Hard Folk with Matt Gower

Today I’m joined by Don Pyle. Don has a new book out called Rough Description: love letters and ghost stories from a life in music but if you’re like me, you know him as the drummer for Shadowy Men on a Shadowy planet. We discussed the art of a good setlist, navigating a music career without a safety net, Don’s experience going to hairdressing school and how Shadowy Men may have played a role in J...

Today, I’m joined by Elizabeth Royall. We talk about the balancing the administrative and entrepreneurial aspects of the music industry with the creative side of things. We also delve into Elizabeth’s love of 70s & 90s music, especially Fleetwood Mac and how she shook off trying to emulate Billie Eilish and discovered her own voice in the process. CKCU Presents Friday Night Folk with Elizabeth Roy...

Sean Sisk was dead. His heart stopped for 30 minutes. A case of Invasive Group A Strep had sent Sean to the hospital for 4 months, where his heart stopped 4 times and he needed multiple blood transfusions. Jeff Larocque had donated blood 86 times before being diagnosed with prostate cancer. His goal was to donate blood at least 100 times, but unfortunately the cancer diagnosis prevented him from b...

Today’s episode of Hard Folk is a special one: I invited my friend and fellow singer-songwriter James Leclaire to interview me. We talked about my songwriting process, how I recorded Vacated Shapes, navigating social media, performing solo vs with a band, plus we took a bit of a dive into my family and how that affects my life as a songwriter. Vacated Shapes is out now both streaming and on CD. Cl...

Today I’m joined by Mikhail Laxton. He’s here to talk about his 613 Soul initiative. It’s a free concert series taking place in Orleans, Hog’s Back Park, Vanier and a couple other locations. His goal for 613 Soul is to not only provide an alternative to the outdoor festival experience, but to mentor up and coming local musicians. Mikhail’s goal is to grow the music community and give back some of...

Today I’m joined by Rollie Pemberton (AKA Cadence Weapon). He’s got a new book called Ways of Listening: Building a Deeper Relationship with Music in the Streaming Era coming out May 26th as well as a new album called Forager which was released earlier this year. Rollie and I talked about leaning into the musical terroir of certain areas he’s searching out new tunes at record stores, the recent tr...

Today I’m joined by Joel Elliott. We talked about his roll as “bandmaster” with The Magic Machine and incorporating his love of musical theatre into their stage act. We also dove deep into the inner workings of the Folk Canada conference and how joining a band full of middle aged government workers influenced him to pursue a career in music. The Magic Machine is playing May 22 at Night Oat with Ca...

The Family Name (Ben & Jacob Matte) are a natural outgrowth from a musical family tree that finds its roots with the Everly Brothers, Smothers Brothers and Simon & Garfunkel, takes a bluegrass/newgrass detour along the way before branching out from the Milk Carton Kids to create their own unique, tight, familial sound. What really surprised me was that The Family Name basically started from scratc...

Suzanne Nuttall has only been a part of the Ottawa music scene for a few years, but as I said in today’s show it’s felt like she’s been entrenched in the community for much longer. Suzanne’s story is a great example for aspiring musicians to follow. She made the move to Ottawa from Toronto and put herself right out there, attending open stages and making connections with fellow musicians. And Suza...

About five years ago I sold Brian Gunther a Martin guitar. He was just settling into a more stable existence, which gave him the opportunity to begin his pathway towards writing and recording original music. Along with that Martin guitar, I was able to give Brian some advice and encouragement to get started and we’ve been writing back and forth to each other on Instagram we’ve since. We delved int...

This week I had the pleasure of interviewing Ethan Mitchell for the Hard Folk podcast. What really stood out to me was his voice. I’m not talking about his singing voice, although he does exude a certain vintage authenticity. What I mean is that it’s evident in Ethan’s songwriting that he knows who he is and doesn’t shy away from that. And really, that’s the most important lesson any aspiring song...

Today I’m joined by Gareth Auden-Hole, better known as Jack Pine. We talked a lot about the history of his band Jack Pine and the Fire, we also discussed his more open songwriting process as a solo artist compared to the approach he brought to “The Fire”. Later on, we talked about his tour through western Ontario & Manitoba and the joy of playing more intimate venues in smaller towns. Jack Pine wi...

