Next week, Ladysmith singer-songwriter Ryan McMahon will play four shows with the iconic singer Carole Pope, and it all kicks off Thursday, May 23 at the Crofton Hotel.
Influenced by the likes of The Beatles, The Everly Brothers and David Bowie, Pope rose to fame as the leather-clad singer of Rough Trade, with No. 1 singles “High School Confidential” and “All Touch.”
These days, the multiple-Juno winner is touring acoustically to support her latest solo album, Landfall, which features a duet with Rufus Wainwright.
The film rights for Pope’s autobiography Anti Diva have been optioned and a film is in development.
Pope’s work has been recognized with three Juno Awards, multiple independent music awards and a Genie Award. She has also added four gold, one platinum and one double platinum album to her collection of awards.
Pope has performed at Fashion Cares 25 with Elton John and at the Brooklyn Museum of Art, Luminato, Joes Pub, Pop Montreal, Largo, the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Winter Garden Theatre, Massey Hall, the Global Cabaret Festival and many other festivals and unique places. As an actress, she appeared in the rock ‘n roll vampire movie Suck, along with Moby, Iggy Pop, Alice Cooper and Henry Rollins.
Over the years, her music has appeared in many movies and numerous television shows, including Love or Whatever, The L Word, General Idea: Art AIDS and the fin de siѐcle, The Trailer Park Boys Movie, Queer As Folk, This Revolution, Miami Vice, and Cruising.
Off the stage and away from the camera, Pope is an ambassador for the Hetrick Martin Institute and is a member of the board of the Songwriters Association of Canada.
Pope is being joined at the Crofton Hotel by Ryan McMahon, who is currently recording his fifth collection of songs. At the same time, he is working on a new musical collaboration with Christopher Arruda and Cory Woodward called The Lion The Bear The Fox, and they have started recording their first album together.
McMahon is taking a very hands-on approach with his new album, and he is working with Arruda to create an honest album that really reflects who he is in this moment in time.
“In 2011, I went about recording two albums — one was a very stripped down, 'let's just set up some mics around the room and see what happens'-type of record; the other a full-band rock ‘n roll production that still hasn't really seen the light of day,” he says. “After going through that process, I made a decision to kind of meet myself in the middle the next time through ... And what we're basically going to be left with, hopefully, is a joyful-sounding, boot-stomping, story-telling record that resonates with people.”
McMahon, who just returned from a quick tour of B.C. and Alberta, is excited to share those new joyful-sounding songs.
“The biggest thing to me is that the songs have a more celebratory feel to them,” he says. "I feel like the best version of me shows up in my songs. Especially these days. I do feel like this will be a good representation of who I was in 2013. And of course, I'll have to tear all the notions down and build a new audio-house the next time out ... Records are just glimpses into human beings at a given moment in time.”
Pope and McMahon's May 23 show starts at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $20 in advance at the Crofton Hotel.