By Regina Sienra
Multi-instrumentalist Amy Cole has said farewell to The Rural Alberta Advantage. She was a long-time member of the Toronto-based trio. On Monday, September 12th, the band posted the following statement on their Facebook page.
Hey everybody,
Amy has some news to share, and we’d like to let her share it. We’ll have some exciting RAA announcements for you guys soon. For right now, we just want to say: Amy, thank you and we love you. – Nils and Paul
To our fans & friends,
I have loved being a part of the RAA, but I’ve decided to step away from the old bass pedals, at least for now. But I couldn’t leave without thanking you for the memories that we’ve shared together. It has been an honour to visit your cities and countries and towns and festivals, and to perform for you and meet you and talk and take pictures and laugh and sometimes cry with you. These are all moments I will carry with me for the rest of my life, and I’ll always be grateful to you for listening to our band and giving us the gift of the last eleven years.
Paul and Nils are my brothers for life, and they’re going to continue to be the amazing geniuses that they are and give you everything they have. Give them hugs for me when you see ‘em out on the road.
Thanks again.
–AMY xoxo
Cole, who is from Port Colborne, ON, had been part of The Rural Alberta Advantage since its beginning in 2005. She is also a TV writer and producer, and has worked for shows like Lost & Found Music Studios, The Next Step and My Big Big Friend.
The Rural Alberta Advantage has released three LPs: Hometowns (2008), the Polaris prize longlist nominee Departing (2011) and Mended With Gold (2014). The band posted about writing new music prior to the departure of Cole.
Good morning!
I did not know about this.
hello, nor did I
We missed them a couple of weeks ago in Sarnia.
It might not be permanent, she does say “I’ve decided to step away from the old bass pedals, at least for now.”
But that might just be me clutching at straws
I should start tracking cities further away for CanCon shows on Songkick
As Yort put it: “All our bands are growing up.”
Good morning! This was news to me as well, but good luck to Amy while she steps away for a while!
Saw Paul a couple months ago at the Clarkson GO station, his mom dropped him off with all his Drum gear! I wonder who he was going to practice with? I’m guessing it was RAA.
Lana Gay is hosting the Polaris Music Prize podcast, first episode is up
Here is the iTunes link to the Polaris podcast with Lana. Reg and I raced to find it!
https://itunes.apple.com/ca/podcast/polaris-podcast-episode-1/id1150161201?i=1000375225582&mt=2
Whoops! Sorry, a link would have helped :-/
@Janet, I embedded the soundcloud version into you previous comment (I hope you don’t mind)
I don’t mind at all! I was very confused, at first, because I definitely didn’t do that, but now it all makes sense 🙂
dang administrators, sneaking about in the dark, doing good…
Good morning,
I’ve seen two ledgandary artists in less than a week with a combined age of 144 years, Rodriguez last Wednesday and Dolly Parton last night.
Dolly’s energy on stage is truly amazing for a women her age. I think it was eight instruments she played during the 2 plus hours show. She play all the hits and had the crowd singing along and laughing and enjoying her between song stories. Really, really happy my daughter and I decide to go a few days ago❤️
I don’t know RAA all that well, but usually liked what I heard by them. I had an old KEXP Live podcast featuring them on my phone for a long time and listened to it quite a bit, t’was good.
Here it is:
http://media.kexp.org/podcasts/instudio/media/2015-01-08_the_rural_alberta_advantage_10-24-14_full_performance.mp3
shonica, that’s really cooL! Are you going to the Royal Canoe show at the burt? Dumb question probably! haha. I can’t go, I’ve got a hockey game at the same time but L and the gang are all going. Should be a dandy.
ft, yes I am, do you know where their seats are?
Shoncia, I do not know where they are sitting… I’ll see if I can find out.
ft, The Barra MacNeils are playing a Christmas show at Centennial concert hall, November 29. Also Sam Roberts Band at the Burt in January 31 both on sale this Friday
I just went to ticketmaster to see if there is a pre-sale and found out Hollerado is the opener for Sammy!