Today I’m joined by Greg Beaudoin, better known as Lefty McRighty to folks in the Ottawa music scene. We talked a lot about mental health and the importance of therapy, especially for people in the arts community. We also talked about the dynamic between Greg and his wife Tracy, working closely together on their CKCU radio show Feelin’ Alright as well as in their duo Catbird. Lefty McRighty will b...

I’m joined by John Allaire to discuss the ever shifting triangle between artists, venues and audiences. After an initial run of success at Brews & Blues in Stittsville, attendance started tapering off, leading to a cancellation of John’s Thursday shows (note: The Allaire Show on Saturday afternoons at Quinn’s is still going strong). After recently posting a clip of my podcast where I discussed the...

Today on Hard Folk, I’m joined by Colin Prentice. We talked about the upcoming single his band Baby Richman will be releasing in March, giving Oasis a second chance, having all of the band’s recordings (on a hard drive) stolen from their car during recording session and most importantly how much Algonquin College’s Music Industry Arts program impacted his career as a musician. Visit https://ottawa...

Today I’m joined by author John Stubbings to talk about his book The Devil Is In It: A History of the Acoustic Guitar. We chatted about how John’s love for guitars took him from guitar player to collector and eventually an author, chronicling the instrument’s journey from its origins in Europe to its evolution in the USA.

On today’s episode of Hard Folk, Graven (aka Matty McKechnie) and I have a lot in common to the point where I’ve been mistaken for him a few times. We’re both Ottawa based singer songwriters & podcasters, we’re both releasing new albums this year (Graven’s latest is called “Geographics”), we’re both devoted dads and I was pleasantly surprised to find out that he’s as big of a baseball nut as I am....

Anne Marie Brugger eats, sleeps and breathes folk music. You can hear her as one of the regular rotation hosts on CKCU’s show Canadian Spaces and she also created the Femme Vox concert series which shines a light on (mostly local) female singer-songwriters. Over the years Anne Marie has been a stalwart for community radio, starting at CHUO with her show Hop the Fence, before eventually taking on t...

On today’s episode of the Hard Folk podcast, I’m joined Jordan Holman aka Kentucky. Kentucky goes where the music takes him. Throughout his musical journey, Jordan has found himself in Toronto, New York and London before coming to the realization that he was going to die soon if he didn’t stop doing drugs. Now on the other side of his addiction, Jordan found himself based in the tiny, picturesque...

Loch Nisse Monster has a vision. Also known as Nisse Anonby, she has her hand in many different aspects of the Ottawa music scene. She’s organized shows and festivals, worked behind the scenes with Folk Music Ontario conference, co-hosts the Thursday Morning Blend on CKCU, reports regularly on the music scene through her social media pages and most importantly is a prolific singer-songwriter. U Un...

On today’s episode of Hard Folk, I chat with Brian Tremblay. Taking inspiration from the likes of Steve Earle and Townes Van Zandt, Brian has embraced his “outsider status”. It’s more than living far away from larger music hubs in Sault Ste Marie; Brian advocates for fair compensation for fellow musicians, hosts a podcast to amplify the voices of his musical peers and carries this integrity into h...

Today I chat with Doug Hempstead (aka Area Resident). Even before he says it near the end of this episode, Doug’s love for music jumps out of the speakers and hits you square in the face. We talked about his latest album “Protonopia” and took a deep dive into how he literally constructs a song. From borrowing drum tracks to making up syllables & lyrics to fit the melody Doug’s method is a fascinat...

On today’s Hard Folk, I reconnect with Karson McKeown. In what seems like a lifetime ago, Karson and I worked together at the Ottawa Folklore Centre. After the store closed, Karson dived deep into teaching fiddle and performing live, which helped pay his way through the architecture program at Algonquin College. Eventually, after a one-off gig on PEI, Karson was offered a teaching job and made the...

Today on Hard Folk, I interview acclaimed author and professor at Berklee College of Music Pat Pattison. We took a deep dive on songwriting and I did my best to get out of the way and listen to one of the biggest influences on modern songwriters. We talked about how Pat made the surprisingly smooth transition from teaching philosophy & logic to teaching songwriting, the importance of object writin...

Today’s episode of Hard Folk features singer-songwriter Kalle Mattson. He’s got his hands full as one half of the duo Summersets, releasing “Move Back Home” earlier this fall as well as teaching songwriting at Carleton University. We talked about finding his way through the ever-evolving music industry, how social media has influenced the craft of songwriting, how & when to use the wealth of tools...