Singer-songwriter Carmel Mikol recently released her debut album.

Folk/pop singer-songwriter Carmel Mikol has been keeping herself busy these last few months. She released her debut album In My Bones (produced by Fred Lavery at Lakewind Sound Studio and Scott Ferguson at Ferguson Music Productions) two months ago after spending 2009 touring from Newfoundland to British Columbia.

The Cape Breton native has lived in the States and now resides in Halifax, but plans to move back home soon. She also has a ton of touring lined up for the next several months. For some of her upcoming local dates, see below … but in the meantime, Carmel fills us in on her activities:

1. What are you up to these days, musically or otherwise?

I just released my new album In My Bones on March 30 with three release shows in Nova Scotia. The title track took first place in the Great American Song Contest Folk Category and the album has been getting some lovely reviews. This month I release the album in the U.S.A., playing a dozen shows through New Brunswick, New England and the Midwest states (Chicago, Milwaukee, Madison area). After that I return home to play great Nova Scotia festivals: Lunenburg Folk Harbour Festival, Deep Roots Music Festival and Celtic Colours Festival.  In the late fall I head back to the States once again to tour New England.

I will be doing video blog updates of my tours and posting them on my website. So keep up with my latest adventures at www.carmelmikol.com

2. How did you get into the music business and what was the first major lesson you learned once you got your feet wet?

My Dad taught me to play guitar around seven years old and I never really put it down. Picked up the piano a few years later. I’ve always been writing, performing, doing my own recording. But I started working on a professional recording and performing career just a year and half ago when I moved to Halifax after some time living away (in the U.S.).

The first major lesson I learned is that being a musician these days requires more than just good songwriting and performing skills – you have to be an entrepreneur. Nobody will care about your career as much as you do… so don’t wait for someone to show up and give you a gig. Chase or create your own opportunities.

3. What song or album have you been listening to most lately?

Impossible German by Wilco, Ray LaMontagne’s album Till Time Turns Black and our own Old Man Luedecke’s new one.

4. What’s your favourite way to waste time or relax?

I hate wasting time! But I do try and relax by going out and catching great live music. Halifax has an endless supply. And Sydney, Cape Breton is alive with amazing and interesting new stuff too. Whatsgoinon.ca keeps me up on events in Cape Breton, even when I can’t be there.

5. What tends to inspire you when you’re in songwriting mode?

I don’t think there’s ever a time I’m not in songwriting mode. It’s kind of a constant state of being. I read a lot. I walk around the city (or the woods, depending if I’m in Halifax or at home in Cape Breton), I haunt my favorite cafés, and always pick up something that triggers an idea for a song.

6. If you weren’t in the music industry in some capacity, what would you be doing today?

I’d be writing books. Actually… I really want to do that someday. But anything else would make me very unhappy. I’ve tried other careers. One time I almost became a social worker, which was amazing, but extremely difficult. I think I almost stumbled into accounting too. I’m really lucky that I get to spend all my time making music now.

7. What’s the most interesting thing you’ve learned recently?

That Cape Breton has historically been experiencing simultaneous immigration and migration since its founding (in other words, people are always coming and going in mass). I’ve been really into Cape Breton history lately.

8. If you could hit the “delete” button on anything related to music (a song, artist, trend, whatever), what would you delete?

I hate lazy lyrics. Delete. Delete. Delete.

9. What’s your favourite thing to drink?

Good, black coffee. Oh, and Scotch.

10. Finish the sentence below and please elaborate on what you mean:

The east coast music scene … is my home.

11. What’s the next thing you want to accomplish, musically or otherwise?

I want to bring In My Bones everywhere with me. I love being on the road, meeting new fans and playing shows. But my heart is already into my next album… which currently exists only in my head but I’m very excited to start working on it.

