Acclaimed flautist Ron Korb may be the most interesting Canadian musician you ( likely ) haven ’ t heard of Pg . 40
INDIE INSIDER
Text Message Marketing Can Work for Artists Too
ROAD TEST
Universal Audio ’ s UAFX guitar pedals , Sennheiser ’ s HD 400 Pro Studio Headphones , and DPA ’ s 4011 , 2011 & 4099 instrument microphones
DEPARTMENTS
9 First Take 12 Association Update 14 Changes 20 Canadian Musician Podcast 21 Events 64 Hot Gear 71 Advertisers ’ Index 74 Tech Tools 76 Classifieds 78 Showcase
COLUMNS
27 How I Let Go of Ego & Preconceived Notions so the Music could Grow
28 “ Children ’ s Music ” Can be Not for Kids Only
30 Overthinking on Stage ? That ’ s What the Pre-show Ritual is For
31 Three A ’ s to Protect Your Voice
32 How Music Has Galvanized the Fighting Spirit in Ukraine
58 Experiment & Learn to Appreciate the Simple Guitar Pick
59 The Ingredients of Creativity & Success
60 Breaking the Fifth Wall
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62 Untangle the Strands of Your Overwhelm
FEATURES
Allison Russell
Is The New Queen of Folk
By Michael Raine
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After two decades in Po ’ Girl , Birds of Chicago , and the supergroup Our Native Daughters , Allison Russell released her debut solo album , the deeply personal Outside Child , in 2021 . The LP was a revelation , catapulting Russell to a level of acclaim that very few in the genre experience , including three Grammy nominations , a Juno Award , a Canadian Folk Music Award , and the two top honours at the International Folk Music Awards . Really , not since Tracy Chapman has a Black woman so dominated the Americana world , and Russell is determined to not waste this opportunity .
Ron Korb
One of Canada ’ s Most Interesting Musicians is a Globe-Trotting Flautist
By Alan Hardiman
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What Grammy-nominated Canadian musician played a dozen different flutes on the worldwide top-grossing film of 2020 The Eight Hundred , played with Stewart Copeland and Ricky Kej on this year ’ s Grammy-winning Divine Tides , gave flute coaching to a Sex in the City cast member , participated in a humanitarian music project in Cambodia through a personal introduction from Peter Gabriel , and can trace his family history back to a medieval Japanese warlord in the seventh century ? Meet Ron Korb .
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Is “ Fan-Powered Royalties ” Working for Indie Artists ?
A year into SoundCloud ’ s experimental with a new payout model for streaming , we fi nd out what ’ s been learned
By Michael Raine
A year into the streaming company ’ s experiment with a more artist-friendly payout model it termed “ fan-powered
July / August 2022 , Vol . XLIV , No . 4
royalties ,” Canadian Musician quizzes SoudCloud ’ s VP of strategy , Michael Pelczynski , about what has been learned . Has it really benefitted indie artists like they predicted it would , and is it possible for this model to spread to the other , bigger DSPs and beyond independent music ?
Musical Scores & the Limitations of Language
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Why are we still relying so heavily on music notation when we now have more effi cient ways of conveying music ?
By Omar Shabbar
Omar Shabbar was wrestling with this question while working towards a master ’ s degree in ethnomusicology , and it ’ s a question with implications for all musicians . He dissects the answer and explains why the glorification of musical scores in academic and conservatory circles makes it harder for us to learn and understand new styles of music that don ’ t adhere to western music theory .
Canadian Musician ’ s 2022 Keys Special
By Kevin Young
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Keyboardists have always had a lot of options in terms of sounds and instruments to use in their work , be it adding to someone else ’ s composition or creating their own . This year , we spoke to various players working in different genres to drill down into how they do that . As always , we ’ re interested in the instruments and gear our panelists use , but we ’ re also looking for insight into their workflow and the approach they take to their work in terms of creating parts , composing music , and preparing for studio and live performance .
COVER PHOTO : ALLISON RUSSELL BY FRANCESCA CEPERO