Photo Credit : Wynne Neilly // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES
Tomorrow, Rae Spoon is releasing their new album, Not Dead Yet, via Coax Records. Today, the celebrated musician, songwriter, producer, multi-instrumentalist, and author is sharing one last track before the entire LP is available everywhere, “If I Hold On”. On the track, Spoon says, "Mental health during cancer treatment is something I found hard to navigate. After I became re-traumatized, I requested that I be put under for a specific procedure. The oncologist refused to change my treatment, though he could have easily. The next treatment I had a mental breakdown. I found that I needed to keep moving forward without holding onto previous ideas of who I was to survive."
Beginning August 18, Rae will be supporting the new record with a run of tour dates throughout Canada. Full tour dates can be found below.
MORE ABOUT NOT DEAD YET, FROM RAE SPOON :
“Dear listener, thank you for your interest in my album, Not Dead Yet. ‘Not Dead Yet’ is a common saying in cancer communities to remind ourselves and others that we’re still living full lives in spite of whatever treatments we’re going through or cancer status we have.
“I was diagnosed with cancer in March 2020, three days after I returned home from a tour for COVID-19 isolation. I was forced into the health care systems I had previously avoided because of how I was treated as a trans/non-binary person with CPTSD.
“These songs are intended to be an expression of the unpredictable joy I discovered despite discrimination, indignities, medical abuse, relationship break downs and near-death experiences. I found who my people were, communities that engage in mutual support and that I no longer fear death or living. I developed a deep respect for health care workers and found that being in relationship often bridged our differences.
“My treatment has not been linear and the impacts on my body and mind are ongoing. I hope singing about my experiences creates more space for under-represented folks in healthcare systems. Though, health experiences are as nuanced as each individual person, disability justice, universal health care and universal human rights are goals that serve everyone.”
MORE ABOUT RAE SPOON
Rae Spoon is a musician, songwriter, producer, multi-instrumentalist, and author. They have released twelve solo albums (Coax Records) spanning folk, country, indie rock, and electronic genres and published three books (Arsenal Pulp Press). Rae has been nominated for two Polaris Music Prizes, a Lambda Literary Award, and a Western Canadian Music Award. They have toured internationally (Canada, Europe, the USA, Australia, China). Rae is a non-binary, trans artist who lives with multiple disabilities. Their most recent album, Not Dead Yet (2023), was written about their lived experience of cancer diagnosis, treatment, and complications.
Rae Spoon is an uninvited guest and settler with European ancestry on stolen land. They were born and grew up on Treaty 7 territory in Mohkínsstsisi/Calgary (the traditional and ancestral territory of the Blackfoot Confederacy: Kainai, Piikani and Siksika as well as the Tsuu T'ina Nation and Stoney Nakoda First Nation). Rae currently lives between Tkoronto/Toronto (the traditional territory of many nations including the Mississaugas of the Credit, the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee and the Wendat peoples) and Tiohtià:ke/Montréal (the unceded Indigenous lands of the Kanien’kehá:ka/Mohawk Nation).
TOUR DATES
Aug 18 - Victoria, BC - House Concert (Langford) TBA Facebook
Aug 19 - Salt Spring Island, BC - Drummond Park Facebook
Aug 20 - Vancouver, BC - Clean Air Festival Trout Lake w/ Geoff Berner Facebook
Aug 22 - Vancouver, BC - Massy Books (reading with Gem Hall) Facebook
Aug 23 - Penticton, BC - Art Gallery Facebook
Aug 24 - Lethbridge, AB - Theoretically Brewing Facebook
Aug 25 - Calgary, AB - ContainR Fest Facebook
Aug 25 - Grand Prairie, AB - GALA Pride Facebook
Aug 26 - Edmonton, AB - Purple City Festival Facebook
Sep 02 - Regina, SK - Swampfest Facebook
Sept 11 - Sackville, NS - TBA
Sept 14 - Wolfville, NS - Wolfville Rec Centre
Sept 15 - Halifax, NS - House Concert - TBA
Oct 06 - Hamilton, ON - Awesome Mom