Catch Carmel at any of the following dates:

May 22 – Vintage Bistro, Hampton, N.B. (8:30 p.m., $10 tickets available at the door)
June 5 – 2 p.m. featured performer at Music Nova Scotia’s Open Mic at The Carleton, Halifax, N.S.
June 24 – 6 p.m – Wentworth Perk Coffeehouse, Sydney, N.S., w/ Norma MacDonald
June 26 – 8 p.m. – The Barn, Margaree, N.S. w/ Norma MacDonald

Check back to EastCoastNoise.com next Friday for a chat with: Andrew Sisk of Share

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Bob Mersereau is a long-time broadcaster for CBC in New Brunswick. His specialty is music, and can be heard each Wednesday on Shift on Radio 1, talking about the latest east coast sounds.

His book The Top 100 Canadian Albums was a national best-seller, and the new Top 100 Canadian Singles comes out this October.

Bob fills us in on his new book, the latest sounds he’s been listening to and more …

1. What are you up to these days, musically or otherwise?

I’ve just finished writing my second book, The Top 100 Canadian Singles. It’s a follow-up to The Top 100 Canadian Albums book, which came out in 2007. Same idea, I had 800 people across the country (including Mr. Lewis) vote for their favourite Canadian singles of all time. You’ll see the results in October when the book comes out.

2. How did you get into the music business and what was the first major lesson you learned once you got your feet wet?

I started in radio in high school, at Fredericton High, which at that point was the biggest school in the commonwealth, 3,000 kids. Another student and I started a closed-circuit radio station for the cafeteria, to play records before school, at lunch, and after.

The first lesson I learned was that most people don’t like my taste in music.

3. What song or album have you been listening to most lately?

I listen to so much it’s very hard to keep going back to one thing. As a reviewer, I have to move on to the next thing as quickly as possible, or I get backed up. Having said that, I’m still enjoying last year’s Great Lake Swimmers album, and I listened to the new Tom Petty live album over and over several times.

4. What’s your favourite way to waste time or relax?

Well, there’s music of course, but that’s almost like work for me! While I listen, I often play scrabble or mah jong on Facebook.

5. The Internet and social media are allowing artists to get closer to their fans than they ever were in some respects. What are your thoughts on this?

It’s removed the weird fan aspect, the idea that if you want to know more about a music group, you’re too much of a nerd, or a potential stalker! It’s really just an update of the old fanclub idea, but those stopped being cool long ago, so now we can once again be part of a like-minded club. The instant ability to reach out makes it even better. Twitter is a bit much though. I think it works well for mid-level or grass roots artists, like we have in Atlantic Canada.

6. If you weren’t in the music industry in some capacity, what would you be doing today?

Well, my main job is actually in news, that’s what pays the bills, so I’m a hobbyist. It’s pretty hard to be a professional music writer in Canada, especially on the east coast. There can only be a handful.

7. What’s the most interesting thing you’ve learned recently?

I’ve spent much of the past few days searching out rare visuals to use in the Singles book. It’s so thrilling to find all these old picture sleeve 45s and 12-inch singles and promo CDs that are out there, I love finding the artwork, it’s such a fabulous bonus in the enjoyment of music. Found a real cool sleeve for Neil Young’s Cinnamon Girl from Spain, I think it was.

8. If you could hit the “delete” button on anything related to music (a song, artist, trend, whatever), what would you delete?

Idol and its spin-offs. It’s just not for me; I could care less about a talent hunt with such a limited scope of interest. A battle of the bands, sure, but they are mostly about packaging a potential pop singer. Like, we don’t have enough mainstream pop singers?

9. What’s your favourite thing to drink (alcoholic or otherwise)?

Chocolate milkshakes. I limit myself to the rare one, and it never fails to satisfy.

10. Finish the sentence below and please elaborate on what you mean:

The east coast music scene … continues to grow in a solid and sustainable way.

We have a very small population base, and have to support an overabundance of talented musicians. Luckily, for the most part the industry here has worked towards a good combination of performing and local music sales, rather than chasing the stardom dream. That has bred loyal audiences and fans, and a small but stable star system which can also help launch artists onto a larger stage (think Plaskett) which is still modest but career-building.

