With his sophomore full-length, Concertos & Serenades, Adam Baldwin - born and raised “inside these imaginary lines” that denote Nova Scotia - offers an east coast testimony that challenges the typical tourism marketing gloss. Through eight masterful yarns, the songwriter bears witness and pays tribute to a tradition of desperation: sinners and losers, perpetual failures, and down-and-out phantoms that haunt his home’s coastlines and back roads - without a passing judgement. Some of the tales happened, some didn’t, and most walk a tightrope between truth and fiction.
It’s a good thing, too, because Concertos & Serenades does nothing less than tell the other side of the story about, “a wind-battered people, who grow up with a callus over our whole body,” as the songwriter himself puts it.
Singer-songwriter Adam Baldwin has been a mainstay of the Atlantic Canada music scene for over a decade – come hear him sing his tales at the NAC!
We are honoured to welcome Mariel Buckley to the stage as a guest performer!
Mariel Buckley’s signature brand of angst-ridden alt-folk has quickly established her as one of the most satiating artists with a modern take on roots music.
Buckley’s refreshing and reaffirming candor has enraptured audiences since the release of her 2018 debut album, Driving In The Dark. Buckley’s 2022 Polaris Music Prize nominated sophomore album, Everywhere I Used To Be, achieved formidable critical acclaim. Produced by Marcus Paquin, the evolution of Buckley’s music resonates with gritty emo-esque guitars, driving deep-grooves, soaring pedal guitar and synths, buoyed by Buckley’s charmingly vulnerable honey soaked vocals. “Everywhere I Used To Be is replete with dogged determination and a sense of purpose” – No Depression.
Her live journey has been a strong, steady climb of including North American and European tours, shows with k.d. Lang, Orville Peck, the Bros Landreth and coveted performances at SXSW (TX), AmericanaFest (TN), Jackalope Jamboree (OR), and the prestigious Edmonton, Calgary and Winnipeg Folk Fests. And the Fourth Stage in the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, of course!