By Lindsey Rivait
Arts Editor
December 2, 2009

Brampton, Ont. band Moneen is travelling across Canada on their way to Windsor for Dec. 9, driving through mountains and being distracted by the scenery.
Moneen is happy to be touring again after their hiatus. “For the most part we’ve been hiding away while we worked on the record,” explained vocalist and guitarist Kenny Bridges.
With such a large catalogue of songs before them, Moneen must choose songs that not only keep their audience happy, but that keeps themselves happy as well. They want to perform the slower atmospheric songs of their new album, The World I Want To Leave Behind, but at the same time, they haven’t played a lot of these places in Canada in a long time.
“I know a lot of people are going to want to hear old songs, too,” Bridges said.
He pauses. “Are those animals? We just saw animals grazing a field. Are those all deer?” The band is driving through Kelowna. “We just saw a field of grazing antelope. They’re nice. They’re cows. They’re winter cows,” Bridges laughed.
The World I Want to Leave Behind was just released on vinyl. And while Bridges says he’s not necessarily a large vinyl collector, taking the plunge into putting their music out on vinyl was something the band always wanted to do.>>

By Lindsey Rivait
Arts Editor

December 2, 2009

Calgary band The Dudes are bringing music, high-fives, secret handshakes, and—if we’re really lucky—their newly engineered paper airplanes to Windsor on Dec. 8.
The Dudes vocalist Dan Vacon says that while band does enjoy life on the road, they’re not exactly thrilled about the weather they’re slated to hit travelling through Canada at this time of the year.
“It’s going to get pretty ugly. We’re going through December. Sometimes I get really nervous on the road. I think about dying a lot,” he said.
When he’s assured that he’ll live through it, or at least through Windsor’s version of winter, Vacon agrees that he will indeed live. “Yes, because I want to. I like living,” he explained.
And with good reason, of course. Some of the band’s many successes include sharing the stage with Two Hours Traffic and Ladyhawk, and on Nov. 27 The Dudes headlined the Grey Cup Festival in Calgary.
Their new album, Blood Guts Bruises Cuts, features pure pop-induced rock ‘n’ roll music and catchy riffs, and was produced and recorded by Jeff Dawson (Kelly Rowland) and mixed by Mike Fraser (AC/DC, Franz Ferdinand).
Working on the album was a mellow experience for The Dudes, who got to chill out in Vancouver for a month. >>

By Josh Kolm
Lance Writer
December 2, 2009

An institution in Windsor’s art community for almost 28 years, Artcite is ready to once again give local artistic talent a chance to collectively shine with their annual Doin’ the Louvre art sale and fundraiser.
Doin’ the Louvre has been a holiday tradition since Artcite was established.
Founded in 1982, the gallery serves as a totally non-profit exhibition space for young and ground-breaking artists who may have difficulty getting exposure through large commercial and mainstream galleries.
Apart from a few fundraisers, they have offered patrons the opportunity to visit the gallery free of charge, which has been located in the Capitol Theatre building since 1991.
“Artcite was part of the artist run gallery movement that swept Canada at the time,” says Artistic Coordinator Bernard Helling. “The idea was and remains for artists to run the process, rather than show at the whim of dealers and large institutions.”
In addition to helping new artists, Artcite strives to display contemporary movements and practices.
“Artcite was the first gallery in the Windsor-Detroit area to show video art, performance art, installation and site-works,” according to Helling.
The mandate displayed on their website states that “[Artcite’s] programming commitment remains with the younger, or emerging artist, as well as to showing artists that have not shown in this area before. We will continue to present a diverse range of exhibitions and events that reflect the diversity of current art practices in this community and nationally.. >>