We would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Padraig Buttner-Schnirer, who works as a member of the Bent River Records Team, for his nomination for the Juno Awards! Padraig recorded the album that has been nominated in the Vocal Jazz Album of the Year category. The album is called Montréal by artist Elizabeth Shepherd. He recorded this album with Elizabeth and her band back in November 2017 at a studio in Montreal called Studio 451.

Padraig gave us some insight about the project, and answered some questions:

Could you briefly talk about the recording process of the album?

The album was recorded over two days in November of 2017. I had worked with Elizabeth before on another album that she was producing and she had really liked the drum sound I captured. She asked me to do a similar type of set up for this session. I made sure to provide plenty of sound-texture options for the drums including some special microphones I put up specifically to add character and grit to the recording.

I knew most of the band members very well and had worked with them on previous projects. There was lots of music to get through and quite a bit of pressure on my shoulders since I was working alone without an assistant, but everyone in the band was so great that it really felt like I was hanging out with friends. Rémi-Jean LeBlanc was the bass player on this session and also happens to be an artist with Bent River Records. He’s an amazing musician.

Elizabeth is a dream to work with. She’s extremely focused and knows exactly what she’s after from the recording. She’s also a delightful person and that makes working with her such a pleasure.

Were you aiming that high when you were working on it? And how do you feel now that a piece of your work has been nominated for this prestigious award?

I don’t usually think about awards when doing projects like this, and I’ve learned over the years that’s it’s hard to predict which projects will be nominated for Junos and other similar awards. But it’s definitely a great feeling when something you’ve worked on get’s this kind of recognition. I’m also very excited for the artist because I know how much they’ve put into the project.

I’ve worked on other projects that have won Junos in the past, but my role on those was fairly minor. This will be the first time that an album on which I’ve done the majority of the recording has been nominated, so that’s really exciting.

Click here to check out the album.

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For the third consecutive year, Constanza Pacher’s Typography II classes have designed concepts for real projects from Bent River Records. This year, each class had the opportunity to design the vinyl album packaging for Allan Gilliland’s Dreaming: The Prague Sessions, and Mike Rud’s Salome’s Dance: The Mike Rud Trio Invites Peter Bernstein.

With such a wide variety of concepts to choose from, it wasn’t easy for Mike and Allan to make their decisions! After much deliberation, we are very excited to announce which students will receive the honorariums and have their designs sent to press:

Allan Gilliland – Dreaming: The Prague Sessions
Winner: Ashlin Kellough
Honourable Mentions: Lisa Cox, Kayla Agustin

Mike Rud – Salome’s Dance: The Mike Rud Trio Invites Peter Bernstein
Winner: Alan Ngo
Honourable Mentions: Nick Zylstra, MyHanh Nguyen

Congratulations to Alan and Ashlin, and to all the design students who participated! And a huge thank-you to Dr. Craig Monk, whose generous support of the record label makes this project possible! Stay tuned for more information about these exciting new releases! You can read more about the project in this article from The Griff: https://www.macewan.ca/wcm/MacEwanNews/NEWS_DESIGN_BRR_ALBUM_20

Gareth Gilliland is a third year guitar performance major and has just returned from a semester abroad in Helsinki, Finland. He feels very lucky to have the opportunity to be on the Bent River Records team as an intern for this
semester. Learning about music from different perspectives is important to him so he learns how to be a well rounded musician and collaborator. He’s performed extensively with funk and folk bands, jazz ensembles and as a solo guitarist. Before coming to MacEwan, Gareth studied culinary arts and has worked for some of Edmonton’s best chefs. Recently, he recorded with folk/roots band Jemma and The Good Thing at Bent River Records and is excited for what 2020 holds.

Paolo Belmar is currently taking his third year at MacEwan University in the Music Program with a Major in Composition. He has worked with the video-game development club at MacEwan scoring music for their games, he work as a music teacher outside of MacEwan, plays in two bands (Cabrakaan and Hellnite) and is currently working on a new instrumental music project. Since a few years ago he has been interested in recording studios and music production. In Fall of 2019, he started taking recording classes at MacEwan as elective courses outside of his major and that is how his interest for the label came about.

“I discovered how beautiful the process of creating a record can be, working with a team that is committed to do their best for the project. I am so excited for this opportunity to work with Bent River Records as a part of a creative team and supporting artists in the music industry.”

—Paolo

Have you come down with a case of the winter blues? Luckily for you, two of our Bent River artists have got the perfect cure for that. Let the sweet sounds of The Jivin’ Belles bring you some holiday cheer before the new year! 

Kate Blechinger, Mallory Chipman, and Emily Guthrie will be performing twice this month to bring audiences a little taste of sweet 1940s nostalgia. Catch their Glow Edmonton shows at the Edmonton Expo centre on December 23rd at 6:30 pm, or December 28th at 4 pm. These jivin’ ladies sing your favourite swing era bops and may just throw in some vintage-style renditions of your favourite modern pop bangers as well! Don’t miss The Jivin’ Belles this holiday season.

https://www.thejivinbelles.com/shows

That is a wrap on recording the EP with the winner of our 2019 Bent River Records Recording Competition presented by ATB Financial! Last Thursday, November 28th and Friday, November 29th we had both our winner, Nisto and renowned producer, Russell Broom at MacEwan University. We also invited MacEwan Music students in the Recording Program to join us down in Studio A at Allard Hall. There, they learned a thing or two from Russell. Students had the opportunity to run the board, set up mics and best of all, ask Russell any question that they would like. Having the chance to sit in on a session with a producer of this calibre will be a once in a lifetime opportunity for these students. There was also free pizza at lunch but we hope that they were more excited about the experience!

           Nisto’s emotionally rich performance on both vocals and guitar set the mood for both sessions. His chill demeanour and collaborative mindset made for a purely creative space. Together, both Nisto and Russell’s vision for the tracks evolved into what we will hear on the recording! We can’t wait! Stay tuned for release dates and shows coming to you in the New Year!