Charles Bradley is making me cry in my coffee this morning. Listening to q.
yeah, lots of concerts coming up this fall and into the winter too, tis the season. On Remembrance day, there are two seperate shows i want to go to. The Dirty nil are playing soon too. A band from Truro called Walrus is playing at the Goodwill coming up, they’re pretty cool. Amongst many other shows! Too much.
I have tickets for the TUNS show on Nov 26
ft 8:15, I do as well
Shonny 7:57 – YUP, and they’re playing DET!
RAA is one good band…. I’ve ran many trail miles to them. I’m curious to see what they’ll do now, think they will look for another female singer?
well that’s some news! I wondr what will happen to the band now. At least it sounds like an amicable separation.
hey, justingrady… I might be skipping through your town next week. Maybe I could stop in and say HEY and give you some island-grown garlic… it’s always super cool meeting an R3 pal IRL. 🙂
hello everyone!
Hello!
Amyyyyy :'( I have never seen the RAA live, and would have loved to see them with her.
I once saw Nils solo tho.
Also, it’s a long weekend here! Leaving work at 3 PM on Thursday. AWWW YISSS.
tiffy’s back!
BFO – hi 🙂
I was thrown a MAJOR curve ball about 2 weeks ago. Not a great one. So i’ve been doing alot of soul searching.
But good things are coming out of it. Like, I actually quit smoking – day 3 as well as drinking for the time being.
@Tiffy – good luck with the quitting smoking! You can do it!
@Fresh Ginger… awesome! Message me on Facebook and let’s def make plans… https://www.facebook.com/justingrady
Why are you coming through?
@janet – thanks 🙂 I reached out to an old friend who I knew would be a hard ass on me. He’s been checking in everyday. I’m actually doing the ‘couch to 5k’ app with it.
I’ve decided to wear a patch this time around. I had the WORST nightmares last night as a result. Just terrible.
Tiff. Yaaaay! You’re very brave 😀 Hugs.
tiff, let me know if you need practical pointers. I smoked tabackee for well nigh 20 years before quitting. And I quit once only (yayyy, me!)
Sorry to hear it @Tiff…. as always we support you. Happy to hear about the Couch to 5k! Quitting smoking is a bear, running training helps a bit with it.
My sweetie tried the patch when he quit too. Went cold turkey after a couple of weeks because the nightmares and dreams were too weird.
@justin – thanks. I appreciate that. I might need you’re help soon actually! I am going to try and go 100% freelance. so I might pick your brain about that. 🙂
I am actually really enjoying running so far 🙂 And I thought I would hate it.
@janet – no kidding. last night’s ‘dreams’ were pretty traumatic actually. Like all of my worst thoughts manifested into a movie.
BFO – good for you! This will be my second (AND LAST!) time. Last time I quit for 2 years.
Ugh, having all your worst thoughts torment you while you sleep sounds terrible. Hopefully the first three days for you will be the worst, and as you run, and get used to not smoking the dreams will go away, or at least be fun and silly and nonsensical!
tiffy: excellent! So you know you can make it!
Gotta say though, I wonder if the patch is not more a nicotine maintenance device than a smoking cessation aid. ‘Cause in quitting smoking, the first big thing is going through getting off nicotine. (I know in my case, on the third day of cold turkey, I was “good for nothing”. Couldn’t get a thing done at work. From day four though, things got normal.
@Tiffy… Kick A that you like running! Just don’t do it so much to where you resent it, you can always build up. I know the trail along lake Ontario is a great area to run, flat and fast with nice views. You can even run by the Port Lands!
For freelance…. let’s def talk about that. A ton of freedom and scary too, but worth it if you can get enough paying clients.
Good Luck Tiffy! I quit cold turkey 32 & 1/2 years ago!
I quit smoking in April of 2014, cold turkey. It’s the only way you can quit. You have to want to be done with it – the ritual, the habit, the addiction. That’s the only way it will work, if your subconscious isn’t convinced, it won’t work and you’ll cheat. I had tried quitting before but it never stuck because I never really really wanted to – it was still something I enjoyed, or at least, something that I used as a crutch. I haven’t had a puff or taste of nicotine at all since. I’d like to maybe one day be able to have a cigar, but for now, nope not worth it. I still get nicotine cravings and sometimes act like a bitch because I’m having a nic-fit and don’t even realize it. So, it’s still a struggle, 2.5 yrs later. But I’m resolved to not ever having a cigarette again – I smoked for more than half my life, and I’m 35. Everybody back home still smokes.
