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THE TRI-CITY'S WEEKLY ALTERNATIVE, September 27 - Oct 3, 2001 (Kitchener/Waterloo/Wellington, Ontario)
"VERSE, CHORUS, BRIDGE"
By Brent Hagerman
Another Songwriter hitting a local stage this weekend is Thaneah (pronounced Tah-ney-yah). Thaneah has made the journey from Edmonton to perform at the Raintree Cafe this Friday night. Originally hailing from Montreal, Thaneah has been based in Edmonton since the mid-eighties. An all-around artist, she has created her own theatre production and design companies, and worked in both graphic design and clothing design. It wasn't until age 33 that she discovered her love of music and songwriting and picked up a guitar. Since that time, Thaneah has performed at folk festivals, made radio appearances, and has recently recorded an EP. Thaneah's power as a performer was discovered a few years ago when she played a gig at Edmonton's Paperboys. One of her songs inspired an audience member to turn promoter and organise the first ever Edmonton's Women and Song Festival. Not a bad notch on your CV! You can hear Thaneah tomorrow night, and, in case you get inspired, I don't think we have a Waterloo/Wellington Woman and Song Festival yet.
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VUE Weekly, October 7 - October 13. 1999
"FEMME AND FORTUNE"
First Time Promoter Celebrates Women in Music
By David DiCenzo
You don't usually wake up one morning and say, "Hey, I should get to promotin' some concerts." In most cases, promoters put on a show because (a) they wanna make money, (b) they wanna make more money or (c) all of the above.
But local gal Florence Pastour had some other reasons in mind. Last winter, after braving the elements to check out a show at the old Paperboys on the South Side, she had an epiphany. Seeing the talents of little-known folk musician Thaneah Krohn moved her in a way she just wasn't prepared for. lmmediately. she thought someone should put on a concert showcasing the genuine talents of people who aren't necessarily household names.
Better yet, Pastour decided, she'd do it herself. "There were about 30 of us in the room that night and at least a few of us wept," she says of Krohn' s touching performance. "It was very powerful, very intimate. For an entire week, I thought about it. What I was most moved about was that I had never heard of Thaneah."
Now, months later, Pastour is ready for her foray into promoting, and the show she's created revolves around what she knows and what she loves most: women's music. It goes by the name of Edmonton's Women and Song Festival, and poses Pastour a bit of a risk, since she's paying all the bills out of her own pocket. But that's okay with her - the event is, truly, a labour of love.
"Muslc really came alive to me when there were more women hitting the scene, she explains. Sometlmes, you'll lose a bit of perspective on things, and every once in a while, a song comes along and you realize it'll pass."
After seeing Krohn play, Pastour figured out what she wanted for the concert - first, it should be intimate, and second, the lineup of musicians should have a good mix of style. ethnicity and especially notoriety. Of the more established acts in the Edmonton's Women and Song Festival lineup, performing vets like Kathleen Yearwood, Cori Brewster and Asani are at the forefront. But some of the other names include talents like Dawn Dextrase, Krohn (was there any doubt?), Shelley Foss and Amelia Shultz McPherson.
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The Edmonton Journal, Friday, September 3, 1999
"NEW LILITH FAIR FESTIVAL?"
By Sandra Sperounes
Sarah McLachlan's celebration of women may have come to an end, but Flo Pastour’s is about to begin. She's organizing Edmonton’s Female Singer-Songwriter Festival at the Sidetrack Cafe Oct. 12. Pastour realizes the title isn’t as catchy as Lilith Fair, but it's better than some of the suggestions she's received.
"I’ve had the most horrific titles come up", laughs Pastour. Some of the most groan-inducing include: Fallopian Tunes, Womb With A Tune and Crème de la Femme.
This is Pastour’s first foray into the world of music promoting - she’s usually found working in the constituency office of Edmonton MLA Raj Pannu. But Pastour says she was prompted into setting up the mini-festival after seeing a local woman (Thaneah) perform in January.
"I openly wept at this one song she was singing about her mom. It was this epic war and peace song and it just touched something in me", says Pastour.
"I bounced home and thought. Women’s music means so much to me. Its so healing and powerful."
Pastour has rounded up a plethora of acts for the Oct. 12 event, but the lineup still has to be firmed up. Stay tuned...
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SEE Magazine May 27- June 2, 1999
"SINGING THE BALLS OFF A BRASS MONKEY?"