11. What’s the next thing you want to accomplish, musically or otherwise?

Well, I guess I’ll have to think up another book project. Top 100 Atlantic Canadian Songs, perhaps.

Check back to EastCoastNoise.com next Friday for a chat with: Nova Scotia singer-songwriter Carmel Mikol

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Josiah Barnett

Josiah Barnett is one of the busier cats in the Moncton music scene, playing bass for punk band Fear of Lipstick and also performing with his own band, Thee Requiems (which grew from his solo project Gil Spectrum & The Requiems). He’s also recorded solo tunes and worked with fellow Monctonian Dana McGinnity as The Glendas.

Thee Requiems (Superbob Records) recently released its debut album, and it has an EP of leftover tracks in the works, while FOL is also gearing for an album release this summer.

You can catch FOL at The Paramount in Moncton on April 30 with Varsity Weirdos and The Beaten Hearts. In the meantime, Barnett fills us in on what else he’s up to and the busy summer he has coming up.

1. What are you up to these days, musically or otherwise? (Feel free to plug whatever you’ve got coming up.)

Thee Requiems, an electric white boy blues band that I am in are readying a new EP called Steal Yr. Idols. It will be a six-song CD release and will be comprised of songs that were left over from the recording session for our debut self-titled record that came out last year on local label Superbob Records. The goal is to have that released by this coming summer.

Another band I am in, Fear of Lipstick, has finished recording a full-length record and this will see an upcoming summer release on California-based label It’s Alive Records. It will be available on both CD and 12-inch vinyl. This summer will also see FOL traveling down to Baltimore, MD for the second time to play the Canadian stage at Insubordination Fest, a three-day pop-punk related festival. I guess besides that, I am also doing some album cover art for local acts Dana Is Gone, The Woods, as well as Thee Requiems new EP. I also did all the cover artwork for Fear of Lipstick’s full length.

2. How did you get into the music business and what was the first major lesson you learned once you got your feet wet?

I finally convinced my parents at the age of 17 that a guitar was a worthy investment. Shortly after that I talked my aunt into buying me a four-track recorder and letting me pay her back in installments. A friend who was visiting me from Ontario showed me some basic chords and this was the beginning of a long love affair with outsider and lo-fi bedroom recordings.

With FOL, I consider myself very lucky. I just happened to get asked to play bass in a band that was already established locally. FOL has been a band for almost a decade, so really, that says two things: You gotta love what you are doing and be very patient along the way. We write and record all of our own songs. Nothing along the way is compromised for anyone. Eventually, someone started to listen to what we were saying.

The first lesson I learned was don’t bring your laptop to New Jersey. Actually, just drive by that place period.

3. What song or album have you been listening to most lately?

Lately I have been listening to this band called The Only Ones. They were an English band who put out three official albums between ’78 and ’80. They are one of these bands that were good enough to get major label releases, but somehow got lost in the mix. They did however have one single, Another Girl, Another Planet, which went on to be covered by a large number of artists. As of late, their catalog has been re-released. I only found out about them a few months ago and they have taken me over.

There is a label from the U.S.A. called Mississippi Records. They have been releasing compilation records and spotlights on blues artists from eras gone by. The music is very interesting and great. They have beautiful packaging too.

Lastly, I have been listening a lot to the new Roky Erickson record. It is his first album in 14 years. He was the frontman for the band The 13th Floor Elevators, one of, if not the originators of psychedelic music. After a hard life of LSD abuse, incarceration, shock treatment, medication and salvation he has returned with a phenomenal record that really shows just how amazing and beneficial his recovery has been.

4. What’s your favourite way to waste time or relax?

I like to watch movies. I watch one or two a day.

5. The Internet and social media are allowing artists to get closer to their fans than they ever were in some respects. What are your thoughts on this?

For someone like myself, who doesn’t necessarily feel a need to go out and perform on a regular basis, I think it is great. My only mail order ever was from the U.S. and happened only because of Myspace. For outsider and non-traditional artists, I feel that the Internet is a massive tool working in their favour.