Good on you. I agree completely with your view. You’ve (one has) absolutely got to be at ease with quitting once and forever. Which, in the end, makes all the troubles of quitting worth it.
I’d say that the hardest part is being able to be 100% comfortable in your ‘state’. No crutches. No smoke when you’re stressed, no glass of wine to melt the day away.
As much as I used them, I actually hated being dependant on these things. I have major headaches and it’s very hard to concentrate, but I know that given a week or two I will be a much better at just being.
yes. don’t overdo the running in the early days.
let yourself get addicted to it slowly
tiffy: yes you will.
One thing I liked to do after quitting was breathing deeply once or twice and enjoying the (probably imaginary, doesn’t matter) feeling of breathing into better lungs. And you taste the air (and everything) more. (So avoid breathing when in downtown T.O.
I kid.)
Also, the eventual absence of a smoker’s cough is nice.
@Tiff… that glass of wine and a cigarette, get it. I used to crack a beer and have a smoke every day right when I got home from work. I still smoked when I started running actually. But, as I grew to love running more, and how good it made me feel, I really got to the point where I wanted those rewards not smoking would give me. To run well, be in better shape, and find women to date who share that healthy mindset… def could not attract the type of woman I wanted if I was myself still smoking.
congrats tiffy!, don’t look back. I smoked cigs from the age 15 and quit on my 20th birthday. So glad I did.
Also, not to be forgotten, quitting frees up money.
@kirb – It’s a very much monitored intro into running with the couch to 5k app. It’s actually really great. Makes the whole process not so intimidating. 30 minutes a day of walking / running to build it up.
@justin – totally get that. Actually, i’ve been put off of the idea of dating because I’ve been so embarrassed about my smoking for so long. and most guys (I would think) wouldn’t want to date a smoker.
Has anyone heard about BROS? It’s Ewan & Shamus Currie, I can’t find any place to listen to the music but this is from social media https://twitter.com/BROSmakingmusic/status/775386122201493505
@Shonica we’ll look them up 😀
This is what I think of when I see/hear the word Bros
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvQTTA9raJU
Good luck with the quitting smoking tiffy. I quit many many times! I am at about 10 months or so now and feel like that was the last time I quit. I have done cold turkey, patch and this time vaped. Cold turkey is hell, the patch works but you have to follow the taper down thing carefully or it won’t last. I didn’t have nightmare problems but many do with it. The low nicotine vape helped me taper down and now I don’t do that either except in emergencies. The really really high stress times it keeps me from going out and buying smokes. I had a drag off my sis’s smoke a month ago and hated it. That is a good sign for me.
Oh and I smoked since I was a teenager and now have asthma. My lungs are crap now. :-/
I know I’m not in a big rush to date a smoker
I was at the store the other day and buddy in front of me bought a pack of darts and I think it was $18. Fuckin’ crazy! They were like, $4 when I started haha, i remember when they hit $10 and everyone was like “that’s it!”
I have gotten fatter since quitting smoking though.
ft When I quit, they had reached a ridiculous $12.
Per carton of 200.
Cigarettes are $18 up there? They are like, $4. $5 tops here. Like, actual big american brands. There are cheaper options.
(I see a business opportunity)
I don’t smoke, but some friends do. And have done since high school or earlier.
I got fatter too. Sigh…
The good brands were aboot $15-16 when i quit a couple years ago. The cheaper brands are usually about $3 less. But they are made from sweeping the floor of the tobacco factory and are usually harsher, nastier tabacky. Weed is cheaper than smokes these days, that is, until the federal government get their hands on it. Which I`m still counting on them doing. I voted Liberal for a reason…
(that`s $15-16 for a pack of 25)
A carton must be like, $150-$200!
