MEGAN NASH REVEALS ANOTHER NEW SINGLE, “QUIET”

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Photo Credit : Aaron Sinclair // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES

At the end of last year, Megan Nash shared her first new music since 2017 with the release of “Artifact”, a song about “discovering fragments of your former life; a letter from a past lover, a photograph from a perfect day, and how that discovery can be a punch in the stomach,” she says. On Sunday, The Strombo Show shared the JUNO Award nominated artist’s new track “Quiet” on the national airwaves and today the Saskatchewan songwriter’s new single is out everywhere. 

“Quiet” is a song about “your husband, soon to be ex-husband, driving away from you on the prairies,” says Nash. “What an unforgiving horizon Saskatchewan has. It can really draw out a goodbye. ‘Quiet’ was born out of heartbreak and I hope it serves as an anthem for the lonely, the one left behind. The lyrics are personal and heavy for me yet I want to dance when we play it on stage. It contains two truths - life is pain and life is a party.”

BUY / STREAM / “QUIET” HERE

LISTEN / SHARE “QUIET” HERE

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“Quiet” Single Artwork // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES

MORE ABOUT MEGAN NASH

When the frigid winter ends and the earth absorbs every last blanket of snow, infinite dust blooms from the prairies. If you walk down a twilit dirt road in the middle of nowhere, south central Saskatchewan, that dust creeps onto and into you, cementing your relationship with the endlessness of the place—endless skies, endless wind, endless dust. Megan Nash knows this feeling more intimately than most. Despite taking their music all over the world, their songs always retain some piece of the prairies. There’s the grit of dust in the crunch of an overdriven guitar; the howl of wind in a soaring, hypnotic eruption of horns. And there is a boundlessness in her voice—electric with timbres both luminous and dusky, coloured with the textures of her poetry—that can’t help but recall those spellbinding skies.

With their 2017 album Seeker, Nash used that voice to establish herself as an artist with a singular vision. Mining loss, heartache, grief, dreams, and desire over lush soundscapes, she revealed themselves as the titular seeker—someone with a suitcase they never really empty, whose reach always exceeds their grasp. In the time since Seeker, Nash’s life has taken tumultuous turns. In their own words, the new music she’s been working on was written, “in the cracks of a foundation—in moments of reflection during years of whirlwind romance, gut wrenching heartbreak, reviving friendships, and life saving dog love.” They’re heavy, haunting, elegiac songs in which Nash has rendered themselves more vulnerable than ever.

LISTEN/SHARE “ARTIFACT” HERE

BUY / STREAM “ARTIFACT” HERE

In the middle of these mercurial past few years, Nash has been busier than ever on the road, most often with their seasoned backup outfit, The Best of Intentions (Dana Rempel on bass, Darnell Stewart on guitar, and Tanner Wilhelm Hale on drums). She’s played some of their biggest gigs both at home and on tour in Germany, Estonia, and the U.K., riding the momentum of her JUNO Award nomination for Seeker. And in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, she’s been proactive finding ways to connect with fans via events like drive-in and virtual shows. Rest assured that if it’s possible, she’ll be following those highway lines in 2021.

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PONDERCAST EPISODE 112 : WINDOWS

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For Episode 112 of Laurie Brown’s Pondercast, she has been pondering plexiglass. “All those rectangles separating us from the rest of the world,” she says. “It’s got to have an effect. Like a window - those plexiglass sheets put a frame around our daily outings into the world. Is it changing us?”

LISTEN TO PONDERCAST EP 112: WINDOWS

New to Pondercast, every Monday morning Laurie Brown will post a new 20 minute Guided Meditation. Meant for everyone - no experience necessary. Great way to start meditating, and a great way to find support and encouragement for your practise.

Also new for season 4, every second Friday the Pondercast team are now posting a Grounding Thought. We started these during the intense days of lockdown and we’ve heard from you that they helped. So count on 10 minute podcasts to help shift your perspective when your world threatens to overwhelm.

LISTEN TO PONDERCAST GUIDED MEDITATIONS HERE

Pondercast is able to expand their offerings because of the support you have helped build on Patreon. We are really hoping that this new season will move you to become a monthly donor at www.patreon.com/Pondercast or, a one time donor on our website at www.pondercast.ca . For those of you who have already taken the Patreon plunge, thank you - your support has made this happen.

 SUBSCRIBE TO PONDERCAST ON ITUNES / SPOTIFY / YOUTUBE

Recently, Killbeat Music partnered with the team at Pondercast to bring you Ponderbeat, a series of special episodes featuring selections curated by Brown from some of Killbeat’s latest releases. The eighth episode of Ponderbeat is live now, featuring music from Gord Downie, The Weather Station, Yves Jarvis, LAL, Matthew Cardinal, and more.