Music Preview By Stew Slater
Brass Monkey Singer Songwriter Competition, Provincial Finals
Blues On Whyte
Sunday, May 30
The study of ethnomusicology has traditionally dealt with nearly forgotten musical genres from people and places outside the mainstream. Canadian singer/songwriters don’t necessarily fit the bill, but Joel Kroeker promises to change that.
"I’m going to make (singer/songwriter music) fit," said Kroeker, of his pursuit of a masters degree in ethnomusicology and popular music studies at the University of Alberta.
Kroeker completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Manitoba, where he built a name composing music for string quartets and other classical ensembles. But he has since found a voice in singer/songwriter music, both through a change in the focus of his studies and in his own musical creations. Just as importantly, he realized he had a previously untapped knack for vocals and now can perform the music he creates without going through the trouble of finding someone else to perform it.
Kroeker was victorious in last Sunday’s Edmonton finals of this year’s Brass Monkey Singer Songwriter competition and now is among four provincial finalists. He and fellow Edmontonian Thaneah, who finished second last Sunday, will compete against two Calgary winners – Lindsay Jane and Mitch Hayes – for provincial honours on Sunday, May 30 at Blues on Whyte (10329-82 Ave).
Also competing in last week’s Edmonton finals were Ahlia Vallevand and Jim Malmberg. Malmberg is a member of local folk band Sticks and Stones and has been writing songs for almost 15 years, while Vallevand manages to squeeze in songwriting and some open stage performances with her hectic day job at Greenpeace.
Thaneah, meanwhile, recently returned to her high school love of songwriting after being given a book entitled The Artist’s Way. She says the competition, which involved a preliminary round, semifinals and the Edmonton finals, has played a role in the completion of four recent songs. Though it hasn’t inspired the tunes directly, seeing other people’s approaches and being forced to think more about her craft have helped boost her output considerably, she says.
And though Vallevand questions the validity of having someone "judge" another person’s art, she agrees the competition provides new songwriters with a chance to test their work on audiences.
Either way, it’s clear there’s value for Alberta’s music community in the competition that in past years has included the likes of Wendy McNeill and Maria Dunn (who will give a showcase performance this Sunday following the competition). Fertile ground, it seems, for Kroeker’s ethnomusicology study. And fertile ground as well for his recent artistic pursuits in songwriting.
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VUE WEEKLY. May 20 - May 26, 1999
"HATS ENTERTAINMENT"
Singer/Songwriter Competition Edmonton Finals • Blues on Whyte
Sun, May 23 The end is near. The 4th Annual Singer/Songwriter Competition, which has been playing to good houses every Sunday night in Old Strathcona since April, has almost completed its run. Two winners will advance from Sunday evening to meet the two finalists from the Calgary competition in the May 30 provincial final.
Our fair burg’s hopes will be pinned on Sticks and Stones’ Jim Malmberg, along with Joel Kroeker and two women named simply Ahlia and Thaneah, to defeat the Calgary infidels.
The path that’s led Thaneah to the finals has been circuitous, to say the least. The Montreal native had wanted to make music since her early teens, but says she got discouraged early on: "I was afraid to ‘go for it'," she says, "versus getting a real nine-to-five job." Instead, she opted to get a fine arts degree at a Quebec college, which was then followed in 1984 by a move to Edmonton.
"I worked in theatre as a prop-master for four years," she says, "until I started losing interest in the whole thing. "The urge to make music was still gnawing at her, and so she... started making hats" "Well," laughs Thaneah, "I made them so I could get into the Folk Festival and sell them." Artists like Don Ross and Dee Christensen bought them, too. Being surrounded by all that music rekindled Thaneah’s drive to play some songs for the people. Reading Julia Cameron’s book The Artist’s Way, which she received as a gift, finally inspired Thaneah to get serious about the singer/songwriter thing two and a half years ago.
"I did my first public show in November 1997 at B Scene Studios," she says. "I played two songs to six people and everybody was very encouraging." Thaneah entered last year’s singer/songwriter competition "and went out in last place on the night I appeared." Undeterred, she tried again this year and, lo and behold, she’s a finalist.
Whatever the outcome of Sunday’s show, Thaneah wants to move forward with her music. "I’d like to make a demo tape next," she says, "and start playing with other people." If she winds up collecting any prizes at the Edmonton final (the goodies up for grabs include a studio session at BETA Sound Recorders and tuition to Grant MacEwan’s summer guitar or vocal workshop), those goals might be reached much more quickly.