Coming in March

Today an email reached our office from SaskMusic announcing the artists who had been selected to have tracks included on a compilation CD of Saskatchewan music due out in March -- just in time, SaskMusic notes, for Canada Music Week and SXSW in Austin.

Out of over 100 submissions province-wide, the jury selected the following artists: Volcanoless in Canada, The Deep Dark Woods, Library Voices, Carbon Dating Service, Rah Rah, Violent Kin, Shuyler Jansen, Codie Prevost, Wyatt, The Sheepdogs, Jordan Cook, Ultimate Power Duo, Karrnnel, Def 3 (pictured), Alexis Normand, Jen Lane, Jeffery Straker, Jason Plumb & the Willing and Semko/Fontaine/Taylor.

I don't know if they submitted, but missing Regina bands that come instantly to mind for me include Hot Blood Bombers, WestPort Murders and The Polymaths. Anyone else have any thoughts?

Mind the Gap! Catalogue and Website Released

Art exhibitions are nice, but let's suppose you're too cold to see one in person. Or maybe you didn't hear about the exhibition in time. Or perhaps you're not even born yet, and you're planning on someday wondering what kind of art was being made at a given point in time.

That's what exhibition catalogues are for.


Mind the Gap! is an expansive exhibition of contemporary Saskatchewan art curated by Amanda Cachia and Jeff Nye at the Dunlop Art Gallery. The curators traveled all over the province, meeting with artists in communities large and small, all in an effort to bring together a diverse collection of artwork currently being made in Saskatchewan.

The catalogue is a nice addition to the exhibition, as it gives readers a glimpse into the background and intent of the show. Nye's essay explores some of the related themes present in the artists' work. The book also features works of creative non-fiction and poetry by Alice Kuipers, Bonnie Dunlop, Carle Steel, and Matt Hall, commissioned for the catalogue.

The exhibition, which will be touring several Saskatchewan galleries beginning in 2010, also has a website containing much of the content found in the catalogue.

Being that the Dunlop is part of the RPL, I'm sure there is a copy you can read for free. Or, if you're the consumerist-type, there are also copies available for purchase. Just think, non-denominational-winter-gift-giving day is just around the corner!

Finally, for the sake of transparency, I feel I should note that I have a piece in the show. But don't let that deter you! It's a fine exhibition, and a very pretty book, so please check it out.

Saskatchewan Book Awards

Last night at Conexus Arts Centre the 17th annual Saskatchewan Book Awards gala was held. Book of the Year honours were captured by Margaret Hryniuk and Frank Korvemaker for their lushly illustrated Legacy of Stone: Saskatchewan's Stone Buildings (Coteau Books).

Other big winners included Wilfred Burton and Anne Patton, who received three awards (Publishing, First People's Publishing and First People's Writing) for Dancing in My Bones (Gabriel Dumont Institute); and Trevor Herriot, who garnered two awards (Non-Fiction and Regina Book) for Grass, Sky, Song: Promise and Peril in the World of Grassland Birds (HarperCollins). Connie Gault, meanwhile, captured the Fiction prize for Euphoria: A Novel (Coteau Books).

For a complete list of winners in the 14 categories visit www.bookawards.sk.ca