What's Up: Fine art fair, Burt tours, Kilter Brewing, art auction/cupcake party, MCO concert

Winnipeg Fine Art FairRed River Exhibition Park, 3977 Portage AveFriday to Sunday, various timesTickets: $10.50 daily; $15.75 weekend pass available onlineNow in its third year, the biggest art show in the province returns this weekend.

The juried art show and sale features 77 local artists showing works across a variety of styles, including watercolour and acrylic paintings, fibre art and photography.

Artists include Megan Elowen, whose needle-felted wool paintings invite touch; Manitoba-based Métis photographer Jason Lee, showing his dramatic Canadian landscapes; and Carla Rademaker, who uses clocks, keys, cogs and gears in her steampunk pieces.

All art on display is available to buy with all proceeds going to the artists.

Megan Moroney, Miranda Lambert and Ella Langley lead 2026 ACM Awards nominations dominated by women

NEW YORK (AP) — Megan Moroney leads the 2026 Academy of Country Music Awards with nine nominations.

That includes a first-time nomination for the top prize of the night, entertainer of the year, as well as director and artist-songwriter of the year. She's also received her third consecutive nominations for female artist and visual media of the year.

Women appear to dominate the nods: Moroney is followed by Miranda Lambert, the most-decorated artist in ACM Awards history, with eight, as well as Ella Langley and Lainey Wilson with seven.

Then it is Chris Stapleton with six, Zach Top with five and Cody Johnson with four.

Olé, Olé or Nay? Some say Jelly Roll’s World Cup tune falls flat, but Canadians are making their own anthems

If World Cup songs are meant to sound like the world linking arms, Jelly Roll’s entry for 2026 is striking a more divisive chord.

Last month, FIFA released “Lighter,” the first official track for the tournament, pairing the American country artist with Mexican singer Carín León and Canadian producer Cirkut. On paper, it’s a cross-border collaboration for a World Cup spanning Canada, Mexico and the United States.

But the battle-worn country-rock anthem — heavy on imagery of breaking free from personal shackles — has drawn mixed reactions, with critics arguing it misses the mark for what FIFA is touting as its “largest and most inclusive” tournament yet.

“Jelly Roll’s verses honestly sound a little MAGA,” says Canadian sports media scholar Stephen Sheps.

On a New Kids on the Block cruise, Emma Straub found a way past grief

Emma Straub wrote her 2022 novel “This Time Tomorrow” — about a woman who is able to return to her 16th birthday and spend time with her father as a healthy young man — as her own father's health was declining. It was a love letter to the father-daughter bond. A few months later, her father, the novelist Peter Straub, died.

She was deep in grief when an advertisement for a New Kids on the Block fan cruise caught her attention. She ended up among the thousands of fans who set sail on a four-day cruise with the boy band on board. They performed intimate concerts and other events were organized for their supporters to mingle. Straub decided then and there it was perfect setting for her next book.

“For the first time, I had the whole idea,” said the author of “Modern Lovers,” “All Adults Here” and “The Vacationers.” “I knew it was a book. I could write it and I would have the time of my life doing it.”

The result was “American Fantasy,” released Tuesday. Her protagonist is Annie, a newly single empty-nester who agrees to embark on a fan cruise for a '90s boy band and ends up forming a connection with one of its members.

BTS opens world tour in South Korea after hiatus for military service

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Tens of thousands of BTS fans packed into a South Korean stadium Thursday to see the K-pop supergroup kick off their long-awaited world tour after a nearly four-year hiatus.

RM, Jin, Suga, j-hope, Jimin, V and Jung Kook were to perform a set drawing from both their catalog and new fifth album, “ARIRANG," their first since band members completed South Korea's mandatory military service.

Despite pouring rain, the band's fans — including some hailing from Russia, the United States and Brazil — packed a stadium with a capacity for over 40,000 for the show, which marks the group’s first headline tour performance since their 2021–22 Permission to Dance on Stage tour.

Over a hundred fans, including some who had failed to get tickets, stood outside the stadium with umbrellas to listen to the band perform.

