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CANADA DAY LINEUP 2025
AV & The Inner City's Stirring New Single “The Failer”
One of Canada’s Most Unique Vocal Groups, AV & The Inner City, Challenge Easy Answers with Stirring New Single “The Failer”
Blending Gospel, Soul, and Roots with rich cultural and musical diversity, the all-female, intergenerational group offers a rare and powerful perspective on trust, nuance, and belonging.
Featured on CBC, SiriusXM, CKUA and Porter Airlines Magazine
Release Date: Friday, May 23 2025
Out Now!
AV & The Inner City is a dynamic and creative six-woman vocal group that blends Soul, Roots, and Blues influences. Drawing from the rich musical backgrounds of each member, the group crafts an uplifting, non-religious Gospel/R&B sound rooted in the timeless sonic tapestries of the genres. The community focused group was born out of just that - community - organically forming after each member took part in a series of socially-distanced porch concerts hosted by AV (Ann Vriend) during the pandemic. Since then, the vocal group has made an immediate impact: earning an "Emerging Artist Award" at the 2023 Edmonton Folk Music Festival, landing features in Edify and Porter Airlines’ in-flight magazine, receiving airplay on CBC and CKUA, and surpassing 20,000 Spotify streams within their first three months of their first release. The group is led by multi-award winning Roots/Blues artist AV, who serves as lead vocalist and music arranger. A vibrant reflection of Canada’s musical diversity, AV & The Inner City's members come from all backgrounds, including the Indigenous, Black, LGBTQ, and recent immigrant communities. A true rarity in today’s music landscape, the intergenerational, all-female, and genre-bending group is rooted in social connection, born from the COVID era when connection was nearly impossible. Their coveted stage performances are marked by emotional depth, vocal power, and a rare sense of communal authenticity. Their newest single, “The Failer” is a contemplative and soulful anthem about the ease of living life with absolutes and the discomfort of nuance in any area of life. "The Failer" was just released on Friday, May 23 2025.
“The Failer” was written and arranged by AV, who also served as co-producer on the track alongside longtime collaborator and drummer, Elie Mercier. The track was recorded in Edmonton, Alberta, at Riverdale Recorders and AV’s home studio, while the drums were recorded by Mercier in Grenoble, France.
About "The Failer":
A melancholic and passionate song about the desire for certainty, AV & The Inner City's “The Failer” is an anthemic and thought-provoking reflection of institutional and personal trust, and the oversimplification of absolutes in a complex world. Exploring the confusion and frustration of stepping back from black-and-white belief systems, "The Failer" suggests the importance of nuance in a society that often cherishes the tunnel vision of ready-made answers, and the danger in glorifying heroes and heroines, while at the same time fully acknowledging the very human need for safety and reliable leadership.
Sonically, the track draws from the recognizable language of marching bands with a military-esque snare beat at the beginning, and haunting, overlapping melodies from the group of vocalists. Sparse yet commanding, the track’s slow pace and simple instrumentation leaves space for thought about living in a world at times commanded by political, spiritual, and moral absolutes, as it progresses from a melancholic ballad to an intense, almost Rock anthem. With both tension and tenderness in its delivery, “The Failer” recognizes how tempting it is to seek perfection in leaders and ideologies, yet how necessary it is to resist that pull. Rather than providing answers, the song becomes a mirror, reflecting the complexity of the desire to feel secure, to belong, to believe, and to be right. An invitation for curiosity and exploration, “The Failer” encourages listeners to look at all angles: psychological and logical, personal and political — and sit with the rare discomfort of what arises when moving beyond blind faith in systems, movements, and people.
“‘The Failer’ is about the search for security, absolutes, and reliable heroes against the backdrop of self-doubt, betrayal, and mistrust, whether personal or political, and the gradual conclusion that there may not be any absolutes at all. Though I wrote this at least 15 years ago it seemed a good time to pull it out of the vault, as our society as a whole seems to be confronting these exact sentiments now.” - AV
AV & the Inner City is a Soul/Roots group that formed during the COVID-19 pandemic in Edmonton’s inner city. In just three years, they completed their first summer tour, playing major festivals like Vancouver Island, Calgary Folk Festival, and Edmonton Folk Festival, where they received the Emerging Artist Award. At the Calgary Folk Festival, former Nickelodeon promoter Vic Bell praised their set by saying: “Soul and gospel singing ruled… This was an act that could have closed the Main Stage any night.” The group of all female vocalists grew out of AV’s weekly “porch concerts” - nearly 60 free shows held from 2020 to 2021 in Edmonton’s McCauley neighborhood, offering live music and connection during the pandemic. By summer 2021, the vocalists had become a polished ensemble, performing AV’s originals in rich, soul/gospel harmonies. Their first releases have already garnered over 20,000 Spotify streams.
