Ancient arts can still survive in modern artists.
My guest is Jennifer Digby, a FAA artist in residence who was working on spinning her own yarn from wool with a portable wheel. She discusses her journey from being an avid knitter to inevitably learning to create her own wool from scratch. We talk about the subtle features and factors that go into an art that seems deceptively simple.
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In this week’s episode, we preview an event dedicated to supporting emerging musicians from New Brunswick; and, look at University of New Brunswick professor Herb Emery’s research on the information and communications technology sector.
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This week on People Need Music, Tonya chats with Jordy Balicki about Saskatchewan band, South West. They discuss the Sask music scene, supportive communities and South West’s upcoming album, Perpetual Stew. @_south_west_sw
Playlist:
Jon Bryant – Light
South West – If Only I Knew (What We Are Fighting For)
South West – For You
South West – Always On The Run
Foxwarren – Listen2me
Zachary Lucky – Make It On Time
The Barr Brothers – Run Right Into It
Broken Social Scene – The Call
LaForce – Darth Vapor
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The Charlotte Street Arts Centre is hosting its annual Fest Forward event in Fredericton this weekend.
Fest Forward is essentially a free professional development weekend for musical artists from New Brunswick. It culminates in a concert the public can attend on Saturday night.
For the full story, hit the play button below.
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In this week’s episode, we learn about the Fredericton Fire Department’s new ignitable liquid detection canine team; the City of Fredericton’s proposed 2027 water and sewer budget; and a Fredericton man participating in a charity contest.
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Art is a way to express yourself, your world and your heart.
My guest is Katherine Moller, a local musician who’s specialty is the violin — or the fiddle, depending on the piece. She spent her time in the residency combing through and refining musical compositions relating back to a reflective trip in France.
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Ottawa based singer/songwriter, James LeClaire has two shows in New Brunswick this weekend so he called into People Need Music to chat about his new album, The Deal. If your find yourself in Riverside-Albert at Moonbrook Manor, or in Saint John at Harmony House, be sure to check out James’ show.
Playlist
Daniel Lanois – Jolie Louise
Louis-Jean Cormier – De La chambre au salon
James LeClaire – The Sound Of You Gone
James LeClaire – The Knot
James LeClaire – The Deal
Feist – One Evening
Dad Patrol – Tourniquet
Marc McLaughlin – Effervescence
Sadie – Popcorn
South West – Always On The Run
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You know the old expression, “hang a lampshade on it”? Sometimes, that’s exactly what is needed.
My guest today is Faith MacFarlane, who spent her time in residence at the Barracks building functional art in the form of complicated, sophisticated lampshades. This art challenges her to combine fabric, sculpting, and light to make an impact, and uncovers a world and tradition that is nearly lost from the world.
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Big week for new music! I’ve got new tracks for you from Dad Patrol, Stoopheads, Kitsch, This is Lorelei and so much more!
Rick White – STANDING IN THE YARD
Kitsch – Breakfast
Kitsch – Kitsch!
Primus – Over the Falls
Dad Patrol – Tourniquet
Cor de Lux – Cannibals
Morphine – Cocoon
Stoopheads – Oysterbed
This is Lorelei – The Kid With the Crown
Kevin Morby – Javelin
B.A. Johnston – Skinny Jeans
Pearl Jam – Grievance
Thrush Hermit – Songs For The Gang
MJ Lenderman – Under Control
Jeffrey Lewis – Sal’s Pizza Has Sold Out to the Yuppie Scum
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Art can celebrate, but it can also challenge, inspire and offer change.
My guest is Jacqueline Carr, a mixed-media artist who sought to challenge assumptions and invite the public to share their stories of how language and action has been used to oppress, do harm and box in women. In return, she offers them each an “exchange of hope”.
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Words are magical containers for thoughts, both shaping and being shaped by them.
My guest today is Marla Lesage, who spent her time in the FAA artist residency rediscovering of writing poetry, rather than the illustrated children’s books she had usually been writing. She had fun inspiring others to “pick a word” to create their own poems from her words, as well as finding ways to process life and thought through expression.
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Episode 61
| Artist | Song | Album | Year | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kaia Kater | Often as the Autumn | Strange Medicine | 2024 | Canada |
| Japan | Quiet Life (7″ Version) | Quiet Life | 1979 | England |
| Ganga Giri | Gone Travelling | Beats Around The Bush | 2005 | Australia |
| Front Line Assembly | Exo | Echoes | 2014 | Canada |
| Big Country | Lost Patrol | The Crossing | 1983 | Scotland |
| Love Spit Love | How Soon Is Now? | The Craft [Soundtrack] | 1996 | England / USA |
| July Talk | On the Screen | Touch X | 2026 | Canada |
| Conjure One w/ Poe | Center of The Sun | Conjure One | 2002 | Canada |
| Sevara Nazarkhan | Yallajonim (My Dearest Song) | Yol Bolsin | 2001 | Uzbekistan |
| Andrea Cormier | Un Miroir | Andrea Cormier | 2024 | Canada |
| Radiohead | House Of Cards | In Rainbows | 2007 | England |
| Écarlate | L’Automne Arrive | Coup de Soleil | 2025 | Canada |
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In this week’s episode, we highlight the work of Bronwen Cunningham, a Fredericton woman who last month was posthumously awarded the New Brunswick Human Rights Award.
We also visit Fredericton High School for the grand opening of a new outdoor classroom; and, bring you more coverage of the Writers of the Realm literary festival from guest reporter Micrielle Manga.