Vilma Jää Brings herding calls and mocking songs to Met Opera’s production of ‘Innocence’

NEW YORK (AP) — When Vilma Jää enrolled at the Sibelius Academy to study folk music she never expected to end up playing a major role in one of the 21st century’s most acclaimed operas.

Kaija Saariaho, Finland’s leading opera composer, was working on a piece called “Innocence” and wanted one of the characters to sing in a style based on Finnish folk music rather than with a traditional operatic sound. She had heard Jää’s work on YouTube and asked her to make an audition tape.

“I said yes, that’s cool,” Jää said. “Everyone knows Kaija in Finland, so I knew her name, but I hadn’t listened to her music because I wasn’t into classical music.”

She grew up in Helsinki with a father who loved opera, but her musical tastes were more influenced by her mother. “Her side of the family has been into folklore for I don’t know how long,” Jää said. “My mother did folk dancing, taught it, and organized festivals of folk music and costumes.”

Studies reveal inequalities in music-biz leadership roles

Nelly Furtado, Joni Mitchell, Begonia and Tate McRae — the most visible honorees and notable winners at this year’s Juno Awards seemed to be mostly women.

But look into the annual awards categories that celebrate key decision-makers behind the scenes and a less female-centric image of the Canadian music industry’s favoured leaders emerges.

For years, categories such as Engineer of the Year, Producer of the Year and the Walt Grealis Special Achievement Award, which often celebrates music managers and executives, have skewed toward male recipients, and this year wasn’t much different.

Before anyone makes strong accusations against the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences and its hundreds of Juno jurors, it’s worth noting the number of studies that reflect macro gender disparities within the music industry.

Music Review: Make way for Ella Langley’s ‘Dandelion,’ a new era of old-soul country

NEW YORK (AP) — A few years ago, Ella Langley emerged a saving grace for modern country music because she dared to look backward. “You Look Like You Love Me,” her award-winning, inescapable 2024 hit with Riley Green, pulled from another era — all pedal steel and spoken-word choruses, the same night out told from different perspectives. It put her on the map six years after the release of her debut single.

A song that big can be a curse — or at the very least, an obstacle — for a new performer, because they become tasked with eclipsing their own success, bypassing the curse of a one-hit wonder. But the Alabama singer-songwriter has done so with ease. And her sophomore album, “Dandelion” out Friday, co-produced by Langley, Miranda Lambert and Ben West, only further proves her chops.

Lead single “Choosin' Texas” may be her “You Look Like You Love Me” of the current moment, a rare No. 1 hit on the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 for a female country artist and a radio mainstay that challenges the country industry's reputation for failing to support its women artists. (If that's not enough to sway the non-believers, maybe this is: As of this writing, “Choosin' Texas” has spent five weeks at the top, the longest run from a song by a female artist that also hit No. 1 on the country charts. Whose record did she best? Taylor Swift, of course.) Langley and her earworms, it seems, are too big to fail.

It's not just “Choosin' Texas,” though it is a standout. “Dandelion” plays to Langley's old soul strengths. The album opens with “Froggy Went A Courtin',” the centuries-old folk song and nursery rhyme, before leading to a few tracks worthy of their own myth-making: The homesick title track “Dandelion,” the credits-closing cinema of “Low Lights,” the sweet dual harmonies with ERNEST on “Loving Life Again,” and so on.

Canadian rockers July Talk take on the myth of the midlife crisis in new rom-com

TORONTO -  If there’s one thing July Talk knows, it’s tension.

The Juno-winning Toronto band built its sound on the contrast between Peter Dreimanis’ raspy growl and Leah Fay Goldstein’s sugar-soft delivery — a push-and-pull that keeps their live shows feeling unpredictable, even feral.

So when the longtime partners in work and life decided to co-star in a romantic comedy, it was a surprise, but not a leap.

“It felt like the right time to collaborate in a different way other than music, because we've been making records together for a long time, over a decade now,” says Goldstein over coffee at one of the band’s haunts in Toronto’s Junction area.

Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Ray Stevens recovering after breaking neck

NASHVILLE (AP) — Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Ray Stevens broke his neck and is recovering at home after being briefly hospitalized, according to a statement published Tuesday.

