About this Event
is beginning again. The beguiling performer and songwriter returns with Love Will Be Reborn. Not since 2012’s Come Home to Mama has a Martha Wainwright record been so full of original written material. Wainwright’s fifth studio album follows recent years of loneliness and clarity in search of optimism and joy. Wainwright wrote the first song—and what would become the title track— of the record a few years ago. It was a very dark time, she says, but the positivity and luminosity of “Love Will Be Reborn” signalled what was to come. Wainwright was at a friend’s home in London to collaborate on something else entirely when she was struck by the need to write the song. Wainwright demures when songwriting—her process is undisciplined and she prefers to be alone. That day, soon left to that solitude, “Love Will Be Reborn” poured out of her. “I wrote the song in its entirety within ten or fifteen minutes. I was bawling.” The track feels very English to Wainwright with a soft melody and thrumming guitar, evoking pastoral scenes. Wainwright croons, “There is love in every part of me, I know/ But the key has fallen deep into the snow / When the spring comes I will find it, and unlock my heart to rewind it.” It’s poetic and mysterious, yet still there is a yearning for joy and renewal. Wainwright sang the as-yet recorded “Love Will Be Reborn” on tour, serving as an anthem, giving her hope in a time when it was hard to have some. Martha Wainwright's role as an artist has always been to embrace her wildness and sketch out her raw depth. This edge is what makes Wainwright uncompromisingly herself, and continues to draw in an audience two decades on. To begin again does not mean starting over. This process of rebirth honours the past to move forward. Love Will Be Reborn captures Wainwright’s heart in transition. In an effort to rise out of some painful depths, as she says much like a phoenix from the ashes of an existential twilight, Wainwright bore witness to what her heart endured to find a new joy once more.
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Formerly the best kept secret in soul music, Toronto-based has become a known staple of the genre both at home and abroad. Her music revels in honesty and attitude, her live show is high energy and endearing, and she continues to win audiences over one stream, one Shazam and one encore at a time. In 2016, Tanika independently released her debut album Soul Run, which would be re-released through the Italian label Record Kicks in 2017. Soul Run was long-listed for the 2016 Polaris Music Prize and nominated for the 2017 Juno Award for best R&B/Soul Recording of the Year. Tanika’s 2019 sophomore album The Gumption picks up where Soul Run left off, continuing her tradition of marrying classic soul with modern production and instrumentation. She was again long-listed for the 2019 Polaris Music Prize and had the honour of being named the inaugural Polaris artist-in-residence for 2020 at the Studio Bell National Music Centre. In early 2020, The Gumption was nominated for the JUNO 2020 R&B/Soul Recording of the Year. Backed by her band The Wonderfuls, Tanika has embarked on five international tours since releasing Soul Run, performing in front of many thousands of fans across nine countries. Tanika’s live show oscillates between faithful recreations of her studio recordings and revealing influences of rock, gospel and country.
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It’s been a few years since the release of ’s Grenades, an album that was nominated for a 2019 JUNO Award, long-listed for the 2019 Polaris Music Prize, and received two nominations for the 2020 Canadian Folk Music Awards. Now, she is sharing the first new single since the release of Grenades. “Parallels” is “about destruction,” says Kater. “It’s about ripping out harmful beliefs that have grown and taken root inside many of us like weeds. I wanted to create a sense of sonic chaos—as if anything could happen—because mine and my friends’ experiences in the last few years have been to show up and care for each other amidst the chaos of job loss, financial instability, mental health crises, environmental disasters and more. I would like 'Parallels’ to be a welcoming for whatever folks feel—be it sadness, rage or whatever else.” Co-produced by Kater and Andrew Ryan, “Parallels” features Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah on trumpet with Kevin Matthews on drums. Kaia draws on her diverse influences in Quebec, the Caribbean, and Appalachia, bringing them together to present an exciting musical direction. Known for her prowess as a songwriter and tradition bearer who performs with “the skill of a folk-circuit veteran” (Rolling Stone), Grenadian-Canadian artist took a decidedly different direction for Grenades. What started out as a search to discover the roots of her identity became a physical and emotional exploration of history, in particular her paternal ancestry, and has led to bold new heights of imagination and creative expression. She grew up between two worlds: one her family’s deep ties to the Canadian folk music scene; the other the years she spent soaking up Appalachian music in West Virginia. Her father grew up in Grenada, fleeing to Canada in 1986 as part of a youth speaker program, after the U.S. invasion. Starting her career early, Kaia released her first EP Old Soul (2013) when she was just out of high school. Since then, she’s gone on to release two more albums, Sorrow Bound (2015) and Nine Pin (2016). Her most recent album weaves between hard-hitting songs that touch on social issues like the Black Lives Matter movement and more personal narratives speaking to life and love in the digital age. Nine Pin won a Canadian Folk Music Award, a Stingray Rising Star Award, and sent Kaia on an 18-month touring journey from Ireland to Iowa, including stops at The Kennedy Center, Hillside Festival and London's O2 Shepherd's Bush.
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PROOF OF FULL COVID-19 VACCINATION REQUIRED FOR ENTRY
The province of Ontario requires all attendees to present (with Government of Canada approved vaccines, with final dosage administered at least 14 days before door time). Government issued photo ID matching details on vaccination must also be presented for validation purposes. Electronic vaccine receipt can be obtained using a green Ontario health card via
PROPERLY FITTED FACE MASKS REQUIRED in compliance with Ontario Reg. 364/20 under Reopening Ontario Act, 2020, S.O. 2020 and City of Hamilton Bylaws 20-155 and 20-202.
Active screening, contact tracing, proper face masking and PPE, physical distancing from individuals outside of one’s household, and capacity limits all have important roles to play in enhancing the safety of our performance spaces, limiting viral spread, and improving health metrics in the wider community.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Bridgeworks, 200 Caroline St. N. (off Barton St. W.), Hamilton, Canada
CAD 7.00 to CAD 15.00