Banff, Alberta, July 30, 2013 -- When Feist performs with openers Snowblink in The Banff Centre’s outdoor Shaw Amphitheatre on August 7, she plans to donate the proceeds to the Calgary Drop-In and Rehab Centre, for flood relief. “I really want to help the people of Calgary who are struggling through the flood,” she’s said. “It hit close to home and affected my family; I can only imagine what others went through.”
Leslie Feist is among Canada’s most treasured musicians. Her fourth and most recent album Metals (2011) received Canada’s top critical nod when it won the Polaris Prize for album of the year. It follows the explosive The Reminder (2008), which earned four Grammy nominations and five Juno wins and an opportunity to teach Muppets to count on Sesame Street. The singer of ‘1-2-3-4’ and ‘Mushaboom’ is also a regular performer with Broken Social Scene, and has collaborated with the likes of Beck and Radiohead.
From its origins in San Francisco as a four-piece band (two of whom later formed MGMT) to its present incarnation as a widely touring Toronto-based duo, Snowblink has covered as much grouns musically as geographically. They’ve been described as synth rock, indie pop, and more simply as “one of the most compelling new voices on the Canadian scene” (CBC). Snowblink was at The Banff Centre earlier this year for a songwriting residency.
The Calgary Drop-In and Rehab Centre, damaged in the flooding that swept through Calgary in late June, is North America’s biggest homeless shelter. Feist performs as part of the 2013 Banff Summer Arts Festival, which runs through the end of August.
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About The Banff Centre: The Banff Centre's mission is inspiring creativity. Thousands of artists, leaders, and researchers from across Canada and around the world participate in programs at The Banff Centre every year. Through its multidisciplinary programming, The Banff Centre provides the support needed to create, to develop solutions, and to make the impossible possible. Moving forward, the Centre will disseminate art and ideas developed in Banff through initiatives in digital, web, radio, and broadcast media.