🗞️ A long road to the JUNOs

Good morning!

Yesterday’s sunshine and blue skies were lovely to see—and today’s forecast doesn’t look too shabby, either. This past weekend, it seemed like everyone was out in our Halifax neighbourhood—and that’s without even mentioning the flurry of folks in green t-shirts, jerseys, hats and pants parading the downtown.

About yesterday’s newsletter: This past weekend was marked by an unexpected emergency within The Coast’s small editorial team, which meant that some of our web wires got crossed—and in turn, you didn’t get to read Matt Stickland’s council piece on speed limit changes coming to Dartmouth. Thanks for your patience with that. (It’s on the way. Soon.)

The good news is we’re all on the mend, even if some of us didn’t get to quaff the green St. Paddy’s beer we’d been looking forward to. Plus, more sunshine is coming—and that’s not a bad thing at all.

– Martin

🌡️ Traffic & Weather

Today: 🌤️ 7°

Tomorrow: ⛅️ 5°

Next Day: 🌧️ 3°

7-day forecast

🚗 Driving, biking or busing today? Check out the current traffic conditions and ongoing road closures.

MUSIC

Aysanabee’s long, winding and wild road to the JUNOs

Aysanabee was snowshoeing across a river in below-40-degree weather when he broke through the ice. He was working in the far reaches of Northern Ontario at the time. His job was to stake claims on land that could be mined. The then-teenaged musician would travel by bush plane and snowmobile with an axe. It was lonesome work, but it paid. And he could bring his guitar along for the wee hours of the night.

On this fateful February trek, he was by himself. The water started to pull at his snowshoes and pants. He could hear the crackle of the ice.

“I stuck my axe into the ice and pulled myself across,” Aysanabee told the Halifax crowd at the Rebecca Cohn Auditorium on Nov. 12, 2023. “I knew if I went under, I was too weighed down to swim. And I wasn’t sure I’d be able to punch my way through the ice.”

Amid the prayers for survival and the desperate fight to reach safety—he was still a long snowshoe trek away from camp—Aysanabee made a resolution: If he lived, he would “do something different” with his life.

“I was promising to myself and a higher power that if I got through that moment, I would go play music.”

He survived. And the music? That’s going pretty well for Aysanabee these days. This Thursday, Mar. 21, he joins Grammy winner Allison Russell for a show at the Light House Arts Centre (tickets are still available), and on Sunday, Mar. 24, he’ll perform at the JUNO Awards in Halifax—where he’s up for a trio of awards, including “Songwriter of the Year” and “Alternative Album of the Year.”

Ahead of his busy Halifax week, he spoke with The Coast about his unlikely musical beginnings—and where he’s heading.

🤔 Need To Know

🚨 Halifax police are investigating after reports of gunshots in the city’s west end shut down traffic on Connaught Avenue between Bayers Road and Edgewood Avenue late Monday morning.

📈 Economists expect that new Statistics Canada numbers—due today—will show the country’s inflation rate hit the 3% mark last month.

🎭 Raven Dauda's (Star Trek: Odyssey) award-winning play, Addicted, has audiences captivated. "Outstanding!" "Beautiful show." "A riveting delight." "Phenomenal and mesmerizing." Closes March 24. Tickets start at $25 at Neptune Theatre.*

🏠 A new report finds one Halifax neighbourhood lost 39% of its lowest-income housing supply in a five-year span.

🩰 Want to have a night at the Ballet? Come see Ballet Edmonton presented by Live Art Dance. On stage this week at the Spatz Theatre!*

⛸️ The Emera Oval skating rink has officially closed for the winter season, the HRM says.