The 87-year-old country star, who is known for his topical satire, fell late last month, according to the statement released on his X account. He will need to wear a neck brace for about a month.

“He remains fully mobile & in good spirits," the statement said.

Stevens' decades-long recording career has included such hits as the Grammy-winning “Everything Is Beautiful" as well as the zany “The Streak," which captured the mid-1970s craze for running naked in public.

Céline Dion adds 6 more dates to her Paris comeback run

Céline Dion's heart will go on in Paris — and so will her shows.

The Quebec pop icon says she's adding six additional dates to her comeback run in the French capital.

Last week, Dion announced her return to the stage with a 10-show run in Paris this September, following a prolonged break after being diagnosed with Stiff Person Syndrome, an incurable autoimmune disorder.

Wireless Festival canceled after UK bars rapper Ye over antisemitic remarks

LONDON (AP) — The rapper formerly known as Kanye West was barred Tuesday from entering the U.K., where he was scheduled to headline the Wireless Festival in July, after a backlash over Ye's history of antisemitic remarks.

Festival organizers canceled the three-day outdoor event as a result of the travel ban and said those who had bought tickets would get refunds.

Ye applied for an electronic travel authorization to visit the U.K., but it was blocked by the government on the grounds that his presence in the country would not be “conducive to the public good.”

“Kanye West should never have been invited to headline Wireless,” Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in a statement posted on social media. “This government stands firmly with the Jewish community, and we will not stop in our fight to confront and defeat the poison of antisemitism. We will always take the action necessary to protect the public and uphold our values.”

Man cleared in the killing of Run-DMC’s Jam Master Jay could soon be freed

NEW YORK (AP) — A man who was convicted and then cleared of killing rap star Jam Master Jay of Run-DMC could be freed within days after a judge granted him $ 1 million bond on Monday.

Karl Jordan Jr. wasn't automatically let go because he still faces drug charges unrelated to the pioneering DJ's 2002 death. For now, Jordan remains behind bars while prosecutors decide this week whether to appeal the bond decision. If they don't, he'll go free as soon as his bond paperwork is in order.

“There's a real chance, Mr. Jordan, that you may be released in the very near term,” U.S. District Judge LaShann DeArcy Hall said. If that happens, she added, “I wish you luck. And you will stay out of trouble.”

Jordan quietly agreed as more than a dozen of his relatives and supporters looked on from the audience. Some have attended nearly six years of court dates in his case and 17 agreed to cosign his bond. Jordan’s loved ones also agreed to put up Southern properties worth a total of $525,000. If released, he will be under electronic monitoring.

Don’t touch that dial: Future of Canada’s campus radio stations in doubt

Declining post-secondary enrolment, the shuttering of journalism programs and optional student fees at some schools are threatening the existence of campus radio stations across Canada.

Former Turnstile guitarist is accused of hitting an ex-bandmate’s dad with his car

SILVER SPRING, Md. (AP) — A former guitarist for Grammy-winning Baltimore hardcore band Turnstile has been charged with attempted murder after authorities say he chased down and struck a former bandmate's father with his car, badly injuring him.

Montgomery County police officers responding to a Sunday report about a pedestrian being struck in the Washington, D.C., suburb of Silver Spring found William Yates, the 79-year-old father of lead singer Brendan Yates, injured in a front yard, according to charging documents.

Yates' family said guitarist Brady Ebert, a neighbor who parted ways with the band several years ago, had struck him with a car, police wrote. Yates’ daughter, Erin Gerber, told authorities that she and her husband were getting their kids out of their car when Ebert drove up honking at them and yelling obscenities, then drove into her father.

In video footage obtained from a neighbor, Ebert could be seen driving a gold Buick LeSabre and swerving toward William Yates but missing him, according to the charging documents. Yates then threw a rock at Ebert’s vehicle and Gerber dragged her 3-year-old son onto the lawn to avoid being hit. Ebert then turned sharply into Yates' driveway and struck him as he was trying to run away, investigators wrote. Ebert finally drove across the lawn and left.