BMDA Cinq à sept: Jessica Pearson and the East Wind, Malia Rogers

Description

OMIC is partnering with the ByWard Market District Authority (BMDA) to program free live music for the launch of their summer concert series in Ottawa’s ByWard Market District. Taking place every Thursday from 5 PM - 7 PM in the George St Plaza from June 6th through to Oct 10th, these performances will showcase incredible talent in the city. These shows provide paid opportunities to emerging and established artists from and touring through the National Capital Region. The 19-week-long series will be coordinated by OMIC and hosted by Ottawa recording artist Tara Shannon, as well as other special guests.

Program Details

Date: Thursday August 15th 2024 
Venue: 55 Byward Market Square 
Time: 5pm-7pm 
Price: FREE (no ticket required)

Presented with support from the Byward Market District Authority (BMDA) 

Programming

Jessica Pearson and the East Wind 

Like the yellow morning sun inviting fields of sunflowers to turn toward her, Jessica Pearson naturally draws her listeners in. Her love for storytelling, drawing on folk, outlaw country, and Celtic traditions, is evident in her songwriting.

In 2021, Pearson received the Folk Music Ontario ‘Songs from the Heart’ award for her song "Ready My Heart". She was also selected for Global Music Match, a program created to connect artists internationally on social media platforms during the COVID-19 pandemic. Jessica Pearson & the East Wind was also nominated for Group of the Year at the 2021 Capital Music Awards. 

Malia Rogers 

As a Nova Scotian making home in Ontario, Malia Rogers' maritime upbringing has led her to see music, storytelling, and community as inextricably bound. Drawing inspiration from Canadian sirens like Feist and Rose Cousins, she cultivates an introspective and honest approach to songwriting, weaving her joys and vulnerabilities into self-soothing folk anthems with swelling harmonies and warm, grounded instrumentation. 

Her first professional EP, produced by Neil Whitford (Georgian Bay, Annie Sumi, Jessica Pearson & The East Wind) and slated for release in early Fall 2024 excavates her past to frame questions around love, loss, legacy, fear, anxiety, choice, and hope – all while imploring listeners to stay curious and compassionate about their own histories. Expect bluegrass and celtic undertones, vivid lyricism, warmed-honey vocals, and an ambient nod to the ghosts in the room.

Through song and story, Rogers invites you into the corners of her heart the way she would invite you into her family home on the East Coast: put down the heavy bags, rest, stay as long as you need, take something with you when you go.