The Guest List
Thursday April 4th, 2019 with Joe Reilly
Interviews with Ben Caplan and Nabi Bersche of Ellevator

Today we open the show in conversation with Ben Caplan about his latest album Old Stock. (I thought it was a brand new release but it's been out since June of 2018... oops!) The album tells the story of two Romanian Jews fleeing persecution in Europe at the turn of the 20th century who come to Canada in 1909. But the songs resonant strongly in the context of current events like Syrian refugees fleeing war and persecution in their homeland. Ben talks about how he was inspired to write this music (which is part of a theatrical production he worked on and is part of) by contemporary events and how he worked hard to tell a narrative about the past that has strong connections to our world today. Ben also talks about the awesome musicians he is touring with to bring this music to life when he is on stage at the National Arts Centre, next Wednesday, April 10th. As well, in October, Ben will be back with the full production of "Old Stock: A Refugee Love Story" at the National Arts Centre in October. See the links below. http://www.bencaplan.ca/ https://nac-cna.ca/en/event/20000 https://nac-cna.ca/en/event/21514 Then we check in with Nabi Bersche of Ellevator, as she was taking a break from the band's load in at the Babylon Night Club where they are playing tonight (April 4.) Nabi tells us how she came to write a song to St. Cecilia who is the patron saint of musicians and how lines like "I used to be kind" found their way into that song and what they say about Nabi. We also talk about inspirations for Nabi as she starts her career in music and the importance of pacing herself and her bandmates as they tour more and prepare to record new music. She also asked us to play a song from the band opening for Ellevator tonight so we played her choice, Johnny by Basement Revolver. https://www.ellevatormusic.com/ https://www.spectrasonic.com/event/1828924-ellevator-ottawa/ We had hoped to talk to a member of local Ottawa band, Five + None. The young band is part of the Real Rock Search contest which culminates tonight at the Algonquin Commons Theatre. But the band had to soundcheck during the Guest List today, so we played a song to promote their appearance at Algonquin tonight. https://fiveplusnone.com/ Finally we played a song by Chris Brown, as he is part of the Wolfe Island Records showcase on Saturday night at the Black Sheep Inn in Wakefield. https://www.theblacksheepinn.com/ Get out and see some live music this week and remember to actually buy music from artists you love so they can keep making music. Streaming doesn't pay them enough.