B.J. Snowden: The New Brunswick Whistleblower

by Andrew McGilligan

How an African American woman from Massachusetts taught millions of Americans about the joys of New Brunswick, using only a keyboard.

She hated ballet.

That’s how one of the oddest pop cultural curios involving New Brunswick began.

Every year, on New Brunswick Day, a clip of musician B. J. Snowden performing her song “New Brunswick” on Jimmy Kimmel Live! makes its way around social media and gets liked and shared. “New Brunswick” has become a sort of unofficial cult theme song for the province.

Without any context, the clip from September 3, 2005 is a mixture of oddity, delight, fun and confusion.

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Jonathan Torrens Has a Ticket to Ride

When the parents at Charlottetown’s Sherwood Elementary School were enjoying their smoke break at intermission for the play The Rabbit Who Wanted Red Wings, they were so impressed by Jonathan Torrens' performance (who was in grade one at the time and played the rabbit) that they said to Jonathan’s mom, “This kid could write his own ticket!” Write his own ticket he did. Today at 46, the actor, director, producer, writer, podcast host, musician and television personality has carved an eclectic career path for himself that rivals those of the most talented in the industry. In this feature we learn how the multi-talented entertainer has crafted his career on this own terms.

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King of All Media

In the world of fashion and media in London, England, few people have been quite so front and centre for the past two decades as Dylan Jones, editor of British GQ. Formerly an editor at the Observer, The Sunday Times, i‑D, The Face and Arena, as well as columnist for The Guardian and The Independent, he has been Editor-in-Chief of GQ for almost two decades. Here he gets candid with our Editor-in-Chief, James Mullinger to discuss everything from his career at GQ to London Fashion Week, to his latest book; David Bowie: a Life, which quickly became the most successful book that he has ever written.

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The Pied Piper of Canada

The Co-Founder of the Osheaga Music and Arts Festival, Nick Farkas, loved punk music so much that when he first started promoting shows in his hometown of Montreal in the late 1980's, the bands would sleep on the floor of his tiny apartment. Fourteen years later, the Osheaga Music Festival is expected to break its own sales record with over 140,000 tickets sold. 

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It's Classified

Luke Boyd, a.k.a. Classified, rose to major hip-hop fame over 20 years ago. The rapper, producer, emcee, writer and label owner from Nova Scotia has earned dozens of platinum and gold records, won countless awards and collaborated with some of the best in the industry. He tells The Maritime Edit’s Jennifer Wood exclusively why he finally feels comfortable with who he is and where he is.

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Jeremy Dutcher's Gift For His People

How a singer and composer from New Brunswick's Tobique First Nation is keeping the Wolastoqey language alive with breathtaking music. Only 305 people named Wolastoqey as their first language in the 2016 Statistics Canada census. The importance of preserving his language is only too real for Dutcher - in the past year alone, he lost three people in his own family who had spoken it since birth. Here Dutcher shares his unique story in an exclusive interview with Matt Williams.

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Becoming Dennis Prescott

The inside story of a New Brunswick musician turned international culinary phenomenon. The Maritime Edit’s Food Editor Dennis Prescott has had an incredible 12 months. The Moncton, New Brunswick–based musician turned chef released his first cookbook, Eat Delicious, which quickly became a Canadian bestseller.  

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Myles Ahead

Very few musicians have the vast talent of David Myles — or a performance style as unique, touching and inspiring. The multi-faceted singer-songwriter and gifted storyteller, originally from Fredericton, New Brunswick has a loyal, multi-generational fan base in Canada that stretches from coast to coast to coast and well beyond its borders. 

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