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One of the things that I love about living in Nova Scotia is that I keep discovering lots of talent all around…it’s not that there hasn’t been talent in other places where I’ve lived and grown up… there is, but being a little bit “from away” gives you a bit of a different perspective. The latest NS musical discovery that I’ve made is a guy originally from Mount Uniacke called Buck 65 (with his secret identity being Richard Tefry). He’s got a Tom Waitsian sense of language, but combined with a great hip hop sense that is based in his reality, which is closer to my own reality which has it’s own rural elements.
Every now and then you realize what a small place this part of Canada can be. I drive a lot and listen to the radio or music a lot as well. In the lead up to the East Coast Music Awards there was a lot of coverage on CBC Radio of the musicians nominated for awards and Tefry was on the radio with a great interview and an intriguing song. A day later a guest I had brought in to my class at work turned out to also be Buck’s manager, so then I figured when I had a chance I should pick up the latest CD, which is called Square. The cover looked familiar and I realized that it was drawn by James Paterson of Presstube fame. Jeez… he studied in NS too…and used his Flash skills for the site supporting the CD (where you can listen and decide to buy it for yourself). The CD is great (which is probably why it won “Best Urban Recording”) and is divided into 4 tracks. Definitely not a collection of singles, but a series of long-form explorations of different ideas, beats and sounds… I really like it and will be a regular consumer of his work.