folk fest in July. “I’ve been a fan for a very long time. My mother intro- duced me to him when I was quite young, Grade 9, I think,” Ross says of Afie Jurvanen, the man behind Bahamas. “Barchords was my favourite record in the world for about two years after that.” Ross is performing at Halifax nightclubs during Juno week, joining several other Manitoba artists nominated for awards who will be also part of the festivities. They include William Prince, who is nominated for the top songwriting Juno, as well as top contemporary roots album; jazz guitarist Jocelyn Gould; metal group KEN Mode; James Ehnes, the Brandon-born violinist; Harry Stafylakis, the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra’s compos- er-in-residence; and Begonia, the pop project created by Alexa Dirks, who joined Ross on a European tour last fall. It’s where Ross got a chance to check out Leith, the port neighbourhood of Edinburgh, Scotland, with which they share a name. “The little place we were rehearsing was actually in Leith, so I got to wander around and explore a bit, which was great. It was very fun. I got many, many pictures of signs with my name, which I never experienced over here,” Ross says. Ross is writing songs for a new album, and while the ALAN SMALL Quick Spins MANITOBA has received a chilly start to spring, but a sign of warmer days ahead came Wednesday when the Winnipeg International Jazz Festival announced its headliners. Two shows at the Burton Cummings Theatre highlight the festival’s 35th year, with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, a New Orleans institution for five decades, performing June 20 and vocalist Veronica Swift, who describes her vast array of styles as “trans- genre,” taking the stage June 22. Knox United Church (400 Edmonton St.) will be the venue for three gigs featuring American-based artists: Isaiah Collier and the Chosen Few, which will showcase the saxophonist and drummer on June 14; hard-bop pianist Benny Green on June 15; and guitarist Pasquale Grasso and his trio on June 17. Tickets go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. at Ticketmaster, but there were already presales on Wednesday, with prices ranging from $71 to $94 for the Burt shows. It’s only the first wave of concert announcements for the festival, which includes free concerts at the Cube stage at Old Market Square and nightclub shows. Stay tuned. ● Another sign of summer came last week when Blue Note Park — which began in 2020 as a pop-up patio bar during the pandemic and has become a popular concert venue — announced it is bringing in the Sadies, the Juno Award-winning roots-rock band, on June 15. Tickets are $34.95 at eventbrite.ca. ● Here are four singles to check out from Manitoba artists who have albums coming out later in 2024: Last Friday, Ruth Moody, the Wailin’ Jennys singer, released the pleasant single Seventeen, an homage to old Winnipeg (wfp.to/ ruthmoodyseventeen) on her Soundcloud page. Her new album, Wanderer, which includes contributions from her brother, Richard, and Joey Landreth of the Bros. Landreth, comes out May 17, a few weeks before her appearance at the Winnipeg Folk Festival. Leaf Rapids’ new song Silver Fillings, dropped on streaming services March 12, is a fine country-folk ballad with weepy-sounding pedal-steel that pairs well with Keri Latimer’s dreamy vocals. Velvet Paintings, the group’s new album, comes out April 19. Winnipeg’s Son of Dave, who’s “harpboxing” blues-and-boogie sound mixes Benjamin Darvill’s harmonica, vocals with his beatbox- ing skills, will release the single Try a Little Hound Dog on Friday — keep an eye out on YouTube for the video — and promises a new album, A Flat City, in July. Nelson Little, the Portage la Prairie singer-songwriter who was the Manitoba Country Music Association’s roots artist of the year in 2023, takes on a 1950s rock ’n’ roll sound on the new single Just Make it Happen, which includes guitar collaborations with Dave Wasyliw and Murray Pulver, present and former members of Doc Walker, respectively. SUPPLIED Leith Ross is nominated in the alternative album category at the Junos. success of To Learn has them in a more contented frame of mind, the new songs will still have personal stories that listeners should relate to. “Unfortunately I have a little bit of that disease where I mostly write songs when I’m upset,” Ross says. “Even though I’m not struggling with all the same things that I struggled with when I wrote To Learn, the songs might still be sad, but here’s hoping there will be two or three happy ones. “I feel people who are able to write happy songs have a crazy level of talent to be able to describe that in a new and different way. It’s harder to tap into, I think.” Ross has no expectations going into the Junos weekend, aside from concerns about being uncomfortable. “I’ve never really been to anything like this. I don’t have any clothes that I wear that make me feel dressed up. I play all my shows in T-shirts and jeans,” the singer says before remembering dressier days in high school. “I liked the process of getting all dressed up. It’s more like the final presentation; once I’m in something fancy, then I feel like my clothes are trying to eat me and need to change into something loose and soft.” Alan.Small@winnipegfreepress.com X: @AlanDSmall MUSIC ROUNDUP ARTS ● LIFE I MUSIC SUPPLIED Ruth Moody has a new single out. ;