Let’s say that there is an artist who maybe plays music and records their songs as an emotional outlet and not just for profit or image. Let’s also propose that this artist lives in a place where they have never encountered another fan of the same albums, etc. as they like. They don’t have a scene they can feel a part of. They are listening to/creating stuff that they thought no one else had ever heard or would listen to. Well then what better tool to have at your disposal than the Internet?

6. If you weren’t in the music industry in some capacity, what would you be doing today?

Well, I guess I am doing what I would be doing. I have always had an interest in art and creating and when my time is not taken up by the bands that I am in, I work as a graphic designer, both professionally, and freelance for local bands. I have created several pieces that have been used as album covers, etc. by local acts.

7. What’s the most interesting thing you’ve learned recently?

That Alice Cooper is almost single-handedly responsible for saving and preserving the Hollywood sign. He even donated one of the missing Os.

8. If you could hit the “delete” button on anything related to music (a song, artist, trend, whatever), what would you delete?

Have you heard this band Brokencyde?

9. What’s your favourite thing to drink (alcoholic or otherwise)?

Well I rarely drink alcohol but when I do and it’s not beer, it’s a whiskey sour.

10. Finish the sentence below and please elaborate on what you mean:

The east coast music scene … is like The Breakfast Club.

Even though we are not complete strangers, we belong to different stereotypes and cliques. We have some rebels. We have some preppies. We have some popular musicians and we have some ugly ones. There are basket cases, criminals, poseurs and divas. Here we are, all in detention together trying to pay our dues. All of us are insecure about who we are, but we don’t want anyone else to know that. We are all here for basically the same reason, and we don’t want to make the same mistakes as those before us. Basically we are left unsupervised and as much as we might discover about ourselves along the way, the figures of authority will always see us how they already want to see us.

11. What’s the next thing you want to accomplish, musically or otherwise?

When I go down to Baltimore this summer for Insubordination Fest I want to meet filmmaker John Waters. The last time we went down we played in a punk bar that I had read was his favorite place to go for drinks. Unfortunately he spends his summers somewhere else and I was unable to meet him. This year he is doing a book tour and his last date is in Baltimore a few weeks before we get there. He is as close to any idol I have ever had, and a real inspiration to an artist such as myself, so here’s hoping that he can be found.

Check back to EastCoastNoise.com next Friday for a chat with: Author and longtime New Brunswick reporter Bob Mersereau

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Josh Hogan sings in Orchid's Curse and runs Diminished Fifth Records and Hogan Media Relations.

If you’ve paid any attention to East Coast Noise or any other media outlets that give play to east coast music news or news from the world of metal, you know all about Diminished Fifth Records. The little label that could continues to grow, sign new bands and promote the heaviest of east coast sounds.

The man behind the music is Josh Hogan, a busy-as-hell musician, label head, promoter and all-around nice guy. In addition to running the label, which includes Rusted Dawn, The Daisy Antithesis, Last Call Chernobyl on its roster, Hogan rips it up as singer in Dartmouth band Orchid’s Curse.

As if that weren’t enough, he operates Hogan Media Relations, helping bands like The Motorleague and Iron Giant get their music out to the masses.

There’s never any downtime in Hogan’s world, as you’re about to find out …

1. What are you up to these days, musically or otherwise? (Feel free to plug whatever you’ve got coming up.)

2009 was really a fantastic year for growth of Diminished Fifth Records and Hogan Media Relations and so far we are trying our hardest to make sure that this year tops it. We kicked off 2010 with a highly successful ECMA Loud Tour and Showcase. On March 30th, Diminished Fifth released two new albums (Rusted Dawn and The Daisy Anthesis) which are already both receiving praise from various metal publications in Canada and internationally, and the label is  currently working on our third compilation CD. You can help by voting for the cover art here: http://diminishedfifthrecords.com/poll.htm

Plus, later this summer we have new releases coming by Last Call Chernobyl, who will be performing on the 2010 Vans Warped Tour, as well as the band I sing in, Orchid’s Curse, has finally completed the recording of our follow up to our 2006 debut Goodbye is when the Casket Closes.

