This Saturday night I am hosting my second Ryan Donn Review show. The hope is to draw attention to some of our BC rising stars as they come through Kelowna. For December’s show I am hosting Steph Macpherson. She is currently on tour promoting her latest album “Bells and Whistles”. Her show is at the Pheasant and Quail, 8-10pm, this Saturday night. No cover.

I caught up with her earlier this week on facebook and did a short interview about her tour and new album.

So how is the tour of BC going?
It’s going really well. There has been good attendance, and we’ve had a lot of fun so far!

Whats the worst part about touring in BC?
I’d have to say that the worst part about touring in BC, specifically in the winter, is the weather. We have some awfully sketchy road conditions to deal with at times.

Whats the best part about touring in BC?
The people! They’re amazing. Everyone really tries to make you feel at home, and they seem to be very open to new music and new experiences.

Also, despite the afore mentioned road conditions, it’s so friggin gorgeous! We’re extremely lucky to live in such a magical landscape.

Earlier this spring you released your album: “Bells and Whistles”. With some artists focusing on releasing singles and YouTube videos do you prefer sharing your music as an album?

I think it’s important to do both. I’ve been mostly focusing on the Album so far, but we’ve got some video stuff in the works for the very near future.

The industry’s pretty divided when it comes to opinions on album sales vs singles. Singles sell the album, in most cases, but if the album isn’t consistent in quality with the singles, then you’re in trouble.

We still have Soundscan, and it’s still how people “chart”, and charting still matters to a LOT of the industry and the public whether we’d like to admit it or not.

You were a part of the Peak Performance Project in 2011. How did being a part of that experience effect your career?
Hugely. It’s amazing promotion/publicity, for one. It also introduced me to many key players in the Canadian industry, and gave me incredible insights into how to approach the coming challenges.

The week-long “Bootcamp” portion of the Project was invaluable. It taught me about all aspects of the music industry… although much of it has changed already! Work work work, study study study, work work work! Such is life. 🙂

Any recent musical adventures you want to share with our readers? collaborations, experiments, duets?
Do you do your own graphics on the site (pencil drawings)?
I don’t do my own graphics, although I do sketch from time to time. Perhaps I’ll share some of those on Instagram soon…

I’ve been singing on a few friends’ projects, and plan to continue to do so whenever possible. I’ve been lucky enough to work with some amazing talents here in my hometown of Victoria, including Mike Edel, Vince Vaccaro, and Lindsay Bryan. Most recently, a friend of mine who goes by the moniker “The Raven” did a down-tempo eletro-pop version of Mumford & Son’s “I Will Wait”, and had a bunch of us Victoria kids come in and sing/play on it. That was fun!

Here is the Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/362220853866663/