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Dad Patrol are about to release their newest album, Chainsaw Fight Fantastic, on October 2, 2026. Band members Zach Pelletier and Simon Boudreau came by the CHSR FM studios to give us a sneak peek of this awesome new album!
Follow Dad Patrol (@dadpatrolband) for details on the album release parties!
Playlist
Dad Patrol – Tourniquet
Dad Patrol – Crustacean
Dad Patrol – Sweet Thing
Dad Patrol – Baku
Dad Patrol – In The Garden
Dad Patrol – Worms, Larvae, Insects, Creepy Crawlies
Dad Patrol – 2 Mums
Marian – Keeping
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Nostalgia is a funny thing, because it can hit you for people, places and times you’ve never been to.
My guest today is Peter Hicks, a local musician, songwriter and author, who has released three books this year alone. The second of those books is For One Thing, a novel set in the near-history of rural New Brunswick, about a boy who loves a radio and the strange uncle he’s forced to spend time with. It’s a wonderful, heartfelt book of dispelling assumptions, real care, and becoming who you are. Peter joined me to talk about this book’s origins in the stories of his own uncle, and how he reflects on that time.
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What kind of animals are you, deep down inside?
My guest today is Cheryl Ford, working at the Picaroon’s Roundhouse on a layered set of paintings exploring the notion of “Spirit Animals”.
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Some voices are iconic, and it takes a brave — and talented — artist to step into them.
My guests are vocalist Karine and musician Nadia Francavilla (and part of Atlantic Sinfonia), to talk about the upcoming performance of PIAF, a tribute to the incredible vocalist Edith Piaf.
PIAF kicks off a tour across the province with a performance in Fredericton at Memorial Hall on October 7 at 7:30pm.
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Most artists work with visible arts, but a writer‘s work lives in the mind, and often explores things that can exist no where else.
My guest is Jenna James, a musician, writer and student, working on a creative thesis project about “fools” appearing in popular culture.
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Artists often have to develop their mental eyes to transform their vision into process; sometimes, it also means thinking backwards, and in reverse.
My guest is Hayle Monroe, a printmaker and painter who was engaged in a new process (for her) of “reductive linocut printmaking”, where as each layer of the print is created, it destroys the previous one.
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Just because something is traditional, doesn’t mean it can’t do something entirely new.
My guest is Jessie Kehew, who spent her time in residence working with a miniature loom and a spinning wheel, working on a project that combined traditional methods with randomness.
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Episode 60
History items: Will, John & Juan.
| Artist | Song | Album | Year | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Encephalon | Daylight (Remix) | Dependence 2011 [Compilation] | 2011 | Canada |
| Machines of Loving Grace | Golgotha Tenement Blues | The Crow (Movie Soundtrack) | 1994 | USA |
| Lisa LeBlanc | Pourquoi faire aujourd’hui | Chiac Disco | 2022 | Canada |
| Apostle of Hustle | Perfect Fit | Eats Darkness | 2009 | Canada |
| Elisapie | Qimatsilunga (I Want to Break Free) | Inuktitut | 2023 | Canada |
| Eleftheria Arvanitaki | Sappho | Gifted | 2012 | Greece |
| Neuroticfish | Invisible | Antidoron | 2018 | Germany |
| Decoded Feedback | Nothingness | Shockwave | 2005 | Canada |
| Softcult | Spoiled | See You In Heaven | 2025 | Canada |
| Paul McCartney & Wings | Bluebird | Band On The Run | 1973 | England |
| Anna Justen | Piece by Piece | Michou’s Dream | 2025 | USA |
| The Psychedelic Furs | Highwire Days | Mirror Moves | 1984 | England |
| Sui Zhen | Natural Progression | Losing, Linda | 2019 | Australia |
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Art is often the task of removing everything that isn’t supposed to be there, and then reveling in the rest.
My guest is Andrew Robinson, who joined me on a windy day to talk about his process of moving from digital to analog when creating his images — in this case, a project focusing on sea creatures having lunch.
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Artists seem to love challenging themselves to doing something different — even stepping inside someone else’s shoes.
My guests are Ralph Simpson (master basket-maker) and Liz Demerson (ceramicist), two of the artists in residence for this summer’s Fredericton Arts Alliance program. I met them at the Barracks, where they were busy working on new things — in particular, doing each other‘s form of art, although “plants” still shone through as a consistent element.
You can see work from many of the artists who participated in this years residency on October 1 at the Charlotte Street Arts Centre from 5pm-7pm for the opening of the Residency exhibit.
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Back by unpopular demand, Away From The Mire is once again available On-Demand!
Pearl Jam – Quick Escape
Dad Patrol – Worms, Larva, Insects, Creepy Crawlies
NRBQ – Wacky Tobacky
Sam Salmon – If I Needed You Now
Courtney Barnett – One Thing at a Time
Jonathan Richman – Velvet Underground
The Velvet Underground – All Tomorrow’s Parties
Ovven – Ovven – Feeling The Pull
Geese – Bow Down
Daydream Plus – More Time Alone
BA Johnston – Lets Blow Shit Up
Dogwood Tales – Ralph Sampson
Built To Spill – Alarmed
Stoopheads – Zeel
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On September 19, the inaugural Writers of the Realm Literary Festival and Fantasy Ball took place at the Fredericton Inn.
Our reporter Micrielle Manga covered the event and interviewed local authors about their creative process, inspirations and much more.
For the full story, click the play button below.
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