2. How did you get into the music business and what was the first major lesson you learned once you got your feet wet?

I got into the business mostly by necessity. Diminished Fifth was started when my band (Orchid’s Curse) began looking for support for our debut album. Likewise, Hogan Media Relations and the now-defunct Horns High Online Magazine were launched out of the label’s necessity to provide exposure for our artists and other artists who are not often featured in the musical spotlight of the east coast music scene. As for my feet getting wet, I jumped in head first but I’ve yet to drown and am still learning new lessons each and every day.

The first big lesson I learned is still the most important … Be courteous and help others out as much as you can … you can often learn more listening then asking questions. The industry isn’t all “Me, Me, Me” anymore and people need to value the strong community of individuals which are working towards building and strengthening the east coast scene regardless of their musical genres.

3. What song or album have you been listening to most lately?

As usual, copious amounts of Thin Lizzy and the new Dillinger Escape Plan album Option Paralysis.

4. What’s your favourite way to waste time or relax?

Relax? I don’t have any clue what you are talking about…

5. The Internet and social media are allowing artists to get closer to their fans than they ever were in some respects.  What are your thoughts on this?

Like it or not this is the path to the future of music … I, for one, like it.  I think it’s great that there are a lot less famous and super-wealthy because there are a lot more “middle-class” people in the industry and more artists than ever have the option to sustain a possible career by playing music … I think the new music generations will see a lot less “superstar/stadium bands” playing to tens or hundreds of thousands but more bands playing to hundreds or thousands. I’m eagerly awaiting what the new era of the music industry will bring.

6. If you weren’t in the music industry in some capacity, what would you be doing today?

This is a scary question, ha ha … I had no ‘plan b’ going into the label and I still don’t. Music is one of the only things I have been passionate about since I can remember being a child.  I can be quite certain that without the music industry my life would be significantly much less entertaining but also much more filled with sleep.

7. What’s the most interesting thing you’ve learned recently?

That perseverance and hard work really do pay off.  (I’ve also learned that saying cliché things like the previous sentence, although true, sounds incredibly lame.)

8. If you could hit the “delete” button on anything related to music (a song, artist, trend, whatever), what would you delete?

MuchMusic/MTV reality TV shows… likely reality TV in general.

9. What’s your favourite thing to drink (alcoholic or otherwise)?

A well-made caesar (with rye), an imported or microbrew beer or my morning coffee.

10. Finish the sentence below and please elaborate on what you mean:

The east coast music scene … is full of talent and despite the small population we can go pound for pound with any other region for talented musicians.

11. What’s the next thing you want to accomplish, musically or otherwise?

Keep pushing the envelope for heavy music in the east coast with Diminished Fifth, and keep working with artists through Hogan Media Relations.

Check back to EastCoastNoise.com next Friday for a chat with: Thee Requiems and Fear of Lipstick’s Josiah Barnett

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Moncton's Marco Rocca is set to release his debut solo album next week.

Marco Rocca is perhaps best known to most as one-quarter of longtime Moncton punk band Hope.

But the guitarist and singer has busied himself with several other projects in recent years. In addition to serving as guitarist and backing vocalist in The Monoxides, Rocca formed a four-piece rock band The Nuclear with Hope bandmate Tommy “T-Bone” Antle, Sour Grapes’ bassist Pascal “Pak Twisted” Toussaint and Monoxides axeman Derek Robichaud. The band has one album out, released in 2008.

And now he’s branching out even further. Next week, Rocca releases his first solo record, Hopeless in the Haze, an album that blends folk, rock and a touch of punk. The album is available for streaming now here.

Rocca joins us this week to fill us in on what he’s up to, his new addition to video games and why he can’t let himself buy Pepsi.

