news & press releases
O&AL on the Vinyl CafE
O&AL were featured on a recent broadcast of The Vinyl Cafe in which Stuart McLean et al. explored the ups and downs of the winter season. The song "Northern Lights" - from the 2008 self-titled, full-length album - was played alongside a number of stories and songs depicting the varied ways in which we come to terms with the season and its mood.
New Song: Maggie Howie
Olenka Krakus penned the song “Maggie Howie” which she performed with Autumn Lover Sara Froese as their contribution to Henry Svec's compilation Folk Songs of Canada Now. The song was recorded in London by Andrew James and features ambient background sounds courtesy of London traffic, Sara's cat, and Mr. Svec himself. Folk Songs of Canada Now offers up a collection of modern field recordings, showcasing the sometimes silly, often poignant, stories of a seemingly modern yet timeless era, and featuring a number of Canada's finest artists. It can be downloaded for free here.
Check out this stellar review of the album.
Olenka & Lightfoot
Olenka has contributed a cover of "Rainy Day People" to a compilation of Gordon Lightfoot songs put together by the fine folks at Herohill. You can download your FREE copy of the compilation at this link.
Polaris Prize Jury Picks
A number of Polaris jury members included And Now We Sing as one of their top five picks for the 2011 prize. Mark Rheaume of CBC Music Resources explains: "My 'under the radar' choice from my list is Olenka Krakus, a highly original, quirky songwriter who crafts great tunes." Read more...
And Ryan McNutt from Halifax explains that although the album didn't make it into the official long list, And Now We Sing was still "a real sentimental favourite. There [were] a lot of great folk/country albums in the field this year, but for my money none were as varied, or as powerful, as that one." Read more...
JRMAs 2011
Olenka Krakus won the 2011 Jack Richardson Music Award for Contemporary Singer/Songwriter in April.
O&AL distributed by Sonic Unyon
O&AL have signed a distribution deal with Hamilton-based label Sonic Unyon. The band's catalogue will now be available physically nationwide in Canada and digitally worldwide. To pick up an album or individual tracks, check out O&AL on iTunes, or visit Sonic Unyon's store to place an order directly, or drop in to your local record store!
Olenka's CBC Radio 3 Podcast
Olenka features a number of London bands/artists in her CBC3 podcast. Take a listen here.
O&AL on CBC's Q
O&AL performed as Q's live music guests on Friday, March 11th with guest-host Jann Arden. If you're interested in taking a listen, you can download the podcast at this link!
blog
Connie Converse Cover
O&AL and CBC3 COuntdown
Our song "Odessa" was included in CBC3's countdown of the Top 103 songs of 2011! You can listen to the song alongside it's Canadian indie confederates on the countdown podcast.
October 2011 Tour
Here are some videos from our most recent tour. These were shot by Sebastien Ouellet at Fou Bar at a show that we did with our good friend Jane Ehrhardt.
NO COINS
Watch on YouTube
LARK
Watch on YouTube
O&AL @ NXNE 2011
O&AL performed at their official NXNE 2011 showcase on Friday, June 17th at midnight at the Gladstone (1214 Queen St W). The band also did an acoustic performance for the Live-in-Bellwoods series in Trinity-Bellwoods Park Friday afternoon at 4pm. Check out reviews of the performances here, here, and here.
CMW 2011
Olenka and the ladies, and guest bassist Tyler Belluz, performed two showcases on Friday, March 11th for CMW. Here's a link to the Exclaim review of their afternoon performance for the Live Near Bellwoods series & some great footage of this performance courtesy of Humble Empire.
Southern Souls videos
Our tireless friend Mitch Fillion has done it again. Mitch met me just prior to a solo show I did at the Horseshoe in Toronto; we ran out onto the street to find a suitable space to shoot some footage and ended up recording a few videos in a building hallway near the venue. You can check out these new videos for the songs "Berlin" (off the new album) and "Don't Make Sense" (unreleased) below, or visit the Southern Souls website. If you're unfamiliar with the site, you should definitely check it out; Mitch has produced an enviable collection of videos of impromptu performances from a slew of Canadian artists. Aside from my new solo songs, we recorded two songs with him on Dec. 10th, 2009: "No Coins" and "Mama's Bag" (both from the new album); "No Coins" is also featured below.
BERLIN
Southern Souls.ca
DON'T MAKE SENSE
Southeron Souls.ca
NO COINS
CBC Radio
Hey Canada, CBC needs your support. Even the most popular of CBC radio programs are currently under threat of budget reductions and cuts, largely due to asinine, conservative underappreciation of the value of the arts to Canadian culture, especially at times of social and economic crisis.
Please do your part and support our only space for less ideologically encumbered programming and listen to the CBC.