Connect with AV & The Inner City:
https://annvriend.com/pages/av-and-the-inner-city-1
https://www.instagram.com/avinnercity/?hl=en
https://www.youtube.com/@AVandTheInnerCity?app=desktop
Award Winning Scots-Canadian Singer-Songwriter, David Leask, Partners with Alzheimer’s Society Branch for Poignant New Adult Contemporary-Jazz Release, “When I Become Confused”
Award Winning Scots-Canadian Singer-Songwriter, David Leask, Partners with
Alzheimer’s Society Branch for Poignant New Adult Contemporary-Jazz Release,
“When I Become Confused”
New Song and Video Draw from Leask’s Personal Caregiving Journey Supporting a
Loved One Through Dementia, Premiered on BBC Radio
“‘When I Become Confused’ speaks of the simple things in a complex world where
remembrance and recollection mean a lot.” - Iain Anderson, BBC Radio Scotland
“It was an honour to be asked to play on this beautiful song of David's…. I applaud
David in his attempts to reach a wider group of people to make them aware of what
it is like to navigate this disease.” - Aaron Davis (Holly Cole Trio)
Watch: When I Become Confused
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fstkdS2NXEU&feature=youtu.be
Release Date: Friday, May 16 2025
Award-winning Scots-Canadian singer-songwriter, David Leask, is a celebrated writer
and performer, known for his emotionally resonant songwriting, soulful voice, and deep
musical craftsmanship that flows freely between genres. Throughout his three decade
long career, Leask has performed over 3,000 shows and earned accolades across
multiple genres. Described by SOCAN's Words & Music Magazine as an artist
“who has immense respect from his peers", Leask's lengthy list of awards and
recognition include a Mississauga Performing Artist of the Year Award alongside
Mississauga Music's 2023 Songwriter of the Year award, while also garnering
international songwriting awards and national acclaim. His 2020 album,
"Voyageur In Song" was inspired by the storied Six String Nation guitar -
a custom guitar made up of 64 individual pieces of Canadian historical artifacts,
was hailed by Rock 'n Reel Magazine as “genuinely inspiring" and received a
nomination in the Contemporary Album of the Year category by the
Canadian Folk Music Awards. Musically rooted in connection, storytelling, and
music’s transformative power, Leask routinely draws inspiration from Folk, Pop,
Jazz and Blues music to create a sound all his own. In partnership with the
Alzheimer's Society of Peel, Leask's first release of 2025 is a poignant, Adult
Contemporary and Jazz leaning track inspired by supporting a loved one through
dementia, calling upon his first hand experience caring for his mother-in-law on
her journey with the disease. "When I Become Confused" will be released on
Friday, May 16 2025, and Leask will also be performing the song live at the
Walk for Alzheimer’s in Mississauga, ON on May 24th in support of the cause.
Offering a compassionate lens on Alzheimer’s and dementia, David Leask's
"When I Become Confused" is a moving and empathetic look at the inner world
of someone navigating memory loss. Drawing inspiration from a poem by longtime
friend Rob Keiller, written after the passing of his mother from Alzheimer’s,
Leask drew upon his own lived experience as a caregiver for his mother-in-law
as she progressed in the disease. Bridging Adult Contemporary and Jazz,
“When I Become Confused” is delivered with quiet grace and lyrical depth,
using Leask’s tender vocal performance, thoughtful phrasing, and musical space
that allow the track to envelop the listener. Backed by a stellar ensemble of Canadian
session players including Justin Abedin, Aaron Davis, Davide Di Renzo, and
Drew Birston,the track was recorded live off the floor at Canterbury Music in Toronto,
creating a delicate yet powerful soundscape. Paired with a beautifully animated video
by artist Paul Willis, the song’s emotional core is brought to life through delicate visual
storytelling. More than just a tribute, the piece serves as a tool for empathy, offering
comfort to caregivers and insight to those outside the experience. Released in partnership
with the Alzheimer’s Society of Peel, “When I Become Confused” is both a musical
offering and a call to awareness, reminding us of the power of music to reach beyond
memory, into shared human connection.
“The depth of emotion embedded in this song was only possible through living
and journeying with my mother-in-law as she experienced dementia. I try to
empathize with the growing confusion and changes, while embracing the person
who is still there.” - David Leask
Upcoming Shows:
May 24 2025
Erin Mills Town Centre - Walk for Alzheimer’s Closing Ceremony -
https://support.alzheimer.ca/site/TR?pg=entry&fr_id=5138
May 24 2025 - Free Times Cafe - Toronto, ON
https://davidleask.com/event/6025619/716091482/david-leask-in-concert
Originally from Scotland, David Leask has spent the last 30 years of his artistic
career as a multi-award-winning songwriter, a veteran live performer with over
3000 shows since moving to Canada and a sought after songwriting mentor and
facilitator. His music draws from Folk, Pop, Jazz, and Blues to create a sound
all his own. Songwriters Magazine has referred to him as “the most consistent
Canadian songwriting competition winner”, most recently taking home the
“Songwriter of the Year” award from Mississauga Music, while also being named
Performing Artist of the Year. Leask has been profiled in a SOCAN Words &
Music Magazine article which called him a “lifer who has worked outside
the commercial boundaries, earning a decent living and immense respect
from his peers.”
His last album, “Voyageur in Song”, was nominated for Canadian Folk Music
Association Contemporary Album of the Year and reached #8 on the Canadian
Roots Music Chart. The album is a unique concept record inspired by the pieces
and their stories from the Six String Nation Guitar - a guitar made up of 64 pieces
of Canadian culture and history, nick-named Voyageur. The Toronto Star described
"Voyageur In Song" as, "Possibly the most Canadian album on Canada's most
historic instrument." The UK's Rock 'N Reel Magazine called it, “That rare thing,
a genuinely inspiring album.”
Leask has learned firsthand about music’s healing power through playing in
various health care settings for patients and their families, across different age
ranges and different levels of care, and was recently asked to perform at the
opening of the National Music Care conference for professional caregivers.
His latest single and video, When I Become Confused, is a song that was inspired
by these experiences of musical healing, but also ones that were close to home.
Connect with David Leask:
https://www.facebook.com/DavidLeaskMusic/
https://www.instagram.com/leaskexpected/
https://www.youtube.com/DavidLeaskMusic