 LISTEN TO KILLBEAT’S COLLABORATION WITH PONDERCAST - PONDERBEAT EPISODE 08 HERE

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BEGONIA ANNOUNCES FEAR TOUR LIVE ALBUM, SHARES LP B-SIDE “BUS”

BEGONIA’S FEAR TOUR LIVE ALBUM AVAILABLE JANUARY 29, 2021 ON ALL STREAMING PLATFORMS

WATCH AND SHARE “THE OTHER SIDE” FROM THE FEAR TOUR LIVE

PRE-SAVE FEAR TOUR LIVE ALBUM HERE

BUY / STREAM “BUS” HERE

“With its twin-helix bind of sharp pop and warm soul, Fear positions Winnipeg's Begonia (Alexa Dirks) as a powerhouse on the Prairies.” - Exclaim!

Fear is the opposite of all its name implies: confident, bold, and blossoming with subtlety and intelligence.” - Dominionated

“...Fear still manages to make you feel like you've been let in on pop's best-kept secret. But, not for long. 2019 might have refreshed our memory of Dirks' vast capabilities, but 2020 will hopefully deliver her the global recognition she deserves.” - CBC Music

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THE FEAR TOUR LIVE ALBUM ARTWORK // DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES

In late February of 2020, Begonia (Alexa Dirks) hosted five spectacular sold out shows in her hometown of Winnipeg, which capped off the Fear Live Tour supporting Begonia’s acclaimed new record, Fear (out via Rex Baby Records). Those concerts are now available as the Fear Tour Live Album.

The album “comprises my favourite performances from those five nights,” says Dirks. “I'm beyond thrilled that we recorded all those shows and now I can put this album out as a way to bittersweetly bid farewell to the Fear era. I was really looking forward to bringing this show on the road this last year and as much as I'm sad we weren't able to, I'm so happy that we get to put this live album out now.”

The Fear Tour Live Album will be available on all streaming platforms next Friday, January 29. Video of the entire show can also be bought or rented via Vimeo here.

WATCH AND SHARE “THE OTHER SIDE” FROM THE FEAR TOUR LIVE

PRE-SAVE FEAR TOUR LIVE ALBUM HERE

Along with the live album, Begonia is also sharing a b-side that didn’t end up on the Fear LP titled “Bus”. “I recorded ‘Bus’ in the same sessions as all the other songs for the Fear album but in the end when I was putting the tracklisting together it just didn't seem to fit in with the other songs like I originally planned,” says Dirks. “This song has always held a special place in my heart though and I've been performing it live for a while so I'm super happy to be finally putting it out on its own. It's a song about going out with your friends to try and feel something which I wish I could do right now more than a lot of things... soooo it's kind of a party song and kind of a sad song haha...my favourite.”

BUY / STREAM “BUS” HERE

MORE ABOUT FEAR

Fear, was chosen as one of Exclaim!’s Most Underrated Albums of the Year, made end of the year lists from CBC Music and Dominionated, saw both “Beats” and “Hanging On A Line” named as CBC Music Top 20 Fan Favourites of the year, and spent 10 straight weeks as the #1 album in the country on Earshot’s Top 50 chart.

WATCH AND SHARE “HANGING ON A LINE” HERE

As Begonia, Alexa Dirks is bold, brazen with her florid, surprising pop that is tempered with sensitivity and wisdom. On the LP, Begonia leans hard into a sense of arrival. She wrote and co-produced the record with a familiar team of Matt Schellenberg (Royal Canoe) and Matt Peters (Royal Canoe) along with Marcus Paquin (The National, Arcade Fire, Local Natives).

Whether it’s learning to come into her own or processing a brutal heartbreak, Dirks’ intimate lyrics and audacious sound allows for her audience to relate to the messiness of life with an honesty that is refreshing.

WATCH AND SHARE “FEAR” HERE

Dirks' first solo EP, Lady in Mind, was well-received, being listed on NPR’s 10 Artists You Need To Know in 2017 and single “Juniper” reached #1 on the CBC Radio 2 Top 20. Noisey wrote that, “Begonia has one of Canada’s most extraordinary voices, and thankfully she uses it to obliterate the misery from this world one live performance at a time.” NPR wrote that Begonia is “the place where where synth-pop meets old soul and scrappy meets sexy."

WATCH CBC’S FIRST PLAY LIVE HERE

BUY / STREAM FEAR HERE

MORE PRAISE FOR BEGONIA

“...searing and dignified” - NPR Music

"...a complex, powerhouse synth-soul that hangs on one of Canada’s most
extraordinary voices." - Line Of Best Fit

“The woman has, you would say, presence to spare. When she opens her mouth to sing it's like, ‘What just happened?’” - Exclaim!

"an audacious adventure in modern soul, with gospel inspirations and updated takes on finger-snapping Motown pop and late 20th-century R&B.‎" - Globe & Mail

“With her showstopping voice, Dirks blends acoustics and synths for her own
brand of gospel.” - CBC Music

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FEAR TOUR LIVE ALBUM TRACKLIST
1 Intro (The Other Side)
2 Hanging on a Line
3 The Light
4 Bus
5 Two Beers In
6 Hot Dog Stand
7 Lady In Mind
8 Juniper
9 Out Of My Head
10 Living At The Ceiling
11 Everyday
12 Cold Fire
13 Mirror Talk
14 Fear
15 Beats
16 Put It Away

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