Home Routes / Chemin Chez Nous Brings Versatile Singer-songwriter Winona Wilde to the “Central Plains” Circuit

Noosa Al-Sarraj (also known as Winona Wilde) is a country/folk singer who writes songs that give space to voices not often heard. She tells stories that aren’t often told -- Carl Magi, Spinditty
Performing in Southern Manitoba April 2019

2017 Kerrville New Folk Winner - Texas
2017 Colleen Peterson Award Winner - Ontario
2015 BC Musician Magazine Songwriter Of The Year - British Columbia
 
Simplicity and accessibility work well to drawn in a listener, but you've got to have something to say. That's not a problem for Winona Wilde, as she seems to be taking on the world's problems and her own with equal parts vigour and vehemence. -- Exclaim!

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Home Routes/Chemin Chez Nous house concert network is thrilled to present Winona Wilde on the ‘Central Plains Circuit’ house concert series this April. The Central Plains Circuit  kicks off March 31 in Winnipeg. Full schedule is below, and at https://homeroutes.ca/homeroutes-artists/winona-wilde/.

Central Plains Circuit (Southern Manitoba) - Winona Wilde
March 31, 2019    Winnipeg
April 2, 2019        Rossburn
April 3, 2019        Boissevain
April 4, 2019        Pilot Mound
April 5, 2019        Dominion City
April 6, 2019        Lorette
April 7, 2019        Winnipeg
April 9, 2019        Ashern
April 10, 2019    Hnausa
April 11, 2019    Winnipeg
 
To attend any of these shows, please contact Home Routes/ Chemin Chez Nous HERE or via email attend@homeroutes.ca  or info@homeroutes.ca or call: (204) 480-3380, Toll-free in Canada: 1 (866) 925-6889.  The full Home Routes schedule can be accessed online at  https://homeroutes.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Open-Interactive-Schedule.pdf.
 
About
Just your run of the mill, post-structuralist cowgirl Americana…

Winona Wilde is an artist we need to hear, now more than ever. On her third album, Wasted Time, the much-travelled Canadian singer/songwriter continues to redefine the image of the troubadour, with heartbreaking wit and honesty.

“Wilde, whose real name is Noosa Al-Sarraj, fell in love with country music thanks to a nanny she had as a kid. Her kickass songwriting abilities led to win an award at the Kerrville Folk Festival’s New Folk competition this year—one of a few Canadians to do so, and certainly the first of Iraqi descent.”
-Sarah Boesfeld, Flare Magazine (Top 10 New Country Artists)

Al-Sarraj produced Wasted Time herself, working at engineer John Dinsmore’s Toronto studio, Lincoln County Social Club. She played most of the instruments as well, with contributions by Toronto-based friends made on the road. In fact, Al-Sarraj cut the basic tracks live, in a single 10-hour session. It was a clear indication of the confidence she had in the material.

“The award-winning and steadily touring folk artist's honest writing definitely does shine here — defiantly so.” - Peter Ellman, Exclaim (8/10)

The songs indeed capture Al-Sarraj’s musical philosophy of “trying to strike a balance between freaking people out and speaking directly to their hearts,” from opening track “Pincushion Soldier,” an aching lament for a woman afflicted with post-partum psychosis, to “The Night That Joel Got Shot,” a modern gender reversal of the traditional murder ballad. Al-Sarraj attributes some of this dark subject matter to revisiting albums by Tool and Nine Inch Nails, which were also a big part of her youth. At the same time, Wilde injects some cutting humour with “Chick Singer,” a song that every female musician will immediately identify with through its sing-along chorus of, “You’ve got to work twice as hard, be twice as good, and get paid half as much as you know you should.”

As a fiercely independent artist, Al-Sarraj certainly understands the rules of the game. But along with the many friends and allies she has made around North America, she’s become committed to the cause of making country music that sounds both old and new... and looking good while doing it.


Central Plains Trail
The Central Plains Circuit is a project of Home Routes/Chemin Chez Nous, presenting Canadian and international artists to audiences in Southern Manitoba and throughout Canada. Home Routes’ programming emphasizes artistic excellence, and diverse and entertaining performances that leave audiences breathless and wanting more.

About House Concerts:
House concerts have a triple function: they support artists’ ability to make a living, they make music accessible on a grassroots level to all corners of Canada, and they connect people -- a social engine that builds community.  

Home Routes/ Chemin Chez Nous thanks our funders and partners for their support. This project is made possible in part by The Canada Council for the Arts, Manitoba Sport, Culture and Heritage, FACTOR, Manitoba Arts Council and SOCAN Foundation.


LISTEN to Home Routes Radio: https://www.homeroutes.ca/home-routes-radio/
 
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About Home Routes/Chemin Chez Nous:
Home Routes/Chemin Chez Nous was incorporated as a not-for-profit arts organization in February of 2007 to create new performance opportunities for French and English speaking musicians and audiences in rural, remote and urban, communities across Canada, hosted by volunteers in their homes and other community venues. Follow Home Routes on twitter @homeroutes or “like” on facebook.

Winona Wilde Links:
Website: http://winonawilde.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WinonaWilde/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pb2yG2eFns
Central Plains Circuit Schedule: https://homeroutes.ca/homeroutes-artists/winona-wilde/