*Sponsored Post

SPONSORED BY 2024 HALIFAX JUNO HOST COMMITTEE

Get your free ticket to JUNO Block Party

The 2024 JUNO Awards will be hosted in Halifax between March 21-24. One event happening during JUNO Week is the JUNO Block Party—a concert-style showcase featuring a diverse range of Canadian talent and emerging artists. For three electrifying nights, fans will be able to experience unforgettable performances by some of their favourite musicians and JUNO-nominated artists at the Foundation North Parking Lot in a giant tent. The JUNO Block Party is free to attend, but a ticket is required. Get your ticket here.

Wondering about the best way to get to JUNO Week events? Hop on the FREE JUNO Express, take a park-and-ride shuttle, or the ferry with extended service. Find out more here.

Stay up-to-date on JUNO Week events @halifaxjunos or halifaxjunos.ca.

🗞️ In Other News

🚨 A 34-year-old Parrsboro man faces a list of charges, including assaulting a peace officer, after an incident in the Tantallon area late Saturday night.

🏥 A Friday water leak in a Halifax mental health and addictions inpatient unit prompted QEII to relocate several patients.

🌲 A Mi’kmaq-led sea conservation area could become part of a larger, protected national park.

💰 Ottawa has struck a deal with Germany to sell Canadian-made hydrogen, including from a proposed project in Nova Scotia.

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Be the first to savour some of Burger Bash's tasty restaurant creations, by visiting 5 of our participating restaurants April 4-7

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🤔 Trivia Tuesday

🗓️ Things To Do

Looking for something to do this week? Check out these Coast picks:

🗓 Robyn Ottolini at Marquee Ballroom: See the rising Canadian country singer-songwriter in Halifax on her All My Friends Are Hot Tour. | Mar. 19 | 8pm | $29.07

🗓 Allison Russell at Light House Arts Centre: The Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter and activist visits Halifax alongside Oji-Cree singer Aysanabee for a special pre-JUNOs show. | Mar. 21 | 8pm | From $44.45

🗓 Amir Amiri Ensemble: Hear the diverse sonic palette of Persian traditional, folkloric and dastgahi music at the Lilian Piercey Concert Hall this Saturday. | Mar. 23 | 7:30pm | Pay what you can

🗓 Elaine McCluskey’s Book Launch: Hear the award-winning Dartmouth author read from her latest whodunnit book, The Gift Child, at the Alderney Gate Public Library this Sunday. | Mar. 24 | 2pm | Free.

Find more Halifax events in The Coast listings.

⚓️ What’s In The Harbour

➡️ The 294-metre-long NYK Nebula container ship leaves Halifax in the wee hours of Tuesday morning for Port Everglades, FL.

➡️ The Pacific Trader container ship is slated to leave Halifax for Kingston, Jamaica, around 4:30am.

🚢 The 55,828-tonne Atlantic Sky container ship is expected to reach Halifax’s Fairview Cove Terminal around 5:20am. It arrives from Liverpool, UK, and leaves for New York by 4:30pm.

🚢 The ONE Stork container ship is due in Halifax around 5:45am from New York.

➡️ The 160-metre-long Tropic Hope container ship is set to leave Halifax around 7am for West Palm Beach, FL.

🚢 The 14,288-tonne BBC Topaz general cargo ship is slated to arrive in Halifax around 9:30pm after a four-week voyage from Singapore.

🛍️ Shop Talk

🍽️ There’s a new Indian restaurant coming to Quinpool Road in the former Garden of Eat’n (beside the Quinn’s Arms).

🍺 Musquodoboit’s The Harbour Brewing Company is closing its doors once the property is sold “or we run out of beer,” its owners say.

👀 In Case You Missed It

🤝 Staff at Nova Scotia Community College struck a tentative deal with the college’s administration over the weekend, avoiding a potential strike.

🗳️ Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre was in Halifax over the weekend—in theory, to rally against the federal carbon tax, but also to opine about the “woke media.” (The Examiner’s Tim Bousquet has a good summary of Poilievre’s rally and his emission omissions.)

🎬 Meet the teenaged Halifax director whose short film has cracked festival lineups from San Diego to Montreal.

That’s it!

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