Tales of the North Coast

Collection Contents

#		Title	Length
1		Dis Poem	3:59
2		Black Hockey Player	5:59
3		Marooned	4:51
4		Fine Time	3:24
5		In 1946	2:54
6		Star's Dream	1:12
7		Rituals	2:00
8		Sidewalk	3:34
9		Pantherlude	0:35
10		For The Record	4:34
11		Reparations	2:29
12		Marooned Dub	4:49

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Description

TALES OF THE NORTH COAST
Loud Dust Recordings presents the new CD from
urban spoken word artist
the nth digri

Tales from the North Coast is the CD of poetry and music by urban spoken word poet, the nth digri. The CD features spoken word poems in an original rap/dub poetry style
developed by one of the foremost spoken word poets to emerge from the urban music scene in Canada. The CD paints a picture of life from an African Canadian viewpoint, and draws from Caribbean origins, both in terms of musical and stylistic influences.

Working out of Ottawa in collaboration with Goggs (SWAPP Studios), the nth digri has produced a groundbreaking CD that follows in the tradition of the acclaimed poetry/music compilation WordLife: Tales of the Underground Griots. Blending the talents of hot urban music producers such as Collizhun (of the legendary Tdot crew Nefarius), Manchilde (of the Montreal phenom known as Butta Babees), and Ottawa turntablists extraordinaire The Palm Squad, Tales from the North Coast boasts standout musical tracks like Dis Poem (which also features veteran reggae singer, Sligo), Fine Time (a hip hop-reggae fusion produced by Manchilde), and Marooned (featuring singer Awaken Lion of Montreal's Jah Cutta and Determination Band).

The CD also brings to the forefront the power of digri's voice-only compositions, such as the audience-approved performance piece Black Hockey Player, which speaks on a classic Canadian experience from the point of view of Black youth growing up alienated in this country. Another thought-provoking vocal piece is the poem Sidewalk, where digri's rhyming narration takes the listener on a journey from Ottawa to Montreal to Port of Spain (Trinidad) and back to the Capital. And in the poem In 1946, digri joins forces with the internationally celebrated African musician The Mighty Popo to deliver a guitar and voice reflection on origins that is bound to captivate a range of listeners.

The nth digri will be appearing in a number of select venues in Canada, the United States, and Europe to promote his album.


Anthony Bansfield, also known as NTH DIGRI, is a poet inspired by the unlimited possibilities of the word and the African griot tradition. He began performing spoken word poetry in Montreal, where he helped found a group of performance artists known as the Diasporic Afrikan Poets. Anthony would eventually edit the anthology chronicling the group's work, an underground publication of poetry, fiction, and photography called The N'X Step.

After migrating to Toronto, Anthony's best-known poem, "Rows of Photos", was released as a poetry video, getting regular rotation on Much Music. The same poem later appeared on the Word Up CD (Virgin-EMI). While in Toronto, Anthony also released the poetry/music cassette Return of the Rappoet.

Anthony has shared the stage with Dana Bryant, Lillian Allen, Clifton Joseph, and Michael St. George, performed at the Nuyorican Poets Caf (winning a poetry slam at the famed New York venue), Brooklyn Moon Caf, University of Chicago, Raleigh, North Carolina, and in Dominica, West Indies.

Anthony was also the executive producer and coordinator for a CD compilation of the hottest young Black poets, lyricists, and producers in Canada. The CD, WordLife: Tales of the Underground Griots, garnered attention and critical acclaim in such newspapers and magazines as the Toronto Star, Word, Mic Check, Now, The Source, and the Montreal Gazette.

Anthony's solo album, Tales from the North Coast, is the next major release for this artist as he continues to expand the fields of both Canadian music and poetry.

Awards
1st prize winner of Kola magazines National Poetry Competition, for the poem "Breathe Deep".
Twice commissioned to write and perform poems for national broadcast on the CBC.
Selected for Ottawa's slam poetry team for the National Slam Poetry competition, 2002.

Selected Publications
The N'X Step (RevWord Press, 1993) NLC Canadiana: 970040296.
Return of the Rappoet (RevWord Press,1994) Recording.
Word Up (Virgin-EMI, 1995) Recording.
WordLife: Tales of the Undersground Griots (RevWord Records, 1998) Recording.
Tales of the North Coast (Loud Dust Recordings, 2003). Recording.



OTTAWA XPRESS

The Ottawa word-slinger and spoken-word artist has carved out his territory, what he chooses to call the North Coast, celebrates a new continental shift, the emerging hip-hop scene in Canada. A sampling of the scene today shows the genre diversifying and fragmenting, creating oodles of sub-genres from the boonies to the Bronx and along with the slap-shot force of NTH DIGRI, you'll hear some "touches of country and the forest.

"..a lot of my experiences growing up as a black kid in Ottawa. There's a sense of being on your own and being different, yet you're standing out like a sore thumb. There's this feeling of being caught between cultures and it comes out in the song: BLACK HOCKEY PLAYER"



THE OTTAWA CITIZEN

Anthony Bansfield (a.k.a. NTH DIGRI) has been a big part of the scene of Spoken-Word performances in Canada recently incarnated in the Step-Up Slam series in Ottawa that helped spark a renaissance of fast-talking urban lyricists and also caught the attention of CBC Radio.

Performing his own hybrid of rhythmic urban patter and African griot-style storytelling, the momentum continues with Spoken-Word with the release of TALES OF THE NORTH COAST by LOUD DUST RECORDINGS which features voice-only compositions and collaborations with various musicians and producers.

Though the line between a spoken word performer and hip-hop MC is slim and audience interaction with occasional background beats are elements of spoken word, the form also features more complex rhyming schemes and lyrical content. Bansfield describes it as the sensation of the flow of words popping from the mouth as "delicious". Besides the sheer esthetics of wordplay, he likes the idea of using words as a force for change. "I'd like to do more than just describe what I see," he says. "I want to describe the way things could be or should be."



"We got the CD and I really like it! I guarantee that I will be playing it on my show and I will encourage the other DJs that play spoken word to give it a listen."

~ WMBR Boston



"I did receive the CD. I was able to get a few tracks on the air for two
weeks running. I thought the material on the CD was great..."

~ WKDU Philadelphia




The newest recording artist on U.S. label, Loud Dust Recordings of Burlington, Vermont, is the word-slinging NTH DIGRI of Ottawa. Anthony Bansfield (a.k.a. NTH DIGRI) will reaffirm the emerging hip-hop scene in Canada with a release event for his 2003 CD: "TALES OF THE NORTH COAST" on April 25th 2003 at The Caliban Arts Studio in Toronto. NTH DIGRI has enjoyed a wave of early interest in his hybrid of rhythmic urban patter and African griot-style storytelling by CBC radio, Hip-Hop DJs, Music Producers, Film Documentary Producers and many Canadian media outlets including The Ottawa Citizen and Montreal Mirror, and radio programmers as far away as Hawaii. His first release "WORDLIFE" became a top 10 seller at HMV stores a few years ago. NTH DIGRI performances in Canada have recently been incarnated in the Step-Up Slam series and pre-release copies of "TALES OF THE NORTH COAST" have been sold by the hundreds during the weekends of his appearances.