East Coast artists strengthen collaboration through intimate cafe concert 

On a foggy evening in Halifax, two East Coast artists reunited at a small concert to play songs old and new, reminiscing on a summertime collaboration. 

Singer-songwriters Eliza Rhinelander and Catherine Kennedy sang at Trident Booksellers & Cafe in downtown Halifax on March 12. 

The two first met last summer, while attending the Lunenburg Folk Harbour Songwriter Camp. They were paired together for an activity; to write a song about a sound. 

“Eliza and I sat on these chairs by the dock, by the water, and there were a few trees that were swaying,” said Kennedy on a phone interview with The Signal after the show.

“It was quite a windy morning and just the sound of the wind through the leaves stood out to both of us.”  

Together they wrote a song, and a friendship was born. 

Before the concert at Trident, Rhinelander worked alongside her father to set up the stage, a small platform in front of a window that was clouded with condensation. 

A neon red sign reflected pink across her face. Together, they plugged in amps and speakers in preparation. 

The audience was made up of Rhinelander’s parents and friends of both artists, including a friend of Kennedy’s who came from New Brunswick, her home province. 

Rhinelander played first. In between songs she joked with the crowd, her familiarity obvious. Soon she was joined by Kennedy, and the two sang together.  

Afterwards congratulations flowed between both performers and friends. 

Kennedy said she hopes her performances create community. 

“In terms of an atmosphere I want to create, I’m always hopeful that it’ll feel like connecting, whether someone’s connecting with themselves at a show or to the song or to the person that they’re there with,” Kennedy said. 

The artists understood teamwork from an early age. Both were raised in musical families, and found musical communities in adulthood. 

“My mom is a Cape Breton fiddler, so I’ve got a lot of Celtic music history, and I was always surrounded by that,” said Rhinelander in an interview before the show. 

Her first album, The Precipice, is a reflection of Rhinelander’s love of musical partnerships. 

“It’s the best thing ever,” said Rhinelander. “You get a whole other set of skills and a whole other set of ideas.”  

Trident owner Charlotte Ashley knows the importance of collaboration. 

“There is so much involved in the arts that you can only learn from other artists, and I think that’s something that you need community for,” Ashley said. 

Trident hosts weekly concerts in support of local talent. This support is influenced by Ashley’s own beliefs. 

“I think that the arts are what make Halifax, and Nova Scotia, such a great place,” said Ashley. “Artists can live and work and collaborate and thrive in a city like this. So providing a space for them to have that launch pad is really important to me.”