Kwende Kefentse: Advocate for the arts and CKCU’s first Executive Director

 Unlike other major Canadian cities like Montreal and Toronto, Ottawa hasn’t yet fully cemented a cultural identity for itself, especially in terms of the arts – it is mostly known for being a government and tech hub. However, there has been a growing shift in recent years. Over the last

Women in Black! Female All-Stars Gather for Johnny Cash Tribute

 50 years ago Johnny Cash and June Carter were married in a fever hotter than a pepper sprout. To celebrate the iconic country couple’s Golden Anniversary the annual Cash Birthday Bash returns to the Rainbow Bistro tonight with a toe-tapping twist: an all-female guest roster. Kristine St-Pierre “I think an all-female

Shawna Caspi Brings Forest Fire for Ottawa Homecoming

 Photos by Roni Hoffman Shawna Caspi may currently be strumming out of Toronto but the musician still hasn’t forgotten her Ottawa roots. They were planted pretty deep in some of the city’s most musical fertile ground. She bought her first acoustic guitar at the Ottawa Folklore Centre, volunteered at CKCU

All Saints Still Singing in Sandy Hill

 Photos courtesy of allsaints / Feature image by Amedeo De Pretto It’s that time of year where everybody is entitled to at least one good scare but ghostly specters and a burst pipe were not going to frighten Leanne Moussa away. She was a woman on a mission, one that would

Ottawa Grassroots: the Little Festival That Grew

 Photos by Anne-Marie Brugger and Andre Gagne Kicking off Ottawa’s ubiquitous festival season is one that truly stands by its name: The Ottawa Grassroots Festival. Now in its sixth year, the festival began as a one-night event in a legion hall back in 2011 and has since bloomed into a

The Black Inside The Rainbow

 All photos by Andre Gagne, “Success is having to worry about every damn thing in the world, except money."  -Johnny Cash “Hello, I’m Johnny Cash,” said a man onstage who isn't Johnny Cash, before lifting his guitar into the air to add a little Black to The Rainbow Bistro. The Man

A Great Time To Be Alive with Megaphono Round Two

 All photos by Andre Gagne.  “What a great time to be alive,” says Amanda Lowe as she strums a few notes on her guitar. If you are a music fan in Ottawa this week, those words couldn’t be more true. Lowe was taking the stage in the aptly named Pressed