Tag Archives: Isa McKenty

Arts

The Awakeneers New Single: December In The North

The Awakeneers are still living in Willow Point and have just released a new single. Cortes Currents interviewed them over ZOOM and we had our cameras turned off to preserve bandwidth.

Isa McKenty explained how he came to write ‘December in the North’: 

“It was the day before one of our concerts in the Acoustic Matinee Series. I was supposed to be practicing for that, but it started snowing and I looked out my window. It was so pretty that I wrote ‘December in the North’ instead of practicing. It was actually a year to the day between when I started writing the song and when we recorded most of the tracks that you’ll hear on the recording.”

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Arts

Behind the Scenes: The 60 heroes of Lovefest

Behind Lovefest’s ongoing success, and the success of so many festivals and community events around the province, is a dedicated corps of volunteers. 

According to Amy Robertson, who oversaw this part of the festival, “We had about 60 volunteers this year. They were doing everything from making sure that  parking is safe out on the road and that the blue bus has a good place to park. Volunteers sell tickets, help the vendors and they’re setting up. They do a lot of decoration for this event, help promote it, sell T- shirts, and just ensure that everybody has a good, safe time.” 

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Arts

The Awakeneers (P2): Lost in the Goat Trails

The McKenty family’s first public performance was in the outdoor section of the Mansons Farmer’s Market in 2006. After leaving their rental home at Smelt Bay in 2018, they have lived in Vancouver, at Hollyhock and for the last year and a half in Willow Point.

“We can see Cortes across the water,” explained Immanuel.  

To which his father, Robert added, “We’re looking straight across at a place where we lived for 10 years. When we go for a swim, are gardening, or anytime we look out of the window: we’re looking at Cortes. So we’re not actually gone, in our own perspective, we’re still  displaced Cortesians.”

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Arts

Awakeneers concert on Cortes Island ‘a homecoming’

CKTZ News, through an LJI grant from Canada-info.ca

This Friday, Dec. 16th, the Awakeneers will play their first indoor concert on Cortes Island in nearly three years.

Four members of the ensemble — Robert McKenty, Erica Giannone, Francis McKenty and Immanuel McKenty — spoke about their long and storied history with this island’s community, the many channels where listeners can find their music including Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube, as well as why they make their recordings freely available for download through their website and proprietary app.

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Arts

The Merry McKentys Return Home On Tour

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According to the description on their website, the McKentys saga starts sounds on a steep snowy mountainside in the backwoods of British Columbia. Robert and Elizabeth had a small cabin, “many children of various sizes, a wood stove, a small battery-powered stereo system that sometimes worked, a mandolin, and several fiddles.” By the time they moved to Cortes, the Merry McKenty were on their way towards becoming a band.

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