No wonder reserve smokes are a multi-million dollar business.
When I was first trying smoking, a group of us would pitch in our change to buy a pack of smokes that was just over a buck. Crazy!
This Polaris Podcast is a fun listen.
I was unaware that Carly Rae was on Canadian Idol. So out of the loop I am…
200 Cigarettes costs around $168.296 CAD over here
https://groceries.asda.com/search/cigerettes?cmpid=ahc-_-ghs-_-asdacom-_-hp-_-search-cigerettes
When I was at The University of Montana in 1993 the cheap smokes where $1.10 (US) a pack. I have not kept track, but I think they are round $5 now.
Well if America taxed smokes and booze, they too could have universal health care. Or something. I’ don’t know what I’m talking about.
My pack that I typically smoke is a 20 pack and costs $11.45. And I don’t smoke the cheap brands either. I bought belmonts the other day and they were probably about $13. I don’t know about these 20 dollar packs.
and these are ‘Toronto’ prices.
Either way it’s expensive.
And congrats on the recent quit @Darbs!
@FT… taxes are really high on smokes (and somewhat) on booze actually. It’s just that the taxes are allocated for other things besides national health care… which would be awesome to have.
smokes in Ontario have always been cheaper than other provinces, except for Quebec where they are the cheapest.
And JG, if taxes were “really high” on smokes and booze, the prices would look like they do in Canada! Which is why Canadians go nuts when they see how cheap booze and smokes are in the states.
interesting, for this topic: map of cig prices in canada
http://www.nsra-adnf.ca/cms/file/files/160704_map_and_table.pdf
According to this nifty app I just downloaded, I will save $2,847 in a year, and i’ve been smoke free for 61.8 hours.
Hi Kids.
Boy your mothers sure raised a bunch of quitters!
I joke. Smoking is bad.
good for you guys and gals.
@ft – haha that’s pretty up to date! (as of July 2016)
@steve!! How are you. long time no ‘see’
@Tiffy – good, very busy though. good luck with the quitting, it’s tough.
@steve – thanks.
@reg – Lana just rewteeted polaris ourbasement post 😀
Smokes do cost more in Manitoba.
Hiya Steve!
Nice tiffy 🙂
on topic: I remember seeing RAA at a black box type venue on dundas just off of ossington a few years back. I forget what it’s called. I think ‘something’ room.
All I remember is that they were really loud.
totally wrong. It was ‘the garrison’.
Hi Darbstar.
I may have seen them more than once but the time I remember the most is when they opened for Dan Mangan at a beautiful old church in Regina. It was a great show!
@Tiffy… you gotta/could start using your own Twitter account again, you could retweet it too.
@justin – done and done
in crasy exciting news I forgot to share
http://exclaim.ca/music/article/chixdiggit-2012_ep_stream
it’s one 25 min track – challenging The Decline as longest punk rock song ever.
Ironically it’s NOFX who are playing in town the same day as Chixdiggit. Yarrghhh.
ft, 13:27 Looks like a late night at the Windsor for that one!
shonica, I want to go to both but I will have to choose one. There is a band called Pears opening for NOFX who are awesome. But it’s Chixdiggit’s 25th anniversary tour and I haven’t seen them in years. I’ve only ever seen NOFX once however. They both have new releases out and are both among my favourite all time bands.
Decisions.
Sounds like time for a coin-toss.
Steve KNox, like THE Stevie Ray K??? what the heck, where you been?
HI Mr. Wynn!
@Tom – I saw a contest to win Chixdiggit tickets and was all set to send you the link. Then I saw it was for a show in TO. Grrr.
@Wynnsie – working a different job….
Welcome back dude! @stevierayk
I was just thinking, “where the heck has SRK been?”
new job? same place?
Hi Tiffy!
@Tiff I saw that! So exciting!!
(and thanks to everyone who retweeted it, it’s doing pretty well!)
@Reginula I saw that Polaris retweeted it as well! Now to actually listen to the podcast… 🙂
The podcast was great, reminds on the old R3 podcast days…. I notice in the credits at the end one of the sponsors was Indie88, nothing to do with CBC Music.