1. What are you up to these days, musically or otherwise? (Feel free to plug whatever you’ve got coming up.)

I’ve got an album coming out very soon with a release show in Halifax at Gus’s Pub April 15th and The Paramount in Moncton on the 16th. (Rocca will also perform at The Boulevard in Miramichi on Saturday, April 17). I recorded it on my own in various basements around Moncton and Riverview. Took a while to finish as I didn’t intend on releasing it….but now that it’s finished I think it’s worthy of a proper release.

2. How did you get into the music business and what was the first major lesson you learned once you got your feet wet?

I guess my first step in the direction of “the music business” would have been around the age of 15 when our band The Disowned would sell tapes of albums we recorded. A few years later I joined Hope and we started touring Canada to promote our albums. By the time of our third album together we toured the USA with Vans Warped Tour.

The first major lessons I learned was to be very careful about who you trust. You have to take risks and there will be losses so make decisions as a band; let everyone have their say. Also, do what you want with your set, but don’t go over time and get your stuff on and off as stage as fast as you can! It doesn’t matter if you have fans screaming for one more song. Respect the other bands. If it’s not your own headlining gig and you play an extra five minutes, you’re taking time away from another band.

3. What song or album have you been listening to most lately?

I have The Traveling Wilburys Vol.3 in my car right now, and I think it’ll stay there for a while. Before that I was listening to the latest Rancid and Paul McCartney’s RAM quite a bit. I just asked my girlfriend what else I’ve been listening to lately and she said, “yourself, yourself and yourself”…..so yeah, I’ve been listening to my new record quite a bit as well. It’s more like analyzing it.

4. What’s your favourite way to waste time or relax?

Playing music, and playing video games. The latter is new to me. I haven’t played video games like this since I was 10 years old. I bought an xbox 11 months ago and haven’t looked back.

5. The Internet and social media are allowing artists to get closer to their fans than they ever were in some respects. What are your thoughts on this?

There’s a long list of pros and cons to this. If the artist remains in control of the content and how he/she reaches his/her fans then I think the pros outweigh the cons. If artists lose control of their work, what do they have left? All in all, from an independent and pretty much unknown musician’s perspective the Internet is obviously one of the greatest tools we have in reaching new fans. From a nostalgic perspective … it hurts a little.

6. If you weren’t in the music industry in some capacity, what would you be doing today?

I love science, but was never good in math … so would that make me a philosopher? I have a friend who majored in Philosophy. I should ask him what he does and then get back to you.

7. What’s the most interesting thing you’ve learned recently?

Ozone is created when UV Rays hit Oxygen.

Hemochromatosis is a hereditary disease that disrupts the way the body metabolizes iron. Although it can be fatal, it helped many Europeans survive The Bubonic Plague as well as others. If your macrophages lack iron it makes it hard for viruses to spread infection and that gives the body more time to defend itself. Also, bloodletting is a simple treatment for people living with the disease today.

8. If you could hit the “delete” button on anything related to music (a song, artist, trend, whatever), what would you delete?

Without a doubt Cowboy Troy’s “I Play Chicken With The Train” would be deleted.

9. What’s your favourite thing to drink (alcoholic or otherwise)?

I drank way too much Pepsi as a kid. These days I try not to buy it at the grocery store because I’ll drink unhealthy amounts of it morning, day and night.  As for alcohol, I like all kinds of whiskey. No mix. Ice is fine though.

10. Finish the sentence below and please elaborate on what you mean:

The east coast music scene is … huge. There are so many musicians and styles of music here. I think a lot of people don’t realize just how many working musicians there are on the east coast. We have it all, from punk to bluegrass, metal to hip-hop, classical and traditional. There are always going to be groups that form their own little niche based on similarities and even camaraderie, but the music scene here is more than that. It’s all walks and styles. It’s indie and pro. It’s full of talent.

11. What’s the next thing you want to accomplish, musically or otherwise?

I’ve just started working with a booking agent; a long-time friend who’s decided to put his talents to even more use. So I’m really looking forward to playing more often and to new places. The record I’m about to release was recorded over a year ago, so I’m ready to start work on my next record. By the time the next record is done, I believe it will be time for The Nuclear and Hope to get to the studio once again. We’ve had some down time recently, but the next few years are going to be busy.

