All posts by Alex Cook

Food & Drink

The Whisky Lassie: The Alter-Ego Of Johanne McInnis

It’s 2:00pm, the appointed time to meet with our next interview subject, and my photographer is not at all where I’ve left him. He does this sometimes: wandering off after shiny objects; the glint of a window pane, or a strong silhouette can leave him helpless to his more artistic urges. His cell phone rings again, and again. Finally, he picks up on the third attempt. “Where are you?” I ask.

“We’re here!” he answers through fits of laughter.
“Here?” I ask.
“Here.”
It was the most shocking answers he could have given me; as surprising as if he had announced a decision to spend the rest of his days as a post box. I’ve known John for three years now, and the exact coinciding of him being in both the correct place, concurrently with the correct time, means I am missing something good. I sprint the last two blocks to Prince William Street’s Bourbon Quarter to find John already drinking his second beer amidst a mirthful crowd, and at the center of it: Johanne McInnis.

“You have to try this; it’s delicious,” she says, already signalling the waitress. This is why Johanne McInnis is so dangerous. Continue reading The Whisky Lassie: The Alter-Ego Of Johanne McInnis →

Paint

Pamela Marie Pierce: Embracing Saint John

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Whether you’re familiar with Pamela Pierce or not, if you live in Saint John it’s likely that you are at least familiar with her artwork. It can be found in many of our coffee shops and storefronts, gracing the covers and pages of ‘Hard Times in the Maritimes‘, and, for the month of December, she has opened a ‘Pop-up Art Shoppe’ on Germain Street. Continue reading Pamela Marie Pierce: Embracing Saint John →

Music

A Fireside Chat With Mike Biggar

“I’m a dynamo! Pew-pew-pew!” Mike Biggar launches into the interview with both guns blazing. He’s had two cups of coffee, or at least two that I’ve seen, and they’re both working. Mike is a country musician and, full disclosure, I’m not a country music fan, so when I say his album, ‘Feels Like Now’, is listenable, that is high praise indeed. There’s even an unnerving sense that it has grown on me, but Mike waylays any fears of early onset Achy-Breaky-Heart-Disease, “I’m not a very twangy, cowboy hat wearing… My Keith Urban hair is the closest I get to Nashville. I try to not put the word ‘country’ out without the word ‘roots’; I worry that people get the impression that I’m striving to be a representative of the most country of country music.” Continue reading A Fireside Chat With Mike Biggar →

Music

Tomato/Tomato Release Video For ‘Toss It All Away’

Today, Tomato/Tomato‘s John and Lisa McLaggan announced the release of their first video, ‘Toss It All Away’.

“The song is about those days where you just want to throw in the towel and disappear from the world a bit; just live off the land with your family”, Lisa tells me. Suitable to the song’s themes, the video itself is the quintessence of simplicity, a window on the everyday adorableness that the Saint John duo embody. “Basically, we did it all live, we really wanted to capture what we do at our shows,” which is to say, all that fancy footwork isn’t the product of elaborate cinematography and clever video splicing, but the genuine Tomato/tomato experience. Lisa’s combination washboard/kick-drum/kick-tambourine tap-dance is an impressive staple to their live performances. Continue reading Tomato/Tomato Release Video For ‘Toss It All Away’ →