Check back to EastCoastNoise.com next Friday for a chat with: Diminished Fifth Records’ head Josh Hogan

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Jessica Rhaye is about to embark on an east coast tour.

Saint John singer-songwriter Jessica Rhaye has been on a whirlwind in recent years — travelling the globe playing shows, releasing a few albums along with a DVD and racking up a string of East Coast Music Award nominations not only for her music, but for her graphic design work as well.

Last year, she spoke with East Coast Noise about her latest album, Good Things. This time she’s back just as she’s gearing up to hit the road with an east coast tour (dates can be found below).

1. What are you up to these days, musically or otherwise? (Feel free to plug whatever you’ve got coming up.)

I just got home after being away in Memphis for the Folk Alliance, Vancouver for the Olympics (opened for Classified on the Atlantic Canada House Stage) and Sydney, Nova Scotia for the ECMAs. I have a small tour of the Maritimes coming up … playing at the Blue Olive in Saint John, Riverview Arts Centre in Moncton, Live Bait Theatre in Sackville, The Anne Murray Centre in Springhill, N.S. and The Carleton in Halifax, N.S. You can check out my website calendar for more details on these performances.

2. How did you get into the music business and what was the first major lesson you learned once you got your feet wet?

I have been singing and writing music ever since I was a little girl. It wasn’t until I recorded and released my first CD in 1999-2000 that I became involved in the music business. I have since written and recorded two more albums, been nominated for a total of 11 ECMAs and have performed all over Canada, parts of the U.S., England and Niger, Africa.

Along my musical journey I have learned that you really have to get out there and make things happen for yourself.

3. What song or album have you been listening to most lately?

Neil Young Comes a Time has been in my car CD player for about a year now. I love his version of Ian Tyson’s song Four Strong Winds.

4. What’s your favourite way to waste time or relax?

I like to look for new recipes online and cook/bake in my spare time. I find it relaxing, fun and sometimes very delicious.

5. The Internet and social media are allowing artists to get closer to their fans than they ever were in some respects. What are your thoughts on this?

The Internet and social media allow artists to promote themselves directly to their fans, and because there are so many different networking medias available it is easier for fans to find new music and for artists to keep their fans updated, on a personal level, on what’s going on what’s coming up, IE: concerts, music and everyday happenings.

6. If you weren’t in the music industry in some capacity, what would you be doing today?

I would probably just concentrate on graphic design.

7. What’s the most interesting thing you’ve learned recently?

I just learned how to prepare a print file with spot lamination.

8. If you could hit the “delete” button on anything related to music (a song, artist, trend, whatever), what would you delete?

Hmmm … Well, I wish I could delete some of my first “starting out on stage” moments … I know everybody has to start somewhere, but there are a few memories I wish I could delete and fast forward to now.

9. What’s your favourite thing to drink (alcoholic or otherwise)?

Caesars with no tabasco, and red wine.

10. Finish the sentence below and please elaborate on what you mean:

The east coast music scene … features some of North America’s most talented artists/music. When I was in Memphis for the Folk Alliance, there were thousands of music artists, from all over the world performing and showcasing their music all hours of the day and night. It was overwhelming, however, I found myself in the ECMA room every night listening and enjoying the music from the east coast. It would suck me in and keep me there all night.

11. What’s the next thing you want to accomplish, musically or otherwise?

I’d like to get out and perform for more people, and I’d like to start a family in the very near future.

Catch Jessica at the following shows:

Apr. 8 – Blue Olive, Saint John, N.B.
Apr. 9 – Anne Murray Centre, Springhill, N.S.
Apr. 10 – Live Bait Theatre, Sackville, N.B.
Apr. 11 – Carleton, Halifax, N.S.
Apr. 16 – Riverview Arts Centre, Riverview, N.B.
Apr. 17 – Junofest @ O’Reilly’s, St. John’s, N.L.

Check back to EastCoastNoise.com next Friday for a chat with: